Black Women in American Culture and History Display

February is Black History Month. We are having a display honoring black women in American culture and history. This is a theme chosen by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History(ASALH).

The list of books on display can be viewed in our catalog. You are welcome to check them out.

You can also find basic information about the four women featured on the ASALH poster in one of our library reference databases. See examples below.

1. Dwight-Barrett, Margaret L. "Wells-Barnett, Ida B." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 2275-2277. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

2. V. P. Franklin " Bates, Daisy Lee Gatson " Black Women in America. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Oxford University Press, 2005 African American Studies Center. Oxford University Press. Columbia Basin College. 15 February 2012 (Oxford Reference Online database)

3. "Mary McLeod Bethune." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

4. Nadasen, Premilla. "Burroughs, Nannie Helen." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 368-369. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.


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CBC Inclement Weather & Travel Information

College Closure or Delay – It’s that time of year again where any given morning we could wake up to winter weather conditions. Although it’s rare, if you suspect that CBC may be closed, please check one of these resources:

• All local radio stations
• CBC website at http://www.columbiabasin.edu/
• CBC telephone 547-0511. If the campus is closed or delayed, the message will state that CBC is closed or delayed. If there is no message about a closure or delay, the college is open as usual.
• Flash Alert at http://www.flashalertnewswire.net/
• KVEW Television, KEPR Television, and KNDU Television and website http://www.kndu.com/

Information will only be posted or announced if CBC should close. Employees are expected to use reasonable judgment regarding traveling to work in inclement weather/adverse road conditions. If your cell phone and/or personal email account have been subscribed to the CBC Emergency Notification System, you will receive an alert through this system should the college close. If you have not subscribed to the ENS, this would be a good time to take that step. https://www.columbiabasin.edu/ens/

Winter College Travel
Programs and departments are especially encouraged to be aware of winter road conditions and evaluate the need for large group travel, especially with students (i.e. class field trips, ASB club activities, etc). Unless absolutely necessary, it is recommended that large group travel with students be rescheduled to take place during the late spring, summer and early fall months, rather than during winter weather months

Please use the following links for more Winter Weather Driving Tips
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter/ (includes mountain pass information)
http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafety/drivingsafetytips/snow.html

Walk, Don’t Run
Even though CBC’s dedicated grounds, custodial and maintenance staff are up early during snowy or icy conditions deicing the sidewalks and roadways, it is still advised that folks take extra care driving and walking around the campus. Please wear appropriate footwear to help you avoid a slippery fall.

Personal Safety Reminders
We would like to encourage everyone to plan ahead, opt in to the campus ENS and have the Security phone number programmed into your cell phone.

Here are some personal safety reminders:

• Be conscious of your surroundings.
• Notice where you’re parked and what activities are going on around you.
• Have the phone number for Security saved in your cell phone –
  531-4034 Pasco or Richland 539-8167
• Make sure you have your keys in hand when returning to your car.
• Call CBC Security if you feel you need assistance getting to or from your car x2219
• Contact CBC Security, the Health & Safety Committee, or Administration if you have a security or safety concern.

Brady L. Brookes, Executive Assistant
COLUMBIA BASIN COLLEGE

Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead

Did you get a chance to view the different Day of the Dead displays that were showcased throughout the CBC campus? If you did and know what it is about, I hope you enjoyed the displays and look for them again next year. If you did see them but don’t know their meaning continue reading this blog for more information and maybe next year you can appreciate them a little more.



What is Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead?
Day of the Dead is a ritual that started over 3,000 years ago in Mexico. It used to be celebrated for an entire month in the 9th month of the Aztec calendar, which translates to the beginning of August. When the Spaniards arrived to Mexico and saw the natives celebrating this ritual they thought it barbaric and tried to eliminate it. The Spaniards couldn’t understand why they were embracing death rather than being afraid of it. The Aztec natives believed that death was a continuation of life rather than the end of life.
The Spaniards did their best to end the ritual when they tried to convert the Aztecs to Catholicism, but it just wouldn’t die. The missionaries prohibited traditional ritual events, but the importance was so great they had to make a compromise. So in their attempt to make the ritual more Christian they moved the date to coincide with church observed All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day (November 1st & 2nd), which is when it is celebrated today. And so the two cultures merged.



