By Dan Crawford

Special to the Communitarian

During the week of April 20th, the student club MESA (Modern Environmental Sustainability Association) hosted a variety of activities to celebrate Earth Week.

One of the activities was a nature walk around DCCC’s scenic grounds on Marple campus April 21, led by biology professor Dr. Steve Aquilani.

During this tour students learned about the various trees (both common and rare) found on the college’s campus, the many types of birds that inhabit the College’s woods, and the delicate ecosystem found in the pond, which is part of the Crum Creek watershed.

The group spoke with Kevin Dillinger, a member of the college’s grounds crew who plays an instrumental role in maintaining the tree and plant populations found on campus. 

“We’re losing oaks like crazy,” he said. “I have to spray the plants to keep the deer away. Because if we don’t… they get eaten.”

Aquilani discussed the evergreen trees, which he said are widely used for timber, and the iconic pine tree. 

He also said the easiest way to tell a pine from other trees is to count the needles on the branches. If the needles are in groups of two, three, or five it is a pine.

Before the tour began, Aquilani drew the group’s attention to the pond next to the STEM building. He noted the brown color of the lake and said that this was not natural.

The tour concluded with a view of the bridge eclipsing the sun, casting a shadow among the rocks and the people walking past.“The world needs solutions,” Aquilani told the students. “It all has to start with science.”

The campus community is also encouraged to view the hydroponics installation in the STEM building.  This system uses nutrient rich water solutions rather than soil to allow plants to grow.  

The hydroponics system was constructed by students involved in MESA and the Women in S.T.E.M. clubs with the generous assistance of Dave and Mark physical plant employees.

All students interested in environmental and sustainability issues are encouraged to join MESA next year when more great activities and events are planned, said Erica Danowitz, the club’s co-adviser.

Contributers: MESA co-advisor Erica Danowitz and Matthew Pellegrini

By Marwa Benahmed-Ali

Special to The Communitarian

DCCC president Jerry Parker visited the Upper Darby campus March 12 to host a “Your Opinion Matters” forum to hear students’ opinions, suggestions,  and concerns about the campus. 

Forty-three students attended the event to voice their opinions to Parker and special guests, including Vice Provost Mary-Joe Boyer, Jane Schurman, director of the Upper Darby Campus, Fran Cubberly, vice president of Enrollment Management, and Craig Fitz, strategic planner for the president.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Twenty-one nursing majors, said they wanted to have more science classes offered at Upper Darby for pre nursing and TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skill)  exam preparatory classes.

Six students were psychology majors, three were communication majors, and two were early-childhood education majors. 

Students expressed concerns regarding the library, tutoring, and child care services.

Students also asked for more resources, adding that it is helpful and useful when they study.

Another suggestion was to hold Saturday classes at the Upper Darby Campus. 

“It would be helpful since many students have busy lives,” said Jozette Brown a 28 year old nursing major.

Boyer recorded students’ suggestions, concerns, and opinions on posters.

Before the forum began, Parker welcomed everyone to his neighborhood. “I live about four blocks away and I have been for the past 37 years, so I welcome you all,” said Parker. 

Parker said he enjoys the diversity and how he is attuned to the changes in the community. He also mentioned that the Upper Darby campus was established because of its population and accessibility.

After Parker's introduction, students began the first round of suggestions. “I am a nursing major and it would be nice to have a TEAS class offered at the Upper Darby Campus,” nursing major Andrene Lindsay said. “I want to be well prepared for the exam.”

Neisha Kendrick, 23, also a nursing major, said it would be nice to have more science classes offered at the Upper Darby Campus, so that students would not have to go to Marple campus to complete lab assignments.

Boyer later responded to students’ questions and said that virtual labs would be piloted in 2016 at the Southeast Center. She also said that a BIO 150 class would be available during the fall semester, but labs must be done at Marple campus for now.

After nursing students finished asking their questions, other students had the opportunity to voice opinions and suggestions. Students told Parker that there weren’t enough computers, thereby making it hard to get work done.

“Services will be expanded to all locations, but space is still a problem,” Parker said. “Computers will be added and more electronic space is useful.”

Students suggested that more tutors be available at Upper Darby. “I feel like a lot of students need help with writing,” Kendrick said. “ Every time I try to get help from a tutor, they’re always booked.”

The remainder of the forum consisted of complaints about faculty. Boyer stressed that students should not address complaints they have about teachers during the forum but rather address them with Shamell Jackson, the site director at the Upper Darby Campus. 

Parker concluded the forum by thanking everyone for coming. Students were then treated to lunch provided by Parker, whom, along with other guests, stayed after the forum to answer any additional questions or concerns. 

Boyer said she will review the students’ comments with other administrators and faculty, and they will do their best to satisfy the needs of students at Upper Darby.

ContactThe Communitarian at 

communitarian@mail.dccc.edu 

(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)—As part of Delaware County Community College’s commitment to providing access and quality education to Latino students, the college held the “Beyond Multiculturalism: 

Empowering Latino Students and the Community” conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24th at the College’s Marple Campus. 

This was the first conference held at the College specifically focused on Latino issues in education and Latino youth leadership and advocacy. It was sponsored by the College’s faculty-led Latino Initiatives and Outreach Network (LION) in collaboration with the College’s student-led Latin Flavor Club. 

There were two keynote presentations at the Conference. The first keynote presentation, “The Path to College Graduation: Latino Student Success and Concerns” by Dr. Idna Corbett, dean of Undergraduate Student Support Services at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, focused on the factors influencing the Latino achievement gap in college.

The second keynote presentation, “A Conversation with Hernán Guaracao,” publisher of AL DÍA, a Philadelphia-based, Hispanic-owned news media organization, focused on the immigrant experience and the success of the growing Latino population in the region. In addition, two panels of experts discussed the effects and factors influencing the Latino achievement gap in college and the importance of youth leadership and institutional support at college campuses.

The third panel of Latino student leaders discussed their experiences at the College and the role of student involvement and leadership in their academic success.

Additional conference participants included many community leaders: Dr. Jose Cabrales—program manager for the national, multi-site Lumina Latino Student Success effort of Excelencia! in Education, a nonprofit group that advocates for Latino students; Gilberto Gonzalez, senior designer creative services at Community College of Philadelphia and host of “Entre Nosotros,” a weekly current affairs cable TV show; Dr. Marisa Pereyra, associate professor of Spanish at Immaculata University and chair of the Global Languages and Cultures Department; and Steven Larin, Esq., the Director of legal services for The Nationalities Services Center in Philadelphia, a non-profit organization that works with immigrants and refugees in the region.

