Tasteless Humor

Changes to Wikipedia

I know from the Information Seeking Behavior survey results thus far that many of you use Wikipedia for personal, professional, and academic information. You may be interested to know that, according to an August 24, 2009 New York Times article, that:

Officials at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit in San Francisco that governs Wikipedia, say that within weeks, the English-language Wikipedia will begin imposing a layer of editorial review on articles about living people.

Given Wikipedia's open editing process (anyone can edit an entry), what do you think about these changes? Do you think this will make for better entries and increased reliability? Have you ever edited or created an entry in Wikipedia? Add your comments here, or post in D2L, in the Hallway Conversations discussion topic.

Public Health and Students

The MCTC Student Senate is investing resources and energy into providing greater access to health care for students. This is a growing issue in higher education, and students are having a greater role.

How much do you know about what is going on around health care issues on our campus? Is access to health care something you're concerned about?

You may want to check out this recent article in Peer Review, a journal for faculty and administrators in higher education:

Bernheim, Ruth Gaare. "Undergraduates Are the New 'Partners' in Public Health," Peer Review. 11.3 (Summer 2009). Association of American Colleges and Universities. 26 Aug. 2009. http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-su09/PRSU09_MyView.cfm

Search Tools You Can Really Put to Use!

I'm a big fan of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, otherwise known as the Minnesota State Fair (or, "the state f-word," as my friend who lives about a block from the fairgrounds calls it when she's annoyed by people driving around her neighborhood looking for street and yard parking...). And, this year they have TWO great search tools you can use:

1. Food Finder
2. Merch Search

How awesome is that??? Note that for both, you can search for stands that have free stuff or other coupons and discounts. For a college student (or faculty or staff member) on a tight budget, that can help those discretionary fair dollars go a bit farther.

Any of you have plans to go to the State Fair (August 27-Labor Day, September 7)? What are your favorite things to eat/see/do there?

eBook Reader Wars Heat Up

From NPR:

Sony Corp. plans to offer an e-book reader with the ability to wirelessly download books, injecting more competition in a small but fast-growing market by adopting a key feature of the rival Kindle from Amazon.com. (Full article)

Do you have a Kindle or other eBook reader? If so, what do you like and/or dislike about using it? Libraries, including the MCTC Library, are increasingly providing access to electronic books; have you ever used an ebook through a library account? Do you think you ever would? Add your comments to this message, or post your thoughts in D2L.

Syllabi for INFS 2210 and INFS 1000

I have the syllabi posted in D2L for both INFS 2210 and INFS 1000. So, if you are in either of those courses, you can find your course syllabus posted.

For INFS 2210 folks, I have not yet updated all the dates for the dropboxes and quizzes, so you may see some strange things in D2L. Please be patient while I get those set up.

INFS 1000 folks, if you see anything that doesn't look quite right or doesn't match between D2L and the syllabus, please let me know.

Welcome to Fall 2009!

Syllabi For My Courses

Course content opens in D2L for my courses on Monday,8/24. Syllabi for those courses for Fall 09 will be available at that time. In the meantime, go to the bookstore and buy your books!

Student Life @ MCTC

In lieu of a student handbook / planner this year (MCTC students decided to "go green" and fund other initiatives this year), Student Life will be sharing information about events and deadlines in a few other ways:

* MCTC Website (on current students page)
* Table Tents - "See What's Happening at MCTC" weekly calendars as well as individual table tents that may be reserved by student organizations and campus departments (through Student Life)
* Monthly Calendar / info sheets (1/2-full page) - the first monthly calendar is below
* City College News - monthly issues (they hope to publish their first issue in early September)

If you would like a planner, the Bookstore is selling a planner for less than $5 and they have a few different options that are between $5-10.

Please mark your calendars for these important dates and deadlines:

AUGUST

· 8/10 Go To bus passes available for purchase (they are valid for use from 8/15-12/31) ~ Bookstore

· 8/21 Ramadan begins (through September 19)

· 8/22 Welcome Day (for New Students) 10a-2p

· 8/24 Fall Semester begins

· 8/24 Textbook Buyback begins (through 8/29) Bookstore

· 8/25 D2L Orientations 12-1p & 3-4p T.4210

· 8/26 D2L Orientations 12-1p & 3-4p T.4210

· 8/26 Student Senate’s 1^st meeting (& open house) of the semester ~ 3p T.1000 (Gourmet Dining)

· 8/28 Last day to add/drop classes and receive full refund

SEPTEMBER

· 9/1 Alcohol & Addiction Recovery Month ~ look for events throughout the month!