Symbolism
Day of the Dead is still celebrated in many parts of Mexico, mostly in areas with high indigenous populations and in the United States as a more public event. The ritual has a lot of symbolism and it is meant to celebrate that life continues after death. Día de los Muertos is celebrated with an offering to family members or friends that have passed away. The offering is set up as an altar, which contains different items depending on the region. The altar can display pictures, favorite foods or items, and other personal objects of the deceased. They also have skulls made of sugar or chocolate with the names of the people that have passed away, candles, and pan de muertos, which is bread unique to the event. In some regions, people spend the day at the cemetery decorating the grave site, eating favorite foods of the deceased, and honoring their spirits. Many believe that in doing this, the soul is attracted back to them on earth.

Library Display Honoring Veterans

This month, we set up a display honoring Veterans.
Our thanks to Ryan Washburn and CBC Vet Corps for their help with this display.

Other Resources:

• America's Veterans
• Medal of Honor & U.S. Military
• Women in the Military
• Book list "U.S. Military"

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Open Courses and Free Online Courses

1. Open Course Library (OCL provides complete courses that include syllabi, course activities, readings, textbooks(free or low cost), and assessments. Faculty can "explore, copy, customize, translate and adopt any and all course materials" as long as credit is given to OCL.)
• View list of Phase 1 courses in a spreadsheet (42 courses)
  
• Browse course contents of Phase 1 courses in WAOL (log in http://angel.waol.org; ID guest_ocl,password ocl)
  
• Download courses (Need help with uploading/modifying? Contact Jerry Lewis.)
  
2. OCW Consortium Open Courses
   • Course Catalog
3. Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative (Open & Free Courses)
   
   
4. Academic Earth (A nonprofit organization collecting more than 1500 free lecture videos for viewing from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.)
5. Open Culture: Free Courses (400 free courses from Top Universities)
6. MIT Open Courseware(OCW) (2000 courses with some free contents by department.)
   
   • OCW Scholar (5 free complete courses)
7. U-M Open Educational Resources
8. berkley.webcast (free videos, audios)
9. Harvard Open Courses (8 free courses in audio and video)
10. Stanford Open Courses (scroll down to see the list of free complete online courses)
11. Open Yale Courses

New Resources On Campus

From: Donna Starr
Information Services
Subject: New resources available to current students

Welcome back!

Since the Tech Fee Open Computer Lab is gone, I wanted to let you know of some new resources available to current students. We have added to the Tech Fee funded student laptop checkout program in the library and we now have 100 laptops available. The Library has increased the checkout time from three days to one week. A big thank you to the library staff that have worked so hard at providing this service.

We are also adding some wireless printing stations around the campus. There will be 7 on the Pasco Campus and 1 on the Richland campus. Students can log in with their laptops and then send documents to the NetPrint website and specify which printer they want their document sent to.

There will be a minimal cost for this printing, but students will start out each quarter with a $12.00 credit. Black and white printing is two-sided and will cost $.03 each side. Color prints will be one-sided and cost $.25 per sheet. For more information go to www.columbiabasin.edu/NetPrint

If you have any questions please call the helpdesk at Ext 2353.

(P.S. We welcome you to come to the library to get help too. Y.Y. )

Sheila Tobias - Inservice Speaker Fall 2011

Website: http://sheilatobias.com

Articles

EBSCOhost: By or About Sheila Tobias

ProQuest: By or About Sheila Tobias

Tuesday, September 13, 2011.

9:00-11:00 a.m. (Theatre) - Professors as College Students: What Can They Teach Us?
A research project conducted all over the country, using faculty from different disciplines as “stand-ins” for undergraduates; what we can learn from their responses when we eliminate all barriers to learning except one; newness to the field.

1:00-2:00 p.m. (L-102) - Math Anxiety Workshop
This workshop is predominantly for counselors and math faculty, but open to anyone who wants to learn how to help students who experience math anxiety.

3:30-4:30 p.m. (L-102) - Meeting the Needs of Women, Minorities, and Diverse Learners; Matching In-Class Examinations to Students’ Learning Preferences
Without positing that women, minorities and non-traditional learners have either different learning needs or learning styles, this session will provide an opportunity for faculty to explore a wider range of content, style, “setting” and grading practices of in-class examinations.

7:00 - 8:00 PM (Theatre) - Workshop with Sheila Tobias
Participants will view and discuss Tobias' film "Math Anxiety: We Beat it and So Can You" which documents the successes of her Math Anxiety Clinic. This session is open to the public with a special invitation to teachers and would-be teachers.

Books in the CBC Library Catalog
Search: Author - Tobias, Sheila, or view them on display in the library through September 16th: