Thirty-five people braved the cold and gatherred at Bostwick Commons. They read the names of transgendered individuals who have been killed since the beginning of the year by acts of violence and intolerence here in Michigan and across the nation. (Photo by Lonnie Allen/Collegiate)

Tagged!
By Ryan Lenau
Collegiate Staff Writer

Graffiti on campus could be more than harmless tagging. With the drawing of an AK-47 with a number count notched on its barrel, GRCC may have some serious threats to take into consideration.

Though these threats seem real, the GRCC Police are closing reports referring to gang related graffiti on campus. The police have closed the reports because no suspects have been found.

Grand Rapids Community College Chief of police Cindy Kennell said, “We closed the reports because there are no leads.”

“If we actually had a case where the graffiti was found we could narrow the search area down.”

According to closed polices reports, dating back to late September to as recently as Nov. 18, the hate speech has primarily been found in the men’s bathroom stalls in Cook Hall, Main Building, and Science Building.

Photographs show symbols representing white pride and racial slurs, along with the AK-47 and its comments. Many of the drawings found on campus are threatening in nature.

“We want to have a safe campus,” said Kennel. “If we believe there will be an incident on campus we will be putting out warnings. I don’t believe in hiding anything from anybody.”

“We try and paint over it.” Said Kennel. “We also show all the reports with other police departments.” Kennel believes drawings are from gangs.

“I consider that the AK-47 drawing is gang related.” Kennell said.

BSU President Brandon McCall explains that gang tagging on campus is nothing serious and just acting out for attention.

McCall said if this was on the streets then it would be a territory issue. He also said this is a college campus and no one can claim it as their property.

Joshua Bloom of GRCC Campus Activities Board (CAB), and former President of StandOut, said he feels safe here at GRCC.

“I believe GRCC is a more open minded campus and I am not to worried about the graffiti in bathrooms,” Bloom said. “Also anywhere I go, anything could happen. GRCC is safe to me.”

Standout Co-Adviser Becky Allington said they had a display wall defaced during Queer History Month. The wall was outside the Student Life Office in the Student Center Building, and the word Queer was ripped down and the picture of a famous drag queen personality known as Rupaul was drawn on.

“They could have hated what we were doing or just hated Rupaul,” Allington said, “we will never know.”

Kennel said, students should report anything they find or file a report if they feel threatened on campus. BSU and StandOut usually address these types of issues in their meetings.

McCall said that this hate speech has him thinking of different things he can do with BSU and other organizations to try help educate the campus on what hate speech can do to the community.

Lonnie Allen, Editor-in-Chief, contributed to this article.

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Diving in to get the job done right
By Rebecca Young
Opinion Editor

Jim Orzechowski, GRCC’s primary Certified Pool Operator, isn’t diving along side of manta rays or coral reefs full of exotic fish and undersea wonders.

He earned his diving and scuba license to enhance his ability to care for and repair the GRCC pool, located in the Ford Fieldhouse. This step was spurred by a recent incident where, due to tile damage, a student had cut and injured her foot in the pool.

“It made me wonder what could be done to repair it,” said Orzechowski, “if it had been any deeper, we wouldn’t have been able to do it, so I decided I should get into a scuba class. I researched it, and since it’s my job to maintain the pool, it just seemed logical.”

He felt the ability to do work underwater would greatly aid in pool inspection, maintenance and retrieval.

“The pool is 5,000 sq. ft. including all surfaces,” Tom Smith, Executive Director of GRCC’s Facilities Department, said. “It’s an Olympian-sized pool with a deep end. That’s a lot of maintenance. Now we no longer have to lower 250,000 gallons of water to do it.”

Smith said the college would spend roughly $1500 to $2000 hiring another diver to perform any repairs needed. With Orzechowski’s achievement, a trained GRCC employee can do the work and save the college a substantial amount of money.

