News Links | April 23, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

SPSCC students, staff celebrate milestone birthday of ‘life-long learner’ About 35 people gathered in a classroom at South Puget Sound Community College at Hawks Prairie on Wednesday morning to celebrate Bako Danpullo’s 90th birthday. “In my country, I am a young man,” said the Lacey resident who originally hails from Cameroon in Central Africa. “But not here.” Danpullo wiped tears from his eyes as he thanked his instructors and classmates in the English as a Second Language program for the celebration. The Olympian, April 22, 2015 Peninsula College’s HS21+ a new way to earn a diploma Peninsula College’s HS21+ program offers adult learners the opportunity to earn their high school diploma in as few as 10 weeks. Through the Prior Learning Credit feature, students have the potential to use the knowledge they have acquired outside the classroom to earn high school credits. Sequim Gazette, April 22, 2015 Skagit Oak Harbor student makes state academic team Skagit Valley College student Lauren Turnbow, 20, of Oak Harbor, was named to the 2015 All-Washington Academic Team. She was honored during a ceremony at South Puget Sound Community College. With more than 300 people in attendance, the ceremony provided an opportunity for community and technical college students to be recognized for their academic achievements and community involvement. Whidbey News-Times, April 22, 2015 Seattle Chinese Garden to celebrate peonies and bamboo A gray bank of clouds slid across the spine of West Seattle on April 14 as the Rev. Taijo Imanaka dispersed handfuls of incense to a group of people preparing to meditate. They were arranged in a circle in the courtyard of a Chinese garden. As the gates closed, a bell echoed across the stone pavers. Never mind that the priest is Japanese and the courtyard, part of the Seattle Chinese Garden, is not. ... The 5-acre Seattle Chinese Garden, rising on the campus of South Seattle College and next to its arboretum, has been 20 years in the making. It might be another 20 before it’s finished The News Tribune, April 22, 2015 Holocaust survivor speaks of hope The Holocaust never happened.” Henry Friedman, who in the war-torn 1940s spent 18 months hiding in a tiny nook in a Polish barn, who watched Nazis beat his mother to steal the wedding ring off her finger, who experienced the murder of many relatives while he nearly starved to death, saw those words in a newspaper nearly 30 years ago and asked his wife a question. “Where are all my family then?” “There’s not even a gravestone anywhere,” Friedman said to a rapt crowd of about 150 people who lined the walls and spilled out the door of a classroom at Everett Community College on April 15. Snohomish County Tribune, April 22, 2015 Pierce College art exhibit honors Mark Dungan “He taught me a lot about how to open my eyes, not just in art, but in life,” former Pierce College student Kelly Gabrinetti said of Instructor Mark Dungan. Dungan was a photography instructor at Pierce College. On his way home from class on March 5, he lost his life in an accident while riding his motorcycle. The Suburban Times, April 22, 2015 CPTC: Foundation celebrates scholarship recipients Clover Park Technical College scholarship recipients and donors were recognized at the college’s 9th Annual Scholarship Banquet at the McGavick Event Center April 21. From Summer Quarter 2014 to Spring Quarter 2015, 132 students received scholarships to go toward their education at CPTC. The Suburban Times, April 22, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Looking beyond the data to help students succeed [Brenda Benson] was speaking here on Tuesday at the annual convention of the American Association of Community Colleges, where predictive analytics and retention strategies have been hot topics of conversation. Everyone, it seems, is swimming in data about their students, but they’re not sure what to do with it and are wary of using it in ways that reinforce stereotypes about students’ abilities. The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2015 Will further state higher-ed funding cuts hinder economic innovation? “This study raises critical questions about the ability of states to maintain their funding commitment to postsecondary education over the next decade,” said Mike Castle, former Delaware governor and U.S. congressman and co-chair of the commission. “Education is the major source of innovation and productivity change and also a major cost to middle and low-income families. We are seeing the potential for a significant negative impact on both long-run economic growth for the nation and access to higher education, particularly for low-income families and minorities.” While results vary by state, the study notes that over the past several decades, the growth in state funding for discretionary spending categories has been squeezed at an alarming rate. ... Higher education funding has borne the brunt of much of this crowding out, falling from around 14 percent of state-sourced spending in the late 1980s to just under 13 percent today. eCampus News, April 21, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

Out of favor with House GOP Republicans won the first scrimmage Wednesday over how much money should be devoted to federal research in coming years — and how that money ought to be divvied up. The America COMPETES Act passed along straight party lines in a 19 to 16 vote after a more than five-hour drafting session Wednesday in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Despite roughly 30 attempts by the outnumbered Democrats on the committee to amend the bill, it sailed through with only slight changes. Inside Higher Ed, April 23, 2015 Democratic lawmakers push idea of ‘debt-free college’ Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday introduced resolutions to “ensure that students have access to debt-free higher education.” The Washington Post reports the push comes amid a broader effort by the Democratic Party to promote college affordability as a central issue in the 2016 presidential campaign — and to push the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, to propose a national plan for debt-free college. The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2015