The conference also featured a screening of the 2014 award-winning documentary Underwater Dreams, which explores the true story of a team of undocumented Mexican high school students, who, under the guidance of two dedicated science teachers, enter the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s International Remotely Operated Vehicles competition, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Ocean Exploration, and NASA.

The four students from Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona compete against college teams, including a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and win first place. 

After the screening, students featured in the documentary participated in a Q & A session via Skype.

For more informations on the Latin Flavor Club contact:

LION Coordinator Fernando Benavidez, Assistant Professor of English, at (610) 723-1231, or fbenavidez@dccc.edu; or LION Coordinator Dr. Jose Francisco Mazenett, Associate Professor of Spanish and French, at (610) 359-5228, or jmazenett@dccc.edu.

Ric Walliser, the executive director of Integrated Enrollment Services, has announced  the opening and naming of the newly renovated Enrollment Services area.  

The redesign is intended to improve service to students by centralizing all of the Enrollment Services in one location.     The name of the collective new area is Enrollment Central.   This includes the whole Room 3500 area on the third floor of Founders Hall and it encompasses Admissions, Cashier, Dual Enrollment, Financial Aid, International Student Services, Records and Student Photo IDs - both front end service and back end processing.   

There will be a concierge desk at the entrance to Founders Hall.  The concierge desk and the new service windows will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays.   

There will be a check-in system so that, at busy times, students can wait anywhere on campus and be notified when it is their turn, instead of being confined to the immediate area in long lines.

The concierge desk and the service windows opened the week of April 20.   

For more information, contact Ric Walliser: rwalliser@dccc.edu; 

610-723-4901

The Human Services Club, Psychology Club, and Black and Women’s History Committee presented the Annual Human Services and Women’s Resource Fair in the lobby of the STEM building on March 12. 

Attending organizations included Values Into Action, ChesPenn Health Services, DCCC Wellness, Family Support Line, Delaware County Suicide Prevention & Awareness Task Force, and more. 

The event, which was attended by about 50 people, with many more onlookers, gave local organizations a chance to provide more information on their respective missions. These organizations provide services to benefit women’s health, offer social and emotional support, improve mental health, and meet other human services needs. 

“It’s a great way to bring awareness to our college about the different resources our community has to offer,” said Danielle Wiegand, a Human Service Club leader. “Also, it’s a great way for our students to network.” 

One of the organizations was the Family Support Line, which focuses on the prevention and treatment of damages caused by child sexual abuse. The organization hopes to not only benefit children, but also families and professionals alike by teaching them how to cope with the trauma associated with sexual abuse. 

They also work closely with law enforcement to ensure proper repercussions for offenders. Students can visit FamilySupportLine.org for more information. 

Children and Youth Services of Delaware County, which investigates abuse and neglect reports of children also attended the fair. They provide services to victims and youth at risk to hurt themselves or their parents.

Some services they offer are case management and counseling. For example, in some severe cases, if it is not safe for the child to be at home, they attempt to find placement outside of the home with caregivers that are deemed a best fit for the child. 

Interested persons may call toll free to their Upper Darby office at 610-713-2000 or visit their webpage on Delaware County Pennsylvania’s site, under the Human Services Department, to arrange counseling and other support.

Another organization at the fair was the Delaware County Suicide Prevention & Awareness Task Force. Founded by close friends of a victim of suicide, this organization hopes to increase the understanding of the nature of suicidal behavior. They aim to “reduce the loss and suffering caused by suicide” by way of prevention, intervention, and post-intervention. DCSPATF’s mission is to give support to decrease the occurrence of suicide, and to change the negative stigma attached to the issue. 

“Suicide is a community-wide, preventable health problem,” is not only their slogan, but also a mission statement. They reported that more than 64 confirmed suicides occur every year in Delaware County. Students may go to delcosuicideprevention.org for more information on this service, and for a detailed list of events they are hosting. 

Students seemed receptive to what the fair had to offer. The fair “was a fun day for all,” and an “all around excellent learning opportunity,” said Grace Tolvaisa, president in training for the Human Services Club. 

“The fair gave students a chance to connect with a wide variety of local organizations that they may have not even known existed,” said Samantha Newman, co-president of the Human Services Club. “Those organizations were able to reach out even more by giving information, making connections, and building foundations for possible future relationships with the people of Delaware County.” 

Contact Joe Andrew at 

communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Delaware Valley University and Delaware County Community College signed an agreement today that will allow Delaware County Community College students to earn a DelVal bachelor’s degree without ever having to leave the community college’s campuses in Delaware or Chester Counties.

 DelVal (formerly DelVal College) will begin offering courses this September at Delaware County Community College’s Marple Campus and Exton Center. Bachelor’s degree programs to be offered include business administration, counseling psychology, criminal justice, and media and communications. 

Student tuition for the DelVal Degree Completion program will be $425 per credit, a reduced partnership rate that is less than DelVal’s on-campus tuition. There are no additional fees.

To be eligible, students must have already earned an associate degree from Delaware County Community College and met the minimum grade point averages required for admission into DelVal’s specific baccalaureate program.

To further assist students with the cost of earning their bachelor’s degree, students will be able to take up to 12 additional credits at Delaware County Community College beyond those required for their associate degree at the community college tuition rate. Those courses can be applied to the total credits required for the DelVal bachelor’s degree.

This new on-site bachelor’s degree completion program expands on the Guaranteed Dual Admission and Core-to-Core Transfer agreements that both institutions signed in June 2014. 

“The expansion of our partnership agreement with Delaware County Community College is reflective of Delaware Valley University’s commitment to being a major resource for education and training in the region,” said Dr. Joseph Brosnan, University president. 

“Many students who earn associate degrees want to also continue on to a bachelor’s degree but are often having to deal with personal and financial issues that prevent them from leaving their local area,” continued Dr. Brosnan. “This program eliminates both those barriers, will help students realize their dream of earning a bachelor’s degree, and ultimately will improve their quality of life.”

“Our students will benefit greatly from this opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree at a reduced tuition rate without having to leave our College’s campuses,” said Dr. Jerry Parker, president of Delaware County Community College. “The convenience and cost savings represented by this agreement greatly expand the educational options available to our students.”

“We deliberately took a cooperative approach in developing this partnership,” said Art Goon, vice president for enrollment management at DelVal, which is located in Doylestown, PA. 

“We listened to the concerns of the leaders and students at Delaware County Community College and jointly came up with an agreement that will provide for a seamless, convenient and affordable pathway for the College’s associate degree earners to attain a bachelor’s degree. This project also underscores DelVal’s continued effort to be the most transfer-friendly, four-year institution in the region.”

