CSI For Kids

Jefferson State Police Provide CSI For Kids

The Jefferson State Police Department recently provided fifth grade students at Bryan Elementary School the opportunity to participate in a Crime Scene Investigators course.  

Students learn to develop latent prints, cast foot prints and tire impressions, collect DNA evidence, collect tool mark samples and a variety of other evidence collection techniques. The students learn about constitutional law and learn the basics of drafting a search warrant. 

"The kids also get a chance to use the newly acquired skills at a mock crime scene," said Jefferson State Police Chief Mark Bailey. "The class obtains a search warrant, collects evidence from the scene, identifies the offender and prepares the case for trial."

The students then get an overview of the criminal justice system from Judge Jill Ganus and Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Fall. Judge Ganus and Mr. Fall then assist with a mock trial that allows each student to testify to a significant fact of the case. At the end of the forth day, the students have better understanding of the court system than the average citizen.

Jefferson State's Police Department provides this opportunity to fifth grade students every year.

 

Legislators Visit Jeff State

Alabama Legislators Visit the Shelby-Hoover Campus 

Alabama Representatives Kurt Wallace, Mary Sue McClurkin and Jay Love met with Jefferson State President Judy Merritt at the Shelby-Hoover Campus in January. The Representatives toured the campus and learned more about Jefferson State.

Pictured below are Rep. Kurt Wallace (L), JSCC President Judy Merritt, Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin and Rep. Jay Love (R).
 

Community College Article

Spending Money to Make Money

 

January 30, 2013
By Paul Fain

Inside Higher Ed 

An associate degree is typically a cost-effective investment, for both students and state governments, yet community colleges continue to draw the short straw during budget season.

That's the bottom line of a newly released report from the American Association of Community Colleges, which tries to bolster the sector’s case for its efficient use of state funding by estimating community college graduates' annual tax payments. The estimates show that workers earn bigger paychecks and pay more in taxes for each level of education they have completed, from high school graduates to bachelor’s degree-holders.

For example, associate-degree holders paid an average of $9,435 in taxes in 2011 (including federal income, Social Security, Medicare, state and local income, sale and property taxes), according to the report, which was 8 percent more than what certificate holders or those with some college credits but no degree paid, and 29 percent more than the average tax payment of workers whose highest degree is a high school diploma or its equivalent.

“Each level of educational attainment matters,” said Christopher M. Mullin, the association’s program director for policy analysis and the report’s coauthor. “There are real earnings both for the individual and for the society.”



Recent research has shown the relatively strong value of two-year degrees and certificates in the workforce, and the report pulls together some of those findings. For example, fully one-quarter of bachelor's-degree holders earn less than workers with associate degrees. However, state governments invest less money per student in the community college sector than in public, four-year institutions. Community colleges enroll 43 percent of all undergraduate students, according to the report, but receive only 20 percent of state tax appropriations for higher education.

Some of that funding disparity is offset by local government support. But Mullin said local taxes do not go to community colleges in roughly 25 states, and that even in states where they do, the funding does not fully cover the shortfall in comparison to four-year institutions.

The association’s report, however, is careful to note that public universities have also had their budgets slashed on a per-student basis, and that the overall disinvestment in higher education is bad for the economy.



Community colleges are also doing the most to control their costs, according to the report. The sector is on the only one in higher education where operating budgets per student are smaller than they were a decade ago. Mullin said that frugality should be factored in by state lawmakers during budget season.
“We could a better job placing investments where we get a better return,” he said.

The report breaks down community colleges’ private and public economic returns into three different categories:

• The community college as launching pad, or as a starting point for students in their educational progression.
• The community college as a (re)launching pad, providing knowledge and skills to career-changers, displaced workers and lifelong learners.
• The community college as a local commitment, which serves the needs and demands of local communities.

“In order to continue to provide these benefits and fill in where other opportunities for education and training once stood,” the report concludes, “public investments in the education and training community colleges provide need to equalize and stabilize, if not increase.”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/30/community-colleges-are-good-investment-students-and-taxpayers-report-finds#ixzz2JaWUEQjg

Inside Higher Ed

Remember When?

The Year Was 1972 at Jefferson State

Below are photos of Jefferson State students from 1972. The first photo is the 1972 Jefferson State Jeffersonettes and the second is the 1972 basketball team.

Jeffersonettes
Left to right are: Janice Moore, Tammy Spearman, Cindy Keith, Denise Lynch, Cathy Busby, Cheryl Holmes, Mary Fitzsimmons, Penny Otwell, Charlotte Shoemaker, Dara Watson, Darlene Lane, Theresa Goodsen.

Basketball Team
Back row (L to R) 
Alex Bethune, Terry Ballew, Ricky McCollough, Dennis Bailey, and Mike Eady.

