ImprintL a t e F a l l 2 0 1 1

Johnson County Community College

Lane leavesbackstagefor front and center

4New man on board Greg Musil, in his first year on theboard of trustees, wants to strengthenties with businesses and promotealumni pride.

5Alumna in limelight Millard, a best-selling author, goes ontour with her second book, Destiny ofthe Republic.

Candice Millard

Jim Lane, soon to be dean of arts,humanities and social sciences, hasspent countless hours in the theatre’sscene shop preparing for productions.The motel sign behind him was builtby students for a 2001 show.

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12Parisian sculptorshares time at JCCCFaculty-led trips to Parisfueled French artist’s stayat college

ImprintImprint at JCCC is published five times a year by Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210-1299; 913-469-8500, fax 913-469-2559. Imprint at JCCC is produced by College Information and Publications and the Office of Document Services. Imprint is located online at http://www.jccc.edu/Imprint.Editor: Diane Carroll • Photographer: Bret Gustafson • Designer: Randy BreedenWhen planning your estate, remember Johnson County Community College. For more information, call the JCCC Foundation at 913-469-3835.

Fall 2011 | Imprint

Contents

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6New challenge ahead for long-timetheatre leaderJim Lane shares his thoughts on leavingthe life he loved and offers a glimpseinto how he’ll handle the role of dean.

8Fundraiser marks 25th anniversaryThis year’s Some Enchanted Eveningevent recognizes all previous JohnsonCountians of the Year.

Artist in residence

Foundation

10Annual event offersthree days of music The jazz festival, from Jan. 20 to 22,will feature top national and localbands.

15Nursing professorswho visit Uganda see great need Mary Smith and Kathy Carver hope toreturn with students and create aservice-learning program in Africasimilar to the one the college has inLas Pintas, Mexico.

JCCC again ranksamong best in use ofdigital technologyThe annual Digital CommunityColleges Survey places the college in the top 10.

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9Couture collectionsettles into new spaceFashion and design students now willhave better access to hundreds ofpieces of clothing and accessories.

Notice of Nondiscrimination – Johnson County Community College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, marital status, veteran’s status,sexual orientation or other factors that cannot be lawfully considered in its programs and activities as required by all applicable laws and regulations. Inquiries concerning the college’s compliancewith its nondiscrimination policies may be referred to the Dean of Student Services or Director of Human Resources, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS66210, 913-469-8500; or to Office for Civil Rights, 8930 Ward Parkway, Suite 2037, Kansas City, MO 64114, 816-268-0550.

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14Students set up food pantry Canned goods, otheritems available on campusfor anyone in need

Fashion

Jazz Winterlude

Community College’s newesttrustee is a big fan of public

service, public education and young people.

So running for a spot on the JCCC board of trustees was anatural step for Greg Musil, 54, of Overland Park. He was thetop vote-getter in the spring 2011 election which also returnedtrustees Jon Stewart and Don Weiss to terms on the board.

Musil’s love of public service was instilled by his family. Hisfather served on the local school board in Frankfort, Kan.,and his mother was active in a variety of civic and schoolactivities in Marshall County. His brother, too, has served onthe school board.

“Growing up on a farm and in a small town, you learn thatit doesn’t get done if you don’t all work together and pitchin,” Musil said.

He said he values public service because it lets him beproactive in addressing problems and challenges anddevising solutions. It’s a contrast to much of his work as anattorney with Polsinelli Shughart PC, where his practiceareas are business litigation, banking and financial serviceslitigation and zoning and land use.

Government and education threads interweave Musil’srésumé. He was elected to four-year terms on the OverlandPark City Council in 1993 and 1997 and served as councilpresident in 1999 and 2000. He has been a member of theBlue Valley School District Business and Education Schoolsof Tomorrow (B.E.S.T) Advisory Committee since 1997, andserved on the Blue Valley Educational Foundation board ofdirectors from 2009 to 2011.