Open enrollment, one-to-one engagement in classes, and tightknit community bonds are just some of the reasons why DCCC’s new dean of Communications, Arts and Humanities, Dr. Robert Kleinschmidt, said he fell in love with community colleges. 

Kleinschmidt holds a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Colorado State University, a Master of Music Performance degree from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Youngstown State University.

He loves jazz music, plays the tenor saxophone, has served as executive director of the Kinser Jazz Festival, and was a member of the music and jazz studies faculty at Casper College.

Kleinschmidt brings considerable community college administrative experience to DCCC, having served as dean of Creative Arts at Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio and as both assistant dean and dean of the School of Language and Arts at Ocean County College in New Jersey. 

Kleinschmidt says he admires the faculty at DCCC because it consists of “fantastic people” and meets the high standards one would find among university faculty.

“What really impressed me about the faculty of Communications, Arts and Humanities was how accomplished they were in their field,” Kleinschmidt says. “Some are published authors, they’ve presented papers for conferences, 42 out of 50 professors are tenured, and many have been acknowledged by the professional organizations associated with their discipline.” 

Kleinschmidt sees a lot of potential in his department, starting with fine arts, which he wishes to expand. “The art professors made fine arts a two-year transfer degree, and most students are being accepted to four-year universities and they are offered scholarships,” Kleinschmidt says.

He also wants to see growth in the departments of performance arts, communication studies, and music. To that end, he is considering a TV/ radio station for the campus. 

Since Kleinschmidt is new to DCCC, he hopes to know what the faculty is really thinking regarding their goals for the college. 

“I’ve walked around and sat in classrooms, and I’ve sat down during open conference meetings just so I can listen for the real needs and wants of the faculty and students,” Kleinschmidt says.

By doing this, he says he gets faculty to open up to him about what they want to be changed. 

Regarding student concerns, Kleinschmidt says he deals with a lot of little problems that students may not realize they can fix themselves. Instead of coming to the dean right away, he suggests the students talk to their professor first outside of class to try and resolve their issues. 

However, if there is a wider issue that affects more students and the course itself, Kleinschmidt says he wants to be there for students in the most receptive way he can. 

“If eight kids come marching in my office all complaining about how the teacher was late for five weeks straight, or they sign a petition, that’s something I take extremely seriously,” he says.

Kleinschmidt understands that within a community college, there are a lot of challenges students can face, including financial troubles, family issues, finding time to schedule classes around a work schedule, and attending class.

But, according to Kleinschmidt, themost pressing need of community college students today is life skills. “Every class that I’ve observed, every time I’ve worked with a student on an issue with their teacher, it comes down to how to deal with other people and the realization that [the students] are no longer in high school.” 

He says the most valuable lesson taught at this college is helping students gain those valuable life skills. “Every course teaches you something about life, whether it be a math class or a history class — they all teach you how to learn,” Kleinschmidt adds.

“It’s not just about writing an essay, it’s about understanding people and understanding life so you can write that essay,” says Kleinschmidt.

 Before the fall semester, Kleinschmidt plans to observe enrollment patterns, and perhaps cancel classes that are not filling up in time. 

“One of the challenges is to make sure courses are available at the times that students need them,” says Kleinschmidt. 

He says paying attention to the next course the student will take, for example, Photo II after Photo I, and offering courses during morning, afternoon, and evening, opens up flexible times for students and reduces the risk for lower enrollment.

Lower enrollment is an issue because “the number of students graduating from high school is declining,” according to Kleinschmidt. 

He says he is working with the Enrollment Management department at DCCC and is doing everything he possibly can to “make sure that the students who are interested in our college are able to get the classes they need.”

Contact Erica Setnick at 

communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

DCCC hosted its annual Fall Fest in the courtyard of the Marple Campus Sept. 23-24.

Fall Fest is a celebration of DCCC’s numerous campus clubs and organizations that serves as a way to introduce students to all that the school offers.

Students were treated to information about various clubs and ways to get involved. Those who attended Fall Fest were rewarded for their curiosity with popcorn, candy, and other treats.

The event also featured different games and activities for students to participate in.

The two day event marked the start of the 2015-16 school year. After three weeks of classes, Fall Fest served as a way to show students different parts of the college experience.

Fall Fest was sponsored by DCCC’s Campus Life Office. For additional information on the college’s clubs and organizations, visit the Campus Life Office the Student Center, Room 1180.

Contact Raymond Porreca at communitarian@mail.dcc.edu

By Alicia Stearn

Special to The Communitarian

The Business, Computing and Social Science division sponsored a “Violence in America” presentation for DCCC students at Marple campus Oct. 13.

Seven expert panelists discussed mass shootings, police violence and the Stand your Ground laws, before taking students’ questions.

Matt O’Donnell, an ABC News anchor, started the presentation by asking the panelists questions, such as why mass shootings are happening and how can they be stopped.

“There’s disenfranchised individuals that want to make a name for themselves,” said Mike Cuff, a Supervisory Special Agent and graduate of the FBI Academy. “The number of school shootings is [only] a fraction of homicides. It’s for media attention.”

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said that mental health issues are the “common denominator” in all mass shootings, including school shootings.

Whelan explained that the Delaware County Council, a committee in charge of legislative and administrative decisions in the county, set up and authorized an alert system for Delaware County schools, K-12. If there is suspicious activity in the school, the alert system allows teachers or staff to press a button, putting the school on lockdown.

“We should start a point of prevention in our schools,” said Richard P. Barrett, an assistant U.S. attorney, “to teach at an early age how to prevent hate and warn kids about this virus.”

“It’s such a shame when mass shootings happen at schools,” said Darnée A. Shepheard, a marketing major who attended the presentation. “A place where people want to feel safe and better themselves, but they cannot do that.”

Commissioner Joesph Bail Jr., a retired Chester County police officer, told the audience that often police are simply “reactive” instead of proactive because they don’t “have the time and energy.”

Mary Catherine Roper, the deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, explained the difference between the Stand your Ground law and the Castle Doctrine. The Castle Doctrine gives Americans the right to defend themselves in their own home or car, she explained.

The Stand your Ground law gives citizens in 23 states the right to legally protect themselves if they feel their life is threatened or they are being attacked.

The Stand your Ground law in Pennsylvania states, “If you’re in a legally justifiable place and you believe you are in danger, and you have a firearm, and are being attacked by someone with a firearm, you can use it,” Whelan said. “But if you don’t have [the firearm] legally, you can’t even use it.”

One student asked, “What is being done to protect our police officers? Not in just a physical sense but mentally.”

Commisioner Bail explained that there are counselors police officers can talk to after a traumatic event. He then described his own story of having another officer die in his arms in and admitted that he still goes to counseling ever since the event in 1999.

