Northampton Magazine Summer 2009
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SUMMER 2009 NorthamptonCommunity College Magazine www.northampton.edu FroM the eDitORs SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY. OR NOT. IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO have a job, you may be working extra hours doing tasks once handled by colleagues who are EDITORS no longer on the payroll. Or you may be afraid that if you take time off, your job won’t heidi BRIGHT BUTLER be there when you return. If you’ve been “right-sized” right into unemployment, money’s paul JOLY tight, and you may be too busy looking for a new job to think about going away. You CONTRIBUTING WRITERS may feel like you’ve been cast in a new Shakespearean drama: A Midsummer Night’s paul ACAMPORA Nightmare. But all’s well that ends well. kate BURTON Kick off your shoes, grab a tall glass of iced tea, and head for the hammock with this james l. JOHNSON ’89 issue of the NCC magazine in hand. Our newest writer, Kate Burton, will show you how katherine NOLL you can experience the magic of Paris right here in the Keystone State. Her article is such beth ORENSTEIN myra SATUREN a delight to read, you’ll feel as though you’ve had a vacation when you finish. If you ab- sandy STAHL solutely, positively must have a change of scenery, Sandy Stahl will give you pointers on cynthia TINTORRI how to stretch your travel dollars so you can see more, do more, and still afford to eat. But mallory VOUGH CLASS NOTES COORDINATOR nancy HUTT “Kick off your shoes, grab a tall glass of iced tea, and head for the hammock with ART DIRECTOR traci ANFUSO-YOUNG this issue of the NCC magazine in hand. PRODUCTION COORDINATOR marianne ATHERTON … You’ll find lots of ideas for summer CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS recreation and renewal in these pages.” paul ACAMPORA mario ACERRA carol BOYLE randy MONCEAUX why bother to get on a plane? You can vacation at NCC. Mallory Vough will introduce you emily ROBSON/The Morning Call to a family from Canada who drove almost 400 miles to do so last year. For the Khans of katherine NOLL Long Island, New York, a summer sojourn at NCC has become an annual tradition. You’ll john sterling RUTH meet this family of intellectual adventurers in Myra Saturen’s article on the Summer Ho- myra SATUREN philip STEIN rizons for Youth program. luis VAZQUEZ There’s no doubt about it. The nature of vacations is changing. The fun-fi lled fort- night at the beach that I looked forward to all year when I was a child is a distant memory, albeit one I treasure. Although we’ve come to feel entitled to them, vacations are a rela- PRESIDENT tively recent phenomenon, as Professor of History Earl Page reminds us in the cover story. dr. arthur SCOTT Even if a sojourn in Seville is not on your dance card this summer, Assistant Professor of VICE PRESIDENT Psychology Karen Rhines explains why a change of pace is still important. You’ll fi nd lots INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT of ideas for summer recreation and renewal in these pages. We hope you enjoy perusing susan k. KUBIK them as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you. NORTHAMPTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION If you like what you read, send us a postcard! u BOARD CHAIRMAN bruce a. PALMER PUBLISHER northampton community college foundation 3835 green pond road bethlehem, pa 18020 NCC ● SUMMER 2009 CoNTents 12 VACATION LIKE IT’S 2009 30 HOME For many, it seems, the answer to vacationing For some passionately focused (we won’t say in a recession, is the “staycation.” obsessed) Northampton alumni, faculty and staff, By Beth W. Orenstein being at home with time to work on their projects may just be the fantasy vacation of their dreams. 18 PICTURE YOURSELF ON By Paul Joly THE RIVIERA … REALLY 34 ROAD TRIP If a trip to France is your ideal vacation, you’re in luck! There are plenty of ways to 36 CAMP NCC experience the rich culture that France has to offer right here in northeastern Pennsylvania. By Kate Burton 02 PULSE: Campus News and Scuttlebutt 02 The Economic Conundrum 03 21 Tailored To Fit AFFORDABLE TRAVEL TIPS 04 New Campus Or Bust 05 Spring Break 22 ESCAPE 06 It’s A Wrap: Semester Highlights Just because the economy has robbed you 08 Headliners Playing National Stage of your vacation plans doesn’t mean you 09 The Arts can’t entertain your brain. There’s something for everyone in Northampton’s noncredit 10 NCC SEEN: Familiar Faces course offerings. By Cynthia Tintorri 40 ALUMNI NOTES 42 Alumni Profile: Jack Sinnitz ’72 25 YOUR TURN NOW 44 Alumni Profile: Claire Thackeray ’05 27 UP, UP, AND AWAY 46 