· 9/1 Community Resources (available every 1^st Tuesday of the month) ~ 10a-12p ~ T Skyway

· 9/1 D2L Orientations 12-1p & 3-4p T.4210

· 9/1 GPS (Goals + Plans = Success) Education Plan: Transfer Workshop ~ 12-1p ~ L.3300

· 9/2 “Back to School” Block Party Plaza (between T & K)

· 9/2 Christian Club recruitment table 10a-2p T Skyway

· 9/2 GPS Workshop: Due Process 1-2p L.3400

· 9/4 Last day to change grade method

· 9/4 Late Registration Petition Deadline

· 9/4 Science Club’s monthly meeting 12-1:30p S.3420

· 9/4 REMINDER: Sign Up for Direct Deposit at Business Services

· 9/7 Labor Day Holiday / CAMPUS CLOSED

· 9/9 MCTC Bingo – bring your student ID! 12-1p Helland Student Center

· 9/9 GPS Workshop: Time Management 2-2:45p L.3300

· 9/10 UNITE’s (United Nations of Indian Tribes for Education student group) 1^st mtg ~ 11a-1p ~ H.2600

· 9/10 Culture Cafe 1-3p Helland Student Center

· 9/14 Youthlink / Streetworks Resources ~ every Monday ~ 11a-1p ~ T Skyway

· 9/15 National Hispanic Heritage Month begins (through 10/15) ~ look for events throughout the month!

· 9/15 GPS LeadershipPlan Workshop: Get Involved, Make a Difference ~ 1-2p ~ Helland Student Center

· 9/16 Student Involvement Fair ~ over 40 opportunities! ~ 10a-1p T Skyway

· 9/16 It’s Time to Talk 1-2:30p Helland Student Center

· 9/16 GPS Workshop: Conflict Resolution 2-3p L.3000

· 9/17 Preparing for MCTC’s Nursing Program 2-2:45p L.3300

· 9/17 MCTC Excursion (3^rd Thursday of every month) to the Walker Art Center! ~ Sign up at H.2041

· 9/17 12 Step Buddhist Meditation Workshop 6-8p T.1000 (Gourmet Dining)

· 9/17 Constitution Week begins (through Sept. 23) ~ Look for events / information throughout the week!

· 9/18 Nursing Programs Information Session 2-3p L.3000

· 9/19 Rosh Hashanah

· 9/21 Leadership Week begins ~ Stay tuned for more details!

We hope you will join us in these activities – they are a terrific way to meet new people, learn about what MCTC has to offer you and have some FUN!

If you have events or deadlines to share, please email Student.Life@minneapolis.edu

Added D2L Orientation Sessions

Two new sessions have been added to the D2L Student Orientation sessions:


Fall 2009 D2L Orientations
August 25, 2009 Noon - 1:00 PM T.4210
August 25, 2009 3:00 - 4:00 PM T.4210
August 26, 2009 Noon - 1:00 PM T.4210
August 26, 2009 3:00 - 4:00 PM T.4210
September 1, 2009 Noon - 1:00 PM T.4210
September 1, 2009 3:00 - 4:00 PM T.4210
The sessions will include a ½ hour presentation on the features of D2L and typical questions raised by D2L users followed by a ½ hour in the Learning Center Computer Lab where students can receive assistance accessing and using D2L.

D2L Orientations

If you're a student new to MCTC's course management software, Desire2Learn, or D2L, and you are able to get to campus, you should try to get to one of these orientation sessions:

Fall 2009 D2L Orientations

August 25, 2009 Noon - 1:00 PM T.4210

August 25, 2009 3:00 - 4:00 PM T.4210

August 26, 2009 Noon - 1:00 PM T.4210

August 26, 2009 3:00 - 4:00 PM T.4210

The sessions will include a ½ hour presentation on the features of D2L and typical questions raised by D2L users followed by a ½ hour in the Learning Center Computer Lab where students can receive assistance accessing and using D2L.

Contact the Learning Center with any questions.

Getting Ready for Classes

Fall semester starts in less than two weeks, and I know folks are itching to get started. If you're taking any of my courses, you can find most of the basic info you need on my faculty web page.



The main thing is, buy your textbooks sooner rather than later. Text information can be found on the MCTC Bookstore web site.

The MCTC Library is on Facebook Now!

We just created a Facebook page for the MCTC Library (I know, how far behind the curve are we???), so you can become a fan.

Minneapolis Community and Technical College Library on Facebook