Other panelists included Dr. Raymond Albert, a professor and director of the Law and Social Policy Program, and Dr. Clyde Ledbetter, Jr., a graduate student at the University of Oxford and a professor teaching human rights education at Cheney University.

In the beginning of the presentation, information pamphlets were handed out on the rights of American citizens which contained a “My Rights Card” that students can give to law enforcement officials if they are being detained.

“This pamphlet is great,” Shepheard said. “There is so much useful information in here that one day could help someone at any moment.”

Email The Communitarian at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Special to The Communitarian

A recent study on the correlation between teenage texting and their performance in class is receiving widespread attention within the psychological community.

First published in the American Psychological    Association’s    journal, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, the study is co-authored by Dr. Kelly Landman, assistant professor of Business, Computing and Social Science at DCCC.

Amid the growing international attention towards her study, Dr. Landman continues to teach her classes this semester while participating in interviews with many national and international media outlets.

I recently had the chance to discuss this sudden leap into the spotlight with Landman, as well as the details of her latest studyandtheimplicationsitmayholdfor the future of media-based psychology.

What first interested you in the field of psychology?

Great question! When I was in high school I wanted to go into education, and I thought I would be a high school teacher. In my senior year, I took a psychology course and I fell in love, and I loved many aspects of it: the research, the science behind it, the clinical applications and therapy. I decided to major in psychology in my undergraduate studies, and then pursued clinical studies in particular.

So that was something you always really enjoyed?

Yes, and I never knew I had an interest in psych when I was in high school. It wasn’t something I ever knew anything about. So once I had a little bit of exposure, I just was hooked. I found out later down the road that I could also teach. That was my original goal, so it all meshed well when I realized I could teach about the topic that I loved the most. When I realized that this was my passion, I never looked back from that point on.

Tell us more about your research.

Absolutely. It’s a study of teens’ texting behaviors, and it looks specifically at not just the frequency with which teens text, but also the compulsive nature of their texting, so in addition to how many texts they’re sending and receiving in a day.

Even if their rate is low it focuses on how often they feel the need to check their phone, how often they daydream about the phone when it’s not with them and how much sleep they’re losing because they’re preoccupied with what’s happening on their phone.

This is the first study that looked at compulsive texting’s relation to frequency of texting, and then applied it to teen’s self- reported academic functioning.

What first inspired the study?

For my master’s thesis, I did a lot of work looking at teen’s social and aggressive behaviors over the Internet. At the time, we were looking at Facebook, but also what people put on their blogs – the biggest format of the time being MySpace.

As you know, that quickly became, not entirely obsolete, but we don’t use it as much. So when it was time to think about future research projects for my dissertation and beyond, we decided to look at what the current social media formats were and saw that numbers were backing teen’s texting more than they were doing anything else. Plus, on their mobile phone, they could access Facebook and all the other formats that we used to be interested in.

Because you say you focused on teens’ behavior online, how do you feel about current studies in that field? Is there enough? Or should there be more?

There is so much opportunity, and there’s a lot coming out from the last few years where there are so many gaps, and even [after] our study, there are countless more we want to do based on the results of ours.

So we’re just at the beginning of learning about this, and texting is something that, unlike some of our other social media formats, we can tell is not going to go away.

I think the potential is great for where researchers can go in this field, looking at motivation s for texting and the actual content of texts, because we didn’t examine that ourselves.

We’re presuming that the females are communicating about things like relationships, whereas the males are communicating about factual information like making plans and more basic content.

One thing I became interested in is if teens are texting because they have a fear of missing out and the whole “FOMO” idea. There are so many areas where we could go, and we just started scratching the surface of it, I believe.

So, you would say that there’s a new frontier of research?

Yes, absolutely, and there has been a lot in the last several years regarding texting and frequency, so that’s one area where there still can still learn a lot about. Prior to that, there was a lot on internet frequency, and a lot of the texting research is being based on the theories developed in internet research.

[However], this whole compulsive nature – we have a lot more we can do there. We’re not calling it addiction either, because we’re not looking at it clinically, we’re not talking about diagnosis, but it does seem to share some behaviors that are similar to a lot of our other addictive behaviors.

A lot of reports that are out there in the last week or two [regarding this study] draw this connection to compulsive gambling, which is a great idea, but some

of the headlines are saying we tied it to that and we didn’t. None of the research is causal, although there is definitely potential for looking at the similarities in future research.

Once the data had come in and this study was finalized, for you personally, what was the most significant thing you found?

The biggest take-home message is that boys and girls are texting at similar rates, but girls appear to be texting more compulsively even though the frequency is similar. Then, we looked at the relation to academic functioning.

When you look at compulsive texting, if girls report that they’re high in compulsive texting, they’re [also] self- reporting lower academic functioning than those who report that they’re low in compulsive texting.

For the boys, we don’t see the difference between those who say that they’re higher or lower. Their academic functioning seems to be similar and there seems to be no significant difference there.

We’re not saying in any way that the girls’ performance is lower than the boys; in fact, the girls still report that their [overall] academic performance is higher than the boys, though we’d need to look at actual records to know if they were telling the truth.

Did you find any motivations behind this? Or was it simply the raw data?

Well, those were our results. Then we were given the task to explain why this may be, and this is where the potential for future studies comes into play.

We need to go and look at the content of the messages, because there is a good chance the girls may be texting about things they’re preoccupied with and things they are emotional about, whereas the boys may not be so connected to or worried about the content of their texts.

Some of the other things we want to look at more [include] the role of divided attention and multitasking, and if it’s something in the way that girls are compulsive texting that’s pulling their attention away from academics, and that’s really the part that’s spurring this difference. But we don’t know. These were just some of our presumptions.

Hopefully, it can have a little impact in this field of research on texting, and if it sparks any additional questions or

somebody can base a study off what we found and look more causally at some of these things, then that would be wonderful.

Now that this study is out there and appears to be gaining attention, how does it feel to be in the spotlight?

It’s been an exciting week for sure. I’ve never had the experience of speaking to all these media outlets before, so that has been new to me. Some of the first people I head from were from England. Both The Sun and The Daily Mail on the very first day.

In terms of stretch though, I’ve also seen things pop up in different languages, so I’m not sure where they’re based out of. I was also told yesterday by one of my colleagues here that there was something out of India. The Times of India, I believe it was called.

But it’s been exciting to see how far-reaching this has been, and that it’s impacting people worldwide – everybody can relate across cultures. One other emotion I could say that I’ve experienced is some [pause] concern that the media sometimes handles the statistics.

I’ve never seen it firsthand, only talked about it in classes that I’m teaching. I constantly have my students go out and look at the way the media talks about statistics and we try to analyze it together and see, “Is that what this study really found?”

