MCC-LV wants you to be its fan on Facebook, and you could win some money: a $50 gas card or a $50 mall gift card.

Campus Life and Leadership and Longview Public Information are sponsoring the contest. Drawings will be held on November 23 and December 7, 2009. Winners must be a Facebook fan of the MCC-Longview Lakers who joined between October 26 and December 7 to be eligible. Winners must be current MCC-LV students with valid student IDs to claim prizes.

Benefit-eligible MCC employees are not eligible to win.

Other MCC Facebook pages:

• MCC-Penn Valley
• MCC-Blue River
• MCC-Business & Technology Campus
• MCC-Maple Woods Monarchs-Sports

International students from all MCC campuses gather at Penn Valley (Uno Yi/The Current)

by Uno Yi

About 150 F1 visa students from 20 countries are studying at Metropolitan Community College this semester, according to Bobbie Gustin, Cultural Awareness Resource Center Coordinator at MCC.

International students come to America hoping that getting an education in America will lead them to better lives.

“I am expecting education in the states can guarantee a better job,” said Sabita Thepa, who comes from Nepal. According to the South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Daily, around 18.7 percoent of the board members of the 30 highest ranked companies there, including Hyundai Motors, Samsung and LG, graduated from universities in the United States.    View slideshow   

An American degree does not seem to necessarily mean that international students will get better jobs after graduation, though.

“Two out of five my friends are studying somewhere as international students. No big deal at all,” said John Chang, who is from South Korea.

 Some international students come to America only to learn English. “I came here to learn English and American culture. But it’s not easy at all,” South Korean student Inho Hong said. “But it is giving me a chance, at least, to understand other cultures. Plus, America is the best place to meet people from all around world.”  

Gustin said that language barriers are the first big challenge the international students have to face, and added that the communication issue makes it hard for international students.

“[Americans] speak so fast,” said Reina Yamajaki, who is from from Japan. And American students complain about international students’ accents. “When they say something [in the] classroom, it is almost impossible to understand what they’re talking about,” said American student Daryl Doolittle, who is taking psychology at Penn Valley.

 International students share the view that the second challenge they have is culture. Islamic students complained about Americans’ point of view on religion. Momin Ansare remembered a classmate who said, “Democracy and Islam can’t be happen at the same time,” not knowing Ansare’s religion.

Students from Asian countries showed difficulty in understanding their American friends’ way of thinking. “They don’t know how to respect seniors, or at least they have different ways to respect them,” Chang said.

Feeling homesick is the one of the biggest challenges that almost every international student suffers. “It’s no fun at all if you I can’t see any loved ones, like family and friends and girlfriend. I miss them so much,” said Dimitar Beshkov, who is from Bulgaria.

International students at MCC pay around three times more tuition than Missouri residents.  

“I don’t know why I have to pay more to take the same education as American students,” Beshkov said. Others, however, argued that the pricey tuition is fair.

“We don’t pay any tax  in making this school system. No wonder we have to pay more,” Ansare said.   

More than $3,500 tuition leads international students to work illegally. Even when a student visa does not allow international students to work in the U.S., the reality is that a lot of them have still worked as part-timers. 

“Whether it’s legal, illegal, or anything, I have to work anyway,” one student said.

The obstruction to pedestrians at the MCC-Longview Campus Center building is due to the construction of a new roof.  According to Steven Greife, Facilities Services Superintendent, Facilities Services will use the spaces in the parking lot directly behind Campus Center on the west side during the project.

 “The crane and dumpsters over there ruin the view as well as making it inconvenient,” second-year student Kelly Tran said.

Greife said that the construction will be over around the last week of October or the first week of November, 2009.

Auto Tech students check under the hood (Uno Yi/The Current).

by Uno Yi

Every driver has had the experience of their cars breaking down on the highways, but many do not know how to deal with it. MCC Longview’s Automotive Technology program gives students the opportunity to learn simple skills to maintain their vehicles.These basic skills can be attained from the Fundamentals of Automotive Technology class, which helps drivers “understand the costs associated with purchasing, maintaining and repairing an automobile.” Instructor Rory Perrodin advises that “all drivers should be able to check the oil, jack up their car, and change a tire on the road. General knowledge of how the machine works is important, so drivers can give specific information to a technician and help shop focus in on what wrong with car.”

The department also provides repair services for students and members of community.

“We don’t charge labor, only the disposable we use, and parts. It’s much cheaper, but customers need to know the students are doing the work. So it takes longer than technicians,” Perrodin said.

Auto classes range from simple fundamental classes that teach students to diagnose the vehicles and to advanced levels where students become certified. Second year student Jesse Smith has been satisfied with the program.

“I feel like I learned a lot. I’ve always liked working on cars and I thought I had a good knowledge of them, but this class has shown me how much more I have yet to learn,” Smith said.

An MCC-Penn Valley student accidentally shot himself in the leg with his own weapon at the PV parking garage on September 30.

The 18-year-old man walked down to the parking lot entrance to request medical help.

“He’s talking to nursing students to get some help,” an employee witness said. The student was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The weapon was found in the vehicle by Public Safety and secured until released to the Kansas City Police Department. According to Tom Vansaghi, MCCKC Associate Vice Chancellor of College and Community Relations, the student reportedly had plans to sell the gun to make money to buy textbooks for his classes. The student said he was not going to sell the gun on MCC’s premises.

MCC’s Public Safety department and the Kansas City Missouri Police Department said that there was no public safety risk to MCC students, employees and the public at large, as this was an accidental shooting.
The student has been suspended pending an investigation and disciplinary proceedings. MCC-Penn Valley’s Behavior Intervention Team is gathering and reviewing background information to better understand the student’s interactions and overall behavior on campus in order to determine whether he will be allowed to back on campus, according to Vansaghi.

Kyle Gross/The Current

by Uno Yi

The first MCC Longview International Art Series kicked off on Sept. 24.

“This event is aimed at educating the world about African culture, aiding African families, and promotes cultural exchanges,” said Bethie, the co-president of the Kudzidza Foundation, which sponsored the African art, dance and music show. The next event in the series will be a Brazilian show on February 12, 2010.

View Slideshow

Coach of the Year Marcus Harvey (Uno Yi/The Current)

by Uno Yi  

The Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley’s men’s basketball team is in the middle of preparing for the upcoming 2009/2010 season. Tryouts began on September 2.  

The Scouts are the reigning champions of NJCAA Region 16. Former team member Marquis Kilgore, who led the scouts to the last season’s victory, said he was very disappointed when his team missed the National Tournament by just one game against Johnson County Community College on March 10, 2009.   

Head coach Marcus Harvey expressed confidence in the next season, though. The Scouts recorded only five losses out of 36 games last season.  

A lot of new faces will join in this year’s team. Only five veteran team members return, due to a massive number of graduations. The remaining key members, such as Justin Henderson and Ladon Champagnie, still make the prospect of the upcoming season positive. Recruits Beron White and Nathan Taylor, who make up for some of the former members’ evacuation, are about to join the Scouts through transfer.  

Harvey, who was named Region 16 Coach of the Year, picked his team’s height as a weak point, but added, “Basketball is not about height. It’s about patience, speed and, especially, teamwork.”  

The Scouts are well known for their defense, holding the opposition teams’ average scores to less than 76 points per game last season. Harvey explained the key to the Scouts’ sophisticated defense: “I’m always emphasizing teamwork to my members. Better teamwork leads to better defense,” Harvey said.