He’s also been involved with JCCC, serving on the JCCCFoundation board of directors since 2002, and on theFoundation’s executive committee since 2009. He was amember of the Some Enchanted Evening gala committeefrom 1994 to 2002, serving as co-chair of the gala in 2001.

That involvement, combined with a niece and nephew whowere on the JCCC track team in the late 1990s and early2000s, made Musil think he knew almost everything therewas to know about JCCC.

Since becoming a trustee, however, he said, “I’m surprisedby how much I don’t know. I’m learning how vast it is.”

For example, Musil said he doesn’t think the businesscommunity understands how many resources are available

at JCCC. He’d like to see ties between JCCC and the businesscommunity grow.

As a member of the board of trustees learning qualitycommittee, he’s impressed by JCCC’s early alert program thatasks faculty to alert counselors to students who are havingproblems and then links the students with the resourcesthey need to succeed.

Such programs reinforce his appreciation of young people.

“I find working with young people invigorating,” he said.“Getting to know them dispels most of the myths aboutyoung people as slackers who don’t care.”

Musil would like to see more alumni pride and presence onthe part of JCCC graduates.

“I want people, when they leave JCCC, to see it as the placewhere they got their start,” he said. “I’d like them to say‘JCCC was an important part of my life,’ and witness toothers about that.”

Possibly the biggest challenge facing trustees is finances,Musil said.

“We need to make smart budget decisions so that theresources are there to keep us at the top of the academicmountain and so that the taxpayers continue to understandthey’re getting a good value,” he said. “Taxpayers willsupport us if they believe that what they’re getting out ofJCCC is worthwhile.”

Johnson County

Greg Musil, who grew up on a farm outside Frankfort, Kan.,poses next to a Ford tractor near one of JCCC’s farm fields.

Meet JCCC trusteeGreg Musil

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Candice Millard, an alumnaof JCCC, recently began

crisscrossing the country on her latest book tour. Her secondbook, Destiny of the Republic, follows up the popular andcritical success of her debut, River of Doubt.

Before she left, however, she invited Steve Gerson, aprofessor of English at JCCC, and his wife over to her houseto catch up. Decades after Millard sat in his Composition Iand II classes, Gerson sat as a guest in her home. The twohave a friendship that has continued through the years.

After 25 years and thousands of students, Gerson doesn’thave much memory of Millard’s performance in class, but hedoes remember looking for good students to babysit hisyoung children – after those responsible students hadfinished his class, of course – and Millard fit thatrequirement. She babysat for Gerson’s two girls for years,and Gerson said he then discovered what a wonderfulperson Millard was.

Millard is quick to return the compliment. Of Gerson, shesaid, “He is hilarious. He’s so smart, and he is such a goodteacher. His teaching style is not only fun and interesting, it’svery thoughtful. I always looked forward to class.”

Millard chose JCCC because she didn’t know where to go toschool or what to study. She knew she liked writing – shehad been on the newspaper staff at Shawnee MissionNorthwest High School – but she didn’t know if it was herlife’s work.

Unsure of her next step, she picked JCCC for her freshmanyear. “I loved it. It was perfect for me. I took some basicclasses, but the two classes that stand out for me wereComposition I and II.”

After completing graduate school and working for a numberof different magazines, Millard spent six years at NationalGeographic. She moved back to the Kansas City area in2002, when she signed her first book contract and her first

baby was on the way. Since then, “it’s been books andbabies,” she said. Her children, ages 9, 6 and 4, are onereason she likes living in the area again. “My first priority ismy children, and it’s a wonderful place to raise kids.”

She took her two youngest children with her when doingresearch for Destiny of the Republic in Washington, D.C. Thebook, about the assassination attempt and subsequent deathof U.S. President James Garfield, is an historic look at anoften-forgotten man who served only six months ascommander-in-chief.

“He was one of the most extraordinary men ever to beelected president,” Millard said.

Gerson said he couldn’t wait to get Millard’s latest book. Hedescribed her first book as “lightning in a bottle.”

“I’m an English teacher. I’ve spent all my life reading, andher book is simply magical,” he said. “I can take no creditfor her writing style – that is her own – but I could happilyretire now, having been a part of her creation.”