I’m now just beginning to see that there are sometimes headlines out there that are not at all [based on] what I found. However, the attention the media is giving it, I think, has been very exciting. I’m just happy for the field, because with all this attention, hopefully it sparks other people to continue research.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I think the last thing I’d say is, first and foremost that this is a study designed to look at positive and negative aspects of texting, and the larger study looked at both. The article that was published highlights one worrisome area, and that is when you compulsively text and the correlation to academic functioning. [But] there is so much potential for good when it comes to texting as well, and we’re very aware of that. There also needs to be research in that area, such as how it connects people and nurtures relationships, and I look forward to seeing that as well.

Email The Communitarian at commun

By Shannon Adams

Special to The Communitarian

Linda Lefevre, the director of Continuing and Professional Studies Admissions at Delaware Valley University, is coordinating the efforts for its Degree Completion Program on DCCC’s Marple campus.

The Degree Completion Program is designed to help students, graduating with an associate’s degree from DCCC, earn their bachelor’s degree in a convenient and affordable way, while remaining on the Marple campus. The programs being offered are business administration, counseling psychology, criminal justice and media and communication.

I recently caught up with Lefevre to discuss the Degree Completion Program, its advantages, and what it is meant to accomplish here on Marple campus.

Q: What exactly is the Delaware Valley Completion program and how does it work to the students’ advantage?

A: It’s going to help students get their bachelor's degree on site at DCCC. So it’s more convenient. They don’t have to travel to a new university; they are already familiar with the campus and comfortable on the campus.

They can stay on site and it can help the student get their degree in a very affordable way. This program is all about the student; we do everything we can to make it more affordable and to be as transfer friendly as we can.

Our degree completion programs are designed to build upon the associate’s degrees from your school, such as business administration or the administration of justice. Three different associate's degrees [transfer] into counseling psychology: psychology, sociology and social work.

They’re all mapped to our degrees and then there's communication arts and journalism. So you’ve got six different associate degrees that map into one of “Throughout the process, I just always remember Mike being there” he says, “and I realized afterwards that I wanted to switch from being a firefighter to an EMT.”

From there, Hamilton obtained his certification through the EMT program at DCCC while he was still a junior in high school.

According to Hamilton, he was one of the youngest certified EMTs in the state at only 19 years old. Over the years, his roles within the profession were varied he served onboard Crozier transport helicopters as a paramedic and worked alongside several critical-care units.

Eventually, his passion turned to teaching. “My love was always sharing the knowledge,” says Hamilton. “In order to teach, you have to be active [being a paramedic].”

Since becoming an instructor at the college where he first learned his lifesaving skills, Hamilton says he sought to produce the best EMTs and paramedics he possibly could, taught by the most specialized staff within their respective fields.

Later in the evening, Hamilton makes his way to “do a little housekeeping” with a class of Allied Health paramedics on the fourth floor of DCCC’s Academic Building.

The environment is relaxed as the small crowd of students shuffle into the spacious, sterile facility. They exchange jokes and laughter over their most recent shifts, while Hmilton prepares to review questions from their last meeting session.

His tone is firm, yet upbeat as he impresses upon the students that only three weeks remain until the completion of their program. Several of the students watch intently as he makes his way around

the room, answering questions from their latest assignment and quizzing them at random.

As the class progresses, Hamilton dims the lights and brings up a simulation on the large projection screen at the back of the room. The students are then challenged to name the condition of a patient’s heart based solely on the electrocardiogram readings that slowly pan across the screen.

Nearly every student answers correctly, and Hamilton smiles at their combined efforts to complete the quiz within the allotted time. As he finishes the last portion of his lecture, he turns the lesson over to a second instructor, who begins to load a PowerPoint presentation on toxicology.

As Hamilton makes his way out of the training facility, he bids the students “good luck” and says he’ll be seeing them the following Thursday.

Although Hamilton teaches EMT training roughly six days of the week, he strives to work at least two 12-hour shifts as an on-call first responder.

His latest plans are to present a lecture on advanced cardiac life-support to third- year ER residents at Drexel University. Much of his pride, however, still lies in the current training program at DCCC, he says.

“I hope to grow the program with the people who are the best at what they do,” Hamilton adds. “To be able to take someone who barely knows how to turn on a heart monitor to being able to diagnose a heart condition at a glance it’s just amazing.”

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

By Shawna Daly

When Marina Perez was 21, she had her dreams interrupted by an unplanned pregnancy.

“Before all this happened, I wanted to be a chef,” says Perez, who dropped out of the Walnut Hill Culinary School halfway through college. “I worked as a barista through college.”

When Perez discovered she was pregnant, she realized it was because she wasn't using her birth control consistently. Since Perez had lost both of her parents, having a baby while in college was unrealistic,shesaid,adding,“Ididn'twant to be a number in a statistic.”

Perez felt unstable and needed to find her footing, so she left school.

She is not alone.

Andrea Kane, senior director of policy and partnerships at the National Campaign, found that “seven in 10 pregnancies among single women in their 20s are unplanned.”

And unplanned pregnancy directly impacts college completion rates, experts say.

According to the National Survey of Family Growth, 61 percent of pregnant community college students don’t graduate, 65 percent higher than those without children while in college.

Progressive Policy Institute found that 38 percent of female community college dropouts say becoming pregnant was the cause.

According to Achieving the Dream, a national community college success organization, students with children face unrealistic expenses, such as child care, employment, student loans, and housing issues, all of which are impediments to academic performance.

A solution for many college students is to use birth control.

An analysis at Florida State University found that access to birth control before 21 was a critical factor in increasing enrollment rates for college women.

“The ability to delay and space childbearing is crucial to women’s social and economic advancement,” 

states a study of birth control practices by Guttmacher University. “Women’s ability to obtain and effectively use contraceptives has a positive impact on their education and workforce participation.”

Unfortunately, for some students, leaving home for a four-year school is a lifestyle change that breeds irresponsibility, particulary with respect to alcohol consumption and unprotected promiscuous sex.

Students who participated in Maticka- Tydale study at University of Windsor stated that 76 percent of men and 19 percent of women reported they intended to have sex with someone during spring break, and 26 percent of males and nearly 36 percent of females failed to use a condom during sex with someone they met on spring break.

Another study at Illinois University found that alcohol use is directly connected with sexual promiscuity: 49 percent of males and 38 percent of females reported having sex as a direct result of drinking.

Experts say that educating college students about sex, contraceptives, and prevention, could decrease the rates of unplanned pregnancies, something many students say is highly desirable.

According to the American Association of Community Colleges, three-quarters of student’s report that preventing unplanned pregnancy is very important to them, and 80 percent say that having a child while in college would make completion hard-won.