Donor Profile: Stuart Schooley 47 28 Memoriam BEST READS FOR THE SUMMER 48 Behind The Billboard: Joshua LaBarba ’05 29 NATURE CALLS 49 Refl ection SUMMER 2009 ● NCC 1 PuLSe Campus NEWS and Scuttlebutt Signs Of The Times coMMUnity enGaGEment the economic conundrum HAS THE ECONOMY HIT stock market tanked. Applications for fall con- president, Dr. Arthur Scott. BOTTOM? LET’S HOPE SO, Now more students than tinue their upward climb. “We are hiring additional but if we’re on the road to ever are choosing com- “The challenges we faculty, offering more recovery, it feels more like munity colleges. face are very different online and hybrid classes, a rutted dirt lane than an For the first time in than the challenges other expanding the cafeteria expressway. The recession NCC’s history, spring organizations are wrestling to accommodate more is still with us. enrollment surpassed with,” explains NCC’s students, and struggling Unlike many em- that of the fall semester ployers, including some as students transferred of the country’s best in from more expensive Are you unemployed or in danger of known colleges and uni- colleges and as adults JULY 14: losing your job? Find your bearings at the next Career Transi versities, Northampton returned to the classroom tions Expo at NCC. This free program will include presentations Community College is to upgrade their skills on stress management, career assessment and transferable still hiring new faculty. or prepare for a career skills, jobs of the future, and community resources. Enrollment was setting change. The influx shows To register or for more information, call 610-861-5500. records even before the no signs of stopping. 2 NCC ● SUMMER 2009 to provide more parking. mains high, the College First Impressions Count aCCeSS Until we can build a new has decided to continue campus in Monroe, we to offer a tuition waiver are going to have to add program that has already modular classrooms and helped more than 250 schedule more classes at area residents who lost TAILORED TO FIT Pocono Corporate Center their jobs due to the Price-less East. These are good recession. The popular problems to have, but Career Transitions Expo Students might feel un we have to make sure developed this past year comfortable when they fi rst that we continue to serve as a public service will trade in their tattered jeans students well.” be offered again free of and t-shirts for a profes The president charge on July 14. sional blazer and slacks, but is quick to note that Clearly no one orga- unaffordable shouldn’t enter Northampton is not nization can meet all of the equation. isolated from the trials the local needs associated With a slumping others are experiencing. with the economic down- economy and a crowded For more information, please contact Kathy “Not as many compa- turn. In December Presi- job market, recent college at [email protected] nies are coming to us for dent Scott invited a group grads need every edge training as in the past,” of community leaders to when it comes to interviewing. But how do you purchase a professional he reports, “and we’ve an informal gathering to wardrobe before you earn the money to pay for it? That’s where First seen some decline in non- discuss ways in which Impressions comes in. credit enrollment, but they could work together The boutique, located on the fi rst fl oor of the College Center, opened our main concern is for to soften the impact its doors for the fi rst time on April 9. Here students can select a profes students. They have been of the recession on the sional outfi t at no cost, choosing from suits, dresses, coats, slacks, skirts, hit hard,” he says. region. One outgrowth blouses, sweaters and accessories such as jewelry, ties and scarves. With many students of this meeting was the Kathy Rooney, a volunteer in the Institutional Advancement Offi ce, and parents out of work, formation of a Recession spearheaded the project. “We thought it was a great idea. It’s one more applications for financial Response and Recovery thing we can do for our students,” she says. aid are running 30% Task Force to focus not The fi rst step was to reach out to NCC faculty and staff and ask ahead of last year. Tim- only on unemployment, them to dig into their closets for any suitable items that could be do ing could not be worse. but also on challenges nated. Kathy credits the staff in Central Duplicating and Physical Plant Because endowment facing health care, hu- for transforming an old offi ce into a space that feels like a clothing store, income has tumbled man services, and small complete with racks of clothes and a dressing room. with the stock market, businesses.