New Student Blog Introduced

The marketing department has established a new Student Blog to replace the former monthly Student Newsletter. 

As with the old newsletter, the new blog will feature useful information and pictures for students on such topics as upcoming lectures, sports news, scholarships and other items of interest.  The blog will be disseminated to all currently-enrolled students. 

Among the advantages of the new blog – material is no longer collected and sent out on a monthly basis.  Instead it will be issued on a “breaking news” basis as soon as the material is received by marketing, providing a more timely information source for students.

OCC Ice Carvers Off to Good Start this Year

The OCC Culinary Studies Institute Student Ice Carving Team has begun the new year with a string of victories at various events.
 

At the Holland Ice Show, January 4 and 5, Lindsey Wood took second place with her “Flying Fish,” Ryse Richards won third with “Chameleon,” Aaron Whitten took fifth with his “Dragonfly,” and Ken Mellott won eighth with “Wolf.”

 

At the Plymouth Ice Festival, January 18-20, Lindsey Wood took second place with “Flying Fish,” and Ryse Richards won third with “Chameleon.”

 

At the National Zehnder Ice Carving Competition in Frankenmuth, January 26-27, the team of Ryse Richards and Lindsey Wood won the gold medal for “Octopus,” while the team of Aaron Whitten and Conner Walling won the silver with “Rabbit Chasing Dog.”

 

On February 1 and 2 WWJ Newsradio will present the 10^th Annual Winter Survival Radiothon at Art Van Furniture in Warren benefitting the Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW).

 The OCC Student Ice Carving Team will create ice furniture for the event.  Visitors, including local celebrities, will be obliged to sit on the pieces until they can raise $250 for THAW and win their release from “the cold seat.”

THAW has been assisting Michigan residents, children, seniors and those with serious medical conditions, who face energy crisis emergencies for 26 years.

 

National champions Lindsey Wood (left) and Ryse Richards proudly show their Gold Medal Team Awards at the Zehnder Ice Carving Competition.  Behind them is their prize-winning “Octopus”

Sphinx CEO Aaron Dworkin Enthralls Audience at OCC MLK Convocation

 

The 2013 Martin Luther King, Jr., Convocation on January 30 opened with a welcome by Dean Sally Hanna, Chair of the College Wide Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which sponsored this year’s event at Orchard Ridge.

First on the program was a performance by 11 members of the Detroit Children’s Choir, a group established in 2006 and dedicated to bridging social gaps by bringing children in grades 3 to 8 together to gain self-confidence, social awareness and musical skills. Interspersing readings from the writings of Dr. King, the group performed a variety of numbers, including a stirring rendition of "We Shall Overcome."

In introducing the evening’s speaker, Aaron Dworkin, president and founder of the Sphinx Organization, Chancellor Tim Meyer characterized Dworkin as "an arts entrepreneur, performing artist, poet, film director, and youth advocate – a true Renaissance man."

Dworkin began his presentation by recounting his remarkable life story as the child of a Black Jehovah’s Witness father and a White Irish Catholic mother, adopted by a Jewish couple who were university professors – thus the title of his biography, A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Irish Catholic Adoptee’s Journey to Leadership." It was his adopted mother’s amateur violin playing and an early exposure to the work of violinist Isaac Stern that ignited his lifelong passion for music, Dworkin said.
Dworkin moved on to provide a historical overview of the role of Black classical performing artists and composers, citing the career of concert violinist Frederick Douglas’s, Jr., son of the great 19th century abolitionist and social reformer, who also was an accomplished violinist.

Looking at the contemporary scene, Dworkin analyzed the percentages and numbers of Black/Latino participants in classical music, including audiences, orchestra administrators and players – a figure ranging from two to four percent.

Dworkin closed with an overview of the mission of Sphinx, which features the only Black/Latin classical orchestra in the country, and works to widen the reach of music education, as well as significantly increase the role and numbers of Black and Latino artists in classical music.

Summing up his organization’s role, Dworkin observed, "Sphinx has been at the forefront of the battle to build diversity among young people."

* * *

In recognition of Black History Month in February and parallel to Mr. Dworkin’s comments on diversity and inclusion, we share an article submitted by Dr. Tony Ingram, "The Origins of Black History Month."

Annual Essay Contest Ends This Semester

The deadline for the 6^th Annual OCC Student Essay Competition is Monday, March 4, 2013. Sponsored by the OCC Foundation and the Student Outcomes Assessment Committee, the contest is open to all current OCC students who meet eligibility requirements. Submit an essay for your chance to win part of the $3,250 prize money.

This year’s theme is “Saving Detroit.” How would you bring people back to the city to work, live and explore the best that the city has to offer? What features and aspects could make Detroit a thriving city once again?

Students must meet all eligibility requirements and their paper must conform to specified length and formatting rules.  For complete contest rules and submission requirements, please visit www.oaklandcc.edu/essay or stop by any OCC campus Library and ask for an Student Essay Packet.

Good luck!

Raider wins Bronze Medal in Sochi,Russia

Daniel Eaton, a Sophomore student at the Auburn Hills Campus, along with his partner, Alexandra Aldridge, secured the bronze medal at the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) of Figure Skating Finals.  The JGP Final brings together the top six Ice Dance Teams in the World, and was held in Sochi, Russia last week.   Their score of 83.59 points for the “Fiddler on the Roof” free dance represented a season high.

Eaton said “We wanted to come out today and show the judges, technical panel and crowd that we are a strong team technically and emotionally. We can have strong levels and a high performance. I think we accomplished that today.”  Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin earned the gold medal, while France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron earned silver in their JGP Final debut.”

Our next competition is the 2013 United States Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, NE the end of January.  The top three finishers at the US Nationals will represent the United States at the World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy, the end of February.

Arts Leader Aaron Dworkin Speaks at Annual MLK Convocation

Aaron P. Dworkin, founder and president of the Sphinx Organization, a leading arts enterprise that focuses on youth development and diversity in classical music, will be keynote speaker at OCC’s Ninth Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Convocation.  The event takes place at the Orchard Ridge Campus, Wednesday, January 30 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

A 2005 MacArthur Fellow, Dworkin was President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts.   An author, social entrepreneur, performing artist and youth education advocate, he has received national recognition for his many accomplishments.

 A lifelong musician, Dworkin is an accomplished acoustic and electric violin virtuoso, as well as a spoken-word and visual artist.  His memoir, Uncommon Rhythm:  A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Irish Catholic Adoptee’s Journey to Leadership” was published recently.  He has also written an autobiographical poetry collection and a children’s book, produced and recorded CDs, and directed the independent film “Deliberation.”

 Filling out this year’s program is a performance by the Detroit Children’s Choir, and organization established to help children in grades 3 to 8 gain self-confidence, social and political awareness and academic skills.

 

Lady Raiders Help in Project to Feed Children

The OCC Lady Raiders Basketball Team recently made a major donation to the Blessing in a Backpack Foundation.  The charity helps insure that impoverished elementary school children are fed on weekends.

Eighty dollars will feed an elementary school child on a weekend throughout the 38-week school year.  The Lady Raiders packed and provided 740 meals for this worthy cause.

 

If you would like to help, go to http://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/