Middle Row (L to R)
Coach Pharis, Greg Love, Joe Clifton, Barry Wright, Robert Adams, and Stanley Wilson.

Front Row (L to R)
Coach Lankford, Mike Colbert, Wilson Holley, Dan Henderson, Ricky Harrel, and Greg Russell.

 
 

Chef Rinsky Earns Doctorate

Chef Glenn Rinsky Earns Doctorate

Jefferson State Culinary Instructor Glenn Rinsky earned a doctorate in Philosophy from Capella University in November 2012. 

Glenn is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. He also holds a B.S. in Business Administration and a M.Ed. in Leadership and Higher Education. 

He apprenticed at La Maisonette, Americas longest running five star restaurant, and has worked as a chef for Cummins Diesel, Marriott and Kroger Corporations. He has also owned and operated a specialty wedding cake business for 12 years. 

Glenn has won numerous culinary awards and accolades including “Best Wedding Cake” by Cincinnati Magazine, Best Tiered Cake and Best 3 dimensional cake by The Retail Bakers Assoc.; 1^st Place with the Michigan Cherry Foundation as well as Best Appetizer by the National Peanut Association. He is a contributing writer for Pastry Art and Design magazine and is co-author of “The Pastry Chef’s Companion” a definitive resource guide for the pastry professional and enthusiast. 

Chef Rinsky is certified by The American Culinary Federation as an Executive Chef (CEC), Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC) and Culinary Educator (CCE). Glenn has taught community culinary classes for over 20 years with Jungle Jim’s of Cincinnati, William and Sonoma, Sur la Table as well as many other prestigious cooking schools. 

Congratulations Dr. Rinsky! We are proud of you! 

Lt. Colonel Hubert Carpenter

Former Jefferson State Instructor Passes Away 

Below is the obituary for LT. COLONEL HUBERT L. Carpenter...

 

An officer and gentleman scholar left this world on December 28, 2013. He was born near Carthage, Mississippi on June 30, 1923, one of 9 children born to Earl Carpenter and Bertie Ganann Carpenter. He lived the life of a farmer's son until graduating from Carthage High School in 1941.

After a short time working, he joined the Army, where he was deployed to the South Pacific and saw his first combat on the island of Peleliu. After the war he was discharged and returned to Mississippi but re-enlisted in 1946. 

While stationed in Washington D.C., he met Mary Alice Pritchett, and they were married on Sept. 1, 1949. This union would produce a son Hugh Carpenter (Lisa), and a daughter Mareena C. Doss (Ricky), and later lead to the birth of 6 grandchildren Shellina, Chad, Edmond, Hugh Lee Jr., Ashland, Michael and four great grandchildren. After the wedding, he deployed to Japan with the Army of occupation, while his bride remained behind before joining him later. 

In 1950 he was stationed off the coast of South Korea when the North Korean Army invaded. During this time, his unit was dropped off in summer uniforms in frigid weather and left for what would be more than 3 years of fighting, where he was seriously wounded and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his actions. 

While teaching ROTC at Mississippi State University in the early 1960's, he began to attend school. After completing his Masters degree, and after retiring from the army, he found employment at the newly formed Jefferson State Community College, in Birmingham, where he taught economics for the next 23 years. During his tenure at Jefferson State, he had many students that became lifelong friends. He also remained a student, pursuing his Doctorate at UAB in Birmingham. 

It was late in life that he met and married Judy Foder, whose family included daughter Regenia Davison (Bill), granddaughters Grace Church (Keith) and Connie Foder and four grandsons. Judy was a partner for 14 years until her untimely loss. 

Hubert is survived by his two brothers Chad Carpenter (Margaret) and TO Carpenter (Marilyn), and a sister Ernestine Adams, as well as numerous of nieces and nephews. Even with the challenges of age, he remained a warrior soldier, inquisitive scholar, champion of the underdog and a blessing to all that knew him. 

The family would welcome donations to the Jefferson State Community College scholarship in his honor.

Red Mountain Reading Series

Red Mountain Reading Series Presents Irene Latham

Jefferson State’s Red Mountain Reading Series will present a book reading, signing and reception with award-winning author Irene Latham on Tuesday, February 5 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Health and Sciences Building’s multi-purpose room on the Shelby-Hoover Campus.

Irene Latham is the award-winning author of two novels for children, Leaving Gee’s Bend (Putnam/Penguin, 2010) and Don’t Feed The Boy (Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 2012) and two volumes of poetry, The Color of Lost Rooms and What Came Before. She lives with her husband and three sons in Birmingham, Alabama.

Red Mountain Reading Series is sponsored by Jefferson State, SKD English Honor Society, and the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.