“It’s nice to have the ability to submerge and do any inspection or repairs deemed necessary,” Orzechowski said. “Now that I have the equipment and certification, we don’t need to outsource. I can do it myself.”

Orzechowski’s job includes caring for the chemistry of the pool, repairing damages, performing inspections, and ensuring that the pool meets the standards of the Health Department.

“The Health Department wants to know if we check the grates, inspect the lights, and make sure everything is secure,” he said. “It’s hard to see from the surface if the grout is still good, if there are cracks. We had to consider alternatives for inspection purposes.”

To do this, Orzechowski called several dive shops, hoping to get into a diving class. But he was faced with the same answer: all the classes were filled for the season. He then turned to Joey Sutherlin, the Sports Information Director and Aquatics Supervisor, who runs the pool.

“He referred me to American Dive Zone,” said Orzechowski. “They said if you can self study and cram for three weeks, I could get into the program.”

During the classes, which Orzechowski took in mid-Oct., he was taught and practiced all swimming and scuba operations, as well as using the diving equipment.

“We practiced things that were tough,” he said. These included learning how to swim without the mask and doing emergency ascends.

“It can be dangerous. There are many rules you have to apply and practice in class to get certified.” Smith said GRCC covered the cost of the class, training and certification, which cost an estimated $300.

Other costs included rental and transportation, while Orzechowski had to personally purchase his own equipment. The diving gear is now securely locked up on campus, where it is available for Orzechowski to use at any time. This includes many important pieces beyond a mask, snorkel and fins.

“You have a tank, hooked up to a buoyancy control device,” Orzechowski explained. “You have valves and regulators, which hook to the tank and enable you to breathe. And you have on hoses, and you have gages to tell you how much air you have, and what depth you are.”

Though Orzechowski’s job is what initially pushed him to pursue earning his diving and scuba license, he says he might venture into using his newfound skills outside of work.

“In time, I would like to advance myself in this,” he said. “I met so many people in class; I am actually interested in diving in open water. I will probably, on my own, take an advanced scuba class.””

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Motorcycles free from ramp fees
By Zach Burger
Collegiate Staff Writer

Every time a card is swiped in the GRCC parking ramps, two dollars and fifty cents is removed from a student’s Raider card account but this isn’t the case for students sporting a motorcycle.

Waiting in long lines isn’t a problem either. Many motorcyclists do a few weaves, and roll in the parking ramp without a charge or a wait. Lucky for them, they invested in a vehicle that isn’t regulated by the standard vehicle charge for the college.

According to Officer Harold Woolworth of the GRCC Police Department, the gates cars pass through to enter the parking ramp have metal detectors. When a car arrives at the gate to enter, it can sit there until it is ready to pass through, and the gate will stay open. However, these detectors are unable to identify a motorcycle.

“There’s a metal wire, which signals the gate to open and close,” Woolworth said. “Motorcycles are made mostly of plastic and smalls amounts of metal that cannot be detected.”

The college is concerned that if a student on a motorcycle swipes their Raider card, and the gate goes up, the gate will not know when to come back down due to the lack of metal in a motorcycle. Potentially, a rider could be knocked off their bike, resulting in an accident.

“We just don’t want to see any injures,” Woolworth said. Micah Tawney, a GRCC student who uses his motorcycle as transportation, didn’t know parking was free when he first started attending GRCC.

“I actually paid a couple of times,” Tawney said. “I was confused by the entrance where it said motorcycles could go through, but one day I just decided to try it and haven’t paid since.”

Surprisingly, Tawney thinks motorcycles should have to pay a fee to park in the ramp, but he explained how difficult it actually is to go through the gate while on a motorcycle.

“When I did go through the gates to pay, I had to hold the clutch, grab my wallet to get my ID, and do it quick enough to get under the arm,” Tawney explained. “It was kind of a pain.”

GRCC student Jon Latva said, “It makes sense to have a motorcycle be cheaper than a car, but they shouldn’t be free.”