In response, some community colleges implement educational courses and clubs to inform students about real-life sexual situations and how to prevent STDs and pregnancy.

In 2009, Delaware Technical and Community College used grant money to create an on-campus health clinic where students can receive birth control and the morning after pill as well as get professional advice for health concerns.

Online classes with chat forums could also help students access credible information and conversation about preventing pregnancy. However, many colleges do not provide these services.

DCCC counselor Ruth Campbell says that when female students confide in her about their sexual relationships, she recommends the course PSY 205, Human Sexual Behavior.

PSY 205 is a three credit course that highlights conception, contraception, STDs, and sexual life styles.

However, PSY205 has a prerequisite of PSY 140 or SOC 110, preventing students from learning about the sexual behaviors they are most likely engaging in.

Campbell says that pregnant students don't realize that their parents aren't going to watch after their grandchild while the mother is at school, and some less fortunate pregnant students don't have a support system to begin with.

Furthermore, college doesn't return to normal after nine months of pregnancy is over. Campbell says that she has seen new mothers have to drop classes or semesters to find childcare. And when credits expire, new mothers are too discouraged to return to college.

"Some pregnant students think that after nine months they can return to their life as a student again and move on," Campbell said. "But they're changing their identity from a student to a young mother."

Campbell doesn't believe she has all the resources to counsel pregnant students on a regular basis. Occasionally, she will assign another counselor to speak with a student about her pregnancy or sexually abusive relationships.

According to Campbell, DCCC has held sexual health lectures in the STEM building, and upcoming lectures can be found on the Campus Life events web- page.

Publicly funded family planning services make access to contraceptives and medical exams accessible for all demographics.

On Aug. 1, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), FDA-approved contraceptive methods would be available without copay.

Within the first year, women saved $483 million on birth control pills.

Planned Parenthood offers their workshop services to schools, including consultations, peer education programs, and presentations. They also provide tools to help schools build sex education curriculums.

Planned    Parenthood    provides abortion services as well. According to Planned Parenthood, 30 percent of women in the United States have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old.

After being faced with an unplanned pregnancy, Perez went to Planned Parenthood to have an abortion.

Perez says that her abortion was the most difficult experience of her life, but it was the only realistic option.

Seeing the pregnancy through and finding adoptive parents would have occupied a large part of her early twenties, Perez says, and her job during this time wouldn’t have covered the costs of living plus medical expenses.

“I felt an early term abortion was my only option,” Perez said. “It was painful, traumatic, and I carry that with me everyday. 'Who would my baby have been? Would my baby look like me?'”

Despite dropping out of culinary school, Perez says she is proud of the accomplishments she’s made since her unplanned pregnancy.

“I’ve been with Melodies Cafe in Ardmore for almost two years,” Perez said. “Now I’m being trained for a management position.”

Perez is continuing to build experience for her resume in a career field in which she feels comfortable. She is undecided about returning to school, yet feels confident in her leadership abilities.

“If I decide to go back to school, I would save some money and go to community college,” Perez says. “I liked going to school, and I know not to make the same mistake twice.”

Contact Shawna Daly at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Special to The Communitarian

The gentle glow of a desk lamp casts shadows across the award certificates and medical equipment that sit within the office of Elaine Karr, director of Emergency Management Services education at Delaware County Community College.

The laughter of several people fills the hall just outside the spacious room, and the smell of warm soup permeates the air as lunch is served to the staff members. A man walks in wearing a Drexel University- branded fleece jacket over a navy “DCCC EMT Instructor” shirt – a symbol of his position within the college, and past accomplishments.

This man is Robert Hamilton, known to many of the staff and students as “Bubba.” His position as coordinator of paramedic education at DCCC is the latest role in his career that spans nearly 25 years.

From a flight paramedic to a 911 paramedic – a job he still actively participates in – Hamilton has dedicated the last 19 years of his life to educating future first-responders through the Emergency Management Services program at DCCC.

On Nov 21 Hamilton, 43, was named “Educatorofthe Year” by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Emergency Services.

The award, where nominees are exclusively chosen by their peers, was officially presented to Hamilton during a formal ceremony in which his “entire EMT family” was in attendance.

“I think I had the most support of anyone there,” says Hamilton. “It was the one thing that surprised me the most; that was the real award for me.”

Hamilton smiles as he reminisces about that day, claiming that it was “the highlight of [his] life.” He nods his head as he describes the scene, with “representatives from across the state” being present for the ceremony and his closest friends within the faculty joining him at the event.

Across the table, Elaine Karr, a longtime friend of Hamilton and director of EMS services at DCCC, offers her own explanation as to why he was selected for the honor. “Since he arrived here in 2014,” says Karr, “we’ve seen out our completion rates go through the roof. Bubba makes sure the job gets done right.”

Hamilton’s career as a first-responder began at age 13, as a junior member of his local volunteer fire department. During his tenure with the company, he was inspired by a fellow volunteer, an EMT named Mike Wilson whom Hamilton says he looked up to with great respect.

One day a young Hamilton experienced a seizure at the fire station, that sent him to the hospital, where he was later diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“Throughout the process, I just always remember Mike being there” he says, “and I realized afterwards that I wanted to switch from being a firefighter to an EMT.”

From there, Hamilton obtained his certification through the EMT program at DCCC while he was still a junior in high school.

According to Hamilton, he was one of the youngest certified EMTs in the state at only 19 years old. Over the years, his roles within the profession were varied he served onboard Crozier transport helicopters as a paramedic and worked alongside several critical-care units.

Eventually, his passion turned to teaching. “My love was always sharing the knowledge,” says Hamilton. “In order to teach, you have to be active [being a paramedic].”

Since becoming an instructor at the college where he first learned his lifesaving skills, Hamilton says he sought to produce the best EMTs and paramedics he possibly could, taught by the most specialized staff within their respective fields.

Later in the evening, Hamilton makes his way to “do a little housekeeping” with a class of Allied Health paramedics on the fourth floor of DCCC’s Academic Building.

The environment is relaxed as the small crowd of students shuffle into the spacious, sterile facility. They exchange jokes and laughter over their most recent shifts, while Hmilton prepares to review questions from their last meeting session.

His tone is firm, yet upbeat as he impresses upon the students that only three weeks remain until the completion of their program. Several of the students watch intently as he makes his way around

the room, answering questions from their latest assignment and quizzing them at random.

As the class progresses, Hamilton dims the lights and brings up a simulation on the large projection screen at the back of the room. The students are then challenged to name the condition of a patient’s heart based solely on the electrocardiogram readings that slowly pan across the screen.

