Remembering Ashley:
By Melinda Segovia | Owl Staff
Recently, Harford Community College said goodbye to one of its students. Early Childhood Education major Ashley Marie Bolgiano died at the age of 21.
On a Friday morning in October, those who knew and loved her gathered on campus to release balloons in commemoration.
Childhood friend Dagmar Schnople, says, “She knew how to have fun and although she did not have the easiest life, she made the best of everything she had. I want people to remember her fun-loving spirit and that she was always there when people needed someone to talk to, or someone to just hang out with.”
Others left their acknowledgments of her on the Schimunek Funeral Home guest book that was created in tribute to her. Professor Layne Restrick wrote, “Ashley’s smile lit up my classroom every time she entered it.”
Professor Mary Almasy wrote, “She always brought a smile to class and we enjoyed many conversations. I will certainly miss her.”
Donations can be made in her honor to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Get Your Corkscrews Ready:
By Ana Bunger | Owl Staff
Let the bouquet of red and white wines delight your taste buds at HCC’s 14th annual Wine Expo on Sunday, February 24, 2013. The event will be going on from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and will have over 40 wine vendors providing samples to taste. Craft brew samples are available for the beer connoisseur, accommodating those with a taste for domestic or foreign brews.
Attendees must be 21 to enter the expo and tickets are $40.00 in advance or $50.00 at the door. The designated driver ticket, which is $20.00, provides a guest the opportunity to attend the event but not to sample the beer and wine.
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.harford.edu. The ticket sales will go towards scholarships for HCC students and is promoted by the Alumni Association.
It is open to the public so bring a friend, bring a date, or bring a fellow wine lover to enjoy the full- bodied wines from all over the world and transport yourself for an evening into wine country.
Celebrating 50 Years at Harford:
By Ana Bunger | Owl Staff
A little over fifty years ago, Harford Community College was an institution located within Bel Air High School with about 100 students enrolled. But that all changed when the Harford County Board of Education bought Prospect Hill Farm, which is the land the school still resides on to this day. Even though the school’s 50th anniversary was five years ago, this November held a special place because it documents fifty years of being on the Prospect Hill property. When the school re-opened in 1964, 705 students were enrolled and more than 1000 enrolled the next year.
To celebrate the anniversary, The Hays-Heighe House held a salon on November 15, called “Campus Memories” reminiscing about the past 50 years on campus. Also a local HCN cable show called Historic Harford, aired an episode called “History of HCC” which included an interview with Avery Ward, Dean of the BSS Division.
The past fifty years have held special memories for each student and faculty member who has had HCC as their steppingstone to the next chapter in their lives.
Harford’s Reaccreditation Success:
By Ana Bunger | Owl Staff
After visits and reviews from the Middle States Commissions on Higher Education, reaccreditation has been given to Harford Community College.
The reaccreditation includes a self-study and a strategic plan run by committees of faculty seeking out what the college as a whole is doing right, commendations, and what they are doing wrong, recommendations. The self-study report was written by more than 125 HCC students and staff and focuses on the college’s programs, services, and finances. HCC received fifteen commendations and only five recommendations from the Middle States Commission.
Receiving fifteen commendations is “…usually unheard of in the college community” according to Lisa Tittle, co-chair of the Self Study Committee. “You can trust the education is good here,” adds Tittle.
It is not mandatory for colleges to be accredited with the Middle States Commissions, but without accreditation, students would not be able to receive financial aid.
Students’ Voices Heard in State Competition:
By James Greene | Owl Staff
Two students from HCC went head-to-head with eight others from around the state at the Maryland Communication Association Conference’s 1st annual public speaking contest. Interested students submitted speech outlines that corresponded with the conference’s theme of “Voice.” Based on the outline, ten students were picked to compete in the final round; they came from Towson University, Bowie State College, Trinity College and Harford Community College.
Political Science major Melinda Segovia was among the ten finalists. She based her speech on a new Congressional regulation that allows only students with a GED or high school diploma the chance of receiving financial aid. Segovia says, “As a dropout, I wanted to inform people about this new educational roadblock.”
Engineering major Basir Jamil also competed. His speech explained the adversity he’s faced for being Muslim, and the time he used his voice to speak out against anti-Muslim sentiment by writing an editorial in the Baltimore Sun. In his speech Jamil also described the positive feedback he received from readers.