Bob Partridge, the V.P. of Financial Services said the likelihood of a change in GRCC’s regulations on motorcycles isn’t in the near future. The only way, would be to set up a completely different monitoring system, which would be too costly for the college.

“Unless, we create another parking area which would be designated for motorcycles only, the system will likely stay the same,” Partridge said. “I understand there could be questions as to why we don’t charge motorcycles, but the implementation of the administrative procedure to handle that would be more costly than it’s worth.”

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News Briefs for November 26, 2008
Comiled By Collegiate Staff

Great American Smokeout Day On Nov. 20
GRCC will be celebrating the Great American Smokeout Day in an effort to launch the campus’ new Tobacco Free policy, as well as to educate students and staff about the benefits of going smoke free. Started by the American Cancer Society 32 years ago, the Great American Smokeout Day encourages smokers to quit. On this day, GRCC will be offering Free “Cold Turkey” sandwich coupons for Subway, as well as other incentives and information to help assist smokers in adapting to the new campus policy. For more information about the Great American Smokeout Day, or about the Tobacco Free policy, students can visit grcc.edu/tobaccofree.

Game Show brings free money to campus On Nov. 19
The Smith Agency is putting up “The Real Deal Crazy Game Show” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. According to Amy Dreyer an agent from The Smith Agency, participants will have a chance to answer a question during the game. If the person gets it right, they can spin the wheel and win some cash money. If they get it wrong they have to act out a crazy gag, and then spin the wheel. The participant will then be able to choose between the amount of money they have won and a mystery price. At the end, the big price winner will have a chance to spin the wheel once again, with the chance of winning even more money. They can once again chose between the cash money, or a mystery price. The Campus Activities Board sponsors the event.

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Police Reports for November 26, 2008
Compiled By Collegiate Staff

9/22/08 Harassment
A female student reported being harassed by fellow students. Police advised the woman to avoid the students. Police also advised the other students involved that they could be subject to expulsion if anything physical occurred.

10/07/08 Stolen Raider Card
A male student attempted to use his girlfriend’s Raider Card, with her permission, when police confiscated it. The owner verified she was the suspect’s girlfriend and that he did have permission to use it. She was then advised that only she could use her Raider Card. No action was taken against the male student.

10/21/08 Medical
A female student cut her finger while performing a science laboratory assignment. While attempting to put a cap on a “NMR tube,” the end of the tube broke off, and she cut her finger on the shattered end of the tube.

10/22/08 Damaged Property
The Spectrum Theatre sign had been smashed in two of its corners causing over $100 in damage. There are no suspects.

10/22/08 Altercation among instructors
Two GRCC instructors were involved in an altercation in the music building. One instructor accidentally struck another instructor who was standing on the opposite side of the door when he was opening the door. The second instructor believed the first instructor hit him with the door on purpose and was offended. Police officers were called to the scene to resolve the incident.

10/22/08 Medical
A woman tripped and fell on the sidewalk near a crosswalk on Ransom Street. The woman sustained minor abrasions on both of her knees but did not seek medical attention.

10/28/08 Applicant Refused
A woman attempting to apply for the nursing program was informed that she was ineligible for the program because her background check reported several felonies. The woman reportedly had several counts of assaults with dangerous weapons as well as retail fraud. She also had a dropped charge of assault bodily harm short of death. The applicant was told she was ineligible to join the program until 2015.

10/29/08 Graffiti
Racial graffiti aimed at Jews and African Americans was found in the men’s bathroom in the second floor of the Calkins Science building. There were no witnesses.

10/29/08 Damaged Property
A man’s driver’s side window was smashed after being parked for a few days with a blunt object by an unknown suspect. The vehicle was parked in Barclay parking lot on Ransom Street.

10/29/08 Medical
A man sustained a large welt on his forehead above his right eyebrow while working on a ladder drilling cement. The large drill malfunctioned causing the drill bit to bind which caused the drill to kick back and strike the man.

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