Nearly every student answers correctly, and Hamilton smiles at their combined efforts to complete the quiz within the allotted time. As he finishes the last portion of his lecture, he turns the lesson over to a second instructor, who begins to load a PowerPoint presentation on toxicology.

As Hamilton makes his way out of the training facility, he bids the students “good

luck” and says he’ll be seeing them the following Thursday.

Although Hamilton teaches EMT training roughly six days of the week, he strives to work at least two 12-hour shifts as an on-call first responder.

His latest plans are to present a lecture on advanced cardiac life-support to third- year ER residents at Drexel University. Much of his pride, however, still lies in the current training program at DCCC, he says.

“I hope to grow the program with the people who are the best at what they do,” Hamilton adds. “To be able to take someone who barely knows how to turn on a heart monitor to being able to diagnose a heart condition at a glance it’s just amazing.”

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

By Nicole Marie Wieland

Born and educated in Australia, Assistant English Professor Matthew Wilsey-Cleveland came to DCCC during the fall semester of 2012. Since then, he has touched the lives of many of the students.

Wilsey-Cleveland has taught at four different colleges: The University of New South Wales, St. Cloud State University, University of Colorado, and now DCCC.

Recently, I sat down with Wilsey- Cleveland, a Scrabble enthusiast, to discuss his passion for helping his students succeed through teaching.

How did you end up here at DCCC?

I applied to about 200 jobs everywhere around the world. The job I picked was at a small Midwestern college in central Minnesota called St. Cloud State. It was close to an Indian reservation. I imagined this little township shrouded in mist with dragons lumbering around.

Boy was that a mistake! It was so cold there! It gets to minus seventy degrees in winter. After that I got a job as a writing professor at the University of Colorado, in a great job working with amazing people.

After six years there I woke up one day and I decided that I want my legacy to be the lives that I help and the lives that I touch and help to shape, so I decided I wanted to be a community college professor.

So your reason for teaching at DCCC was to help people?

I come from a very poor background; both my parents came from big, uneducated families, so I saw them struggle so much. I

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wanted to work with folks who need it. I wanted to work with folks who I identified with. I was excited about that and this is the best job I’ve ever had. I love being here, and I love my students.

What is one of the most inspiring moments you’ve had with a student?

Early on my career I was teaching this night class and I had this student who was a hockey player. One day he came drunk into my office yelling and I just told him off! He started crying, and I gave him a hug and worked with him outside of class to get himself straightened out. He ended up becoming a straight A student.

How many colleges have you been to?

I’ve taught at four different colleges, but I’ve done guest lectures and done research at City University of New York, The University of Aarhus in Denmark, The University of Vigo in Spain. I like to go and look at beautiful campuses in different parts of the world.

What’s your favorite campus that you’ve been to?

It’s not the most beautiful, but my favorite college in the world is Columbia University. I don’t know why. I think [the band members of] Vampire Weekend were students there.

So you love music? What do you love to listen to?

I love independent and punk and classical, but I’ll listen to anything.

If you could pick one favorite band, what would it be?

At at the moment I still really like The Vaccines. They’re really fun!

What is one of your hobbies?

I surf really badly, I love being outdoors, obviously I read. I was a professional dancer until a drunk driver hit me and I fractured my spine in two places. I like playing Scrabble; I play nine games of Scrabble a day on the Scrabble app on Facebook.

Scrabble players are so mean! When they lose they’re like cursing you out and stuff! They’re like “You’re a cheat!” I’m like “No, I’m an English Professor; I’m going to beat you in Scrabble.”

What’s one thing that you wish your students knew?

What I wish students knew was how to get through college less passively. How to not just do things because they’re told, but to know the game and play the game. That’s what I try to do in my classes: get students to understand precisely the point of what they’re doing. Why they are here – that’s important to me.

Say I was a student in your class, and I was very poor; I had to work three jobs, I was trying to go to college full time, and we had a big assignment coming up but I missed the due date. What would be your reaction to that?

What’s important to me is communication. This is what I tell my students: My leprechaun died. Before my leprechaun died I could read minds; I had mind reading powers. Poor Seamus – bless his heart – he was murdered brutally in a back alley in Queens one night.

Since he died, I need my students to actually talk to me and let me know what’s

going on, because if my students talk to me I can support them. I’m able to help them navigate the problems that they have in their lives.

What’s one thing you hate about being a professor?

Administration, because it’s a lot of hoop jumping. I’m a professor because I want to teach; I don’t want to do tons and tons of paperwork. I love being around my students, helping them, and seeing the direct impact I have on their growth – as writers, as people. That makes me happy.

What’s got you worried about the state of education today?

The decreasing level of literacy and fluency amongst college-age students. That worries me a lot; that makes me really mad.

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

I could talk all day! I’m pretty quiet most of the time; I’m a hermit. One thing I’d really like to do in the future when I have more time, after I’ve gotten tenured, is to travel to a new country every year and do volunteering for wildlife.

Contact Nicole Marie Wieland at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Several students attended communications professor Patricia Vorndran’s workshop titled “Setting Goals: A Formula for Success” on a cold Thursday afternoon, on DCCC’s Marple campus Jan.28.

Vorndran, who teaches both public speaking and interpersonal communication at the Downingtown campus, hosted the workshop because studentsdon’toftenrecognizethehurdles setting goals can help them jump and as a way to reach out. “Students, new and old, could benefit from some guidance,” she said.

During the hour long workshop Vorndran helped students explore what types of goals they had previously set for themselves. She did this by asking students to make a simple list of things they hoped to accomplish this semester.

After students had completed their list, Vorndran led them through the task of picking one goal, as well as determining whether the goal was achievable.

This was done with a “SMART” goal worksheet, which explained a goal in terms of relevance, importance and obstacle.

To further decipher how realistic those goals were, Vorndran explained the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation: extrinsic is a goal built on outside expectation, obligation and the outside achievement or reward as benefit from the goal; intrinsic is defined as motivation to complete a task due to internal desire.

Students responded most to Vorndran’s questions about which types of goals could make them the most successful.

Some students shared that they were working toward their calling, others shared they have yet to discover their own, and some shared they were already familiar with what it is like to fall behind.

Andrew Kelly, a liberal arts major, who is now in his second semester, explained that after a difficult first semester, he hoped attending Vorndran’s workshop would help him find ways to keep himself on track.

Vorndran explained that time management and having friends to remind you of your goals can help students to better achieve [them], “Allowing yourself realistic amounts of time to complete task will help you to reach the larger goals.”

Vorndran found through personal experience, that one of the reasons students may fall behind in college is for the fear of looking stupid in front of their peers.

Another thing Vorndran has most often noticed as a source of anxiety for students is public speaking.

“You not only have to get up and speak, but you’re judged on your ability,” Vorndran said. “I view my role as one to create an environment in which students feel supported; and by the end of semester, [they] feel confident when they speak in front of audiences.”

At the conclusion of the workshop, a checklist was given out to help students decipher what type of goal orientation they possess. Statements listed included: “It’s important to me that my teacher doesn’t think that I know less than others in class,” and “Even if the work is hard, I can learn it.” Though results were not shared, Vorndran informed students that more 

successful people tend to be those whose goals are more intrinsic.

On Feb. 23, Professor Vorndran will host another workshop here on the Marple campus titled “Help! I’m About to Give Up,” directed towards students who are finding it difficult to manage their workload.

“Some people avoid doing the work because they don’t know how to get started,” said Vorndran. “They don’t realize the resources and the help that is available

to them.”    

Contact Shannon Adams at communitarian@mail.dccc

By Chris Giorgini

Special to The Communitarian

Roland Wu, a Portland, Ore. resident, is the cinematographer and co-editor of “14.”

The documentary is a look into the past and present day struggle of those either seeking U.S. citizenship or American citizens whose citizenship rights are challenged.

Wu, who graduated from Reed College with a bachelor's degree in literature, met and started working with Graham Street Productions co-founder Anne Galisky, who produced “14,” through the musician that produced the musical score for the film.

Graham Street productions creates documentary films dealing with social issues for educational release.

“14” was shown at DCCC’s Marple campus March 2 in the Academic Building, between 11:15a.m. and 12:00 a.m.

I recently spoke with Wu about the making of the film and his thoughts on what it means to be recognized as a birthright or naturalized American citizen, as articulated by the 14th Amendment.

Q: What is the most enjoyable aspect of being a cinematographer?

A: I really enjoy interacting with people and I find it’s a very specific and focused way of relating to people. Some people try to approach it like, let's turn the camera on

and try to get the subject or interviewee to forget the camera is there. But I don’t approach it that way. Interviewing someone and turning a camera on is an opportunity to examine things in maybe a more focused and kind of a cute way. It’s a chance to kind of find a deeper truth about themselves or about their emotions or feelings.

Q: Why do you think the constitutional law of naturalized or birthright citizenship is being disputed?

A: The constitutionality of birthright citizenship in many people's eyes is undisputed. But at the same time there are many people who put it into question. I really think that this is more motivated by a fear of different people or xenophobia. There is an attempt to shift conversation to such an almost extreme extent that the compromise gets shifted. So it no longer becomes how we can become inclusive in this country or how we can treat all people with a sense of dignity and respect. It becomes “Oh, we can agree on partial rights for people and second class citizens.” I think that’s a real worry, and something that as filmmakers is why we do what we do. It’s to try to expose these issues, but also give a face and real voice to undocumented people. Show what it's like to be like these people and really suffer.

Q: Why release the film educationally instead of commercially?

A: It did have to do with who our target audience is. We really feel that college campuses, high schools, law schools, that's

the future of the country. The places where people vary in age and are open to many new ideas. That’s not to say we’re opposed to releasing it commercially. We think at this moment it’s most important to get together and not just see the film, but talk about the film. It’s kind of creating a space for people to grow together and meet people with different experiences and create bonds. It’s something we feel strongly about, and we put our very limited resources, time, and energy into creating these moments.

Q: What is the message you want to convey with this film?

A: For myself, I would say the film is about human dignity and the mistreatment of people in this country. I think the country was founded on a paradoxical idealism. While it talks about freedom and democracy, it’s built economically on slavery and the nastiness towards the Native American people. The film is about the 14th Amendment. All people born in the United States are citizens. That’s an ideal, you know? Ideals are important for us as a country and for us individually because they remind us not to fight for only our rights and dignity, but fight for others. There's a quote in the film from Frederick Douglass: “Slavery lives in this country not because of any paper Constitution, but in the moral blindness of the American people, who persuade themselves that they’re safe, though the rights of others may be struck down.” One thing I want the viewers to take after seeing this film is, “I might be ok, or comfortable, or have enough opportunities, but I still need to fight for the opportunities of other people who might be at risk.” And really, this idea of family and what parents and grandparents do to make their children's lives better. That’s universal. It goes beyond U.S. history or U.S. politics and it’s always the case, no matter what time period.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: Right now there is a lawsuit happening, the Perales Serna case, in Texas that is still in the early stages. Children of undocumented parents, who are 4 years old and younger and were born in Texas, are being denied birth certificates from the state. It's important to underline that this issue of citizenship is not something that’s static; it’s not set in stone. Whether or not it’s in the Constitution, it’s being tested in Texas right now. It’s really a terrible thing that’s happening, and that’s my opinion, that we are punishing children before they can even read or right. We’re punishing them for who their parents are and what actions their parents took. I feel like that is very unjust and an unfair thing we do here. I’m really curious to see how it will unfold in the next month and years.

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian.mail.dccc.edu

By Joshua Patton

Special to The Communitarian

Graham Street Productions showcased their documentary, “14,” on Marple campus March 2, questioning what it means to be an American citizen.

The documentary displays the fight of individuals and sometimes their children to retain their rights under the 14th Amendment, which states that anyone born in the United States is entitled to citizenship.

Jeffrey LaMonica, a DCCC associate professor of history, hosted the event for an audience of around 25 faculty and students.

“[The documentary] was suggested to us through a meeting of the Black and Women’s History Committee,” LaMonica said. “I thought it would be a natural fit.”

The 68-minute film featured the story of 10-year-old Vanessa Lopez, the American born daughter and granddaughter of undocumented residents, who offered her views on citizenship. Looking around her classroom, Vanessa said that citizenship meant she could “go to school, vote, and achieve more.”

The film also provided a short history of changes to the 14th Amendment, including the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court cases of Dred and Harriet Scott, African-American slaves desiring freedom

for themselves and their children, and Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese-American who was unable to reenter the United States for several months following a trip to his homeland because of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Despite the protection of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to any person born or naturalized in the United States, Julie D. Soo, a descendant of Wong Kim Ark, said that she is still discriminated against, despite having been a U.S. citizen all of her life.

“I’ve never seen [“14”] before,” said Keeley Michelle, DCCC’s director of paralegal studies, who put the project

together. “But I think it did a great job showing the impact of the issue.”

Although a question and answer session was planned for the end of the event, no questions or comments about the film were exchanged. In addition, several students left during the movie, leaving a group of about 12 people by the end of the film.

“Although the documentary ends in 2013, a lot of those things are still relevant today,” LaMonica said. “I think it was great.”

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian.mail.dccc.edu