River of Doubt was named one of the best books of the yearby The New York Times, The Washington Post, the SanFrancisco Chronicle and The Kansas City Star. The book alsowon a 2006 William Rockhill Nelson Award.

Best-selling author

Best-sellingauthorretains tieswith JCCCprofessor

JCCC alumna Candice Millard holds her latest effort, Destiny ofthe Republic, in her Lenexa office.

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a backstage office inthe Carlsen Center

has become a second home for Jim Lane.

From that hideaway, Lane has prepared for the theatreclasses he teaches, designed sets as the technical director fortheatre productions and run the music and theatredepartment at Johnson County Community College. Whenyou add in the evenings that he’s stayed late for rehearsals,you might understand why he considers his faculty and staffas his “brothers and sisters.”

“We’re all just a big family,” Lane said.

On Jan. 1, Lane’s “family” will grow significantly. That’s whenhe will take over as dean of arts, humanities and socialsciences, the biggest division at the college. He will be incharge not only of whoever replaces him as chairman of themusic/theatre department but also of the heads of 10 otherdepartments, which include humanities, sociology andphilosophy and religion.

“I’ll just be working for them now instead of with them,”Lane said. “I hope to be their biggest supporter andadvocate.”

Lane will succeed Dr. Betty Furtwengler, who is retiring. Shehas served the college for 19 years as dean, assistant dean ofsocial sciences and social services and professor of

sociology. Lane has been working with her to learn theresponsibilities of the job, she said, so she believes it will bea smooth transition.

“Jim and I have similar philosophies,” Furtwengler said. “Weseek to emulate Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart’s awesome exampleof servant leadership. We try to meet student and facultyneeds while serving the college as a whole institution.”

Lane will report to Rhinehart, executive vice president ofacademic affairs and chief academic officer.

Rhinehart said she has always marveled at Lane’s devotion tothe theatre department and the college and his incredibletechnical or stagecraft talent.

“Interestingly enough,” she said, “some of those skills willcome in handy as he officially assumes his deanresponsibilities in January. ‘Measure twice, cut once,’ asNorm Abram from This Old House says! There’s an analogyin that statement for someone taking on a dean’s job.

“Jim also is good with people and is relationship-oriented asa leader. I think that is a fine quality for anyone in such aposition to have.”

Beate Pettigrew, an assistant professor of theatre, says Laneis perfect for the job.

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During the last 20 years,

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Lane leaving theatre familyto take over as deanJim Lane and Betty Furtwengler, outgoing dean of the arts, humanities and social sciences division, meet weekly in her office.

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“He’s incredibly easy to get alongwith,” she said, and “he’s got patience amile long.”

Lane says he’s going to miss the theatrebut is looking forward to the newchallenges.

Obviously, he said, one of them will beoperating in a rocky economy withfewer dollars available to serve anincreasing number of students. He alsoexpects to be learning how to resolveconflicts, which could involve anythingfrom a student’s grade to a disagreementamong faculty.

Lane said he hopes that no oneexpects him to institute any bigchanges.

His goal, he said, will be to take careof the administrative chores so thefaculty “can just teach and be the bestteachers they can be.”

Lane, who is 47, joined the college in1990 after earning a master of fine artsat the University of Missouri in KansasCity.

His theatre career began inauspiciouslyat Hayden High School in Topekawhen the theatre director begged himand other boys in choir to take part inBrigadoon. Theatre season took placeduring track season – virtually the onlysport in which he did not participate –and so he joined the cast, believing itwould be a good way to meet girls.

Later, at Washburn University, a theatreprofessor lined him up to work duringthe summers with the Great LakesShakespeare festival in Cleveland,Ohio. By that time, he said, he hadlearned he was more suited to be adesigner/technical director than anactor. A relationship he developed witha professor at the Cleveland festival ledhim to UMKC.

Lane said he began entertaining theidea of changing jobs after he fell off aladder and broke a rib in the summerof 2010. That’s when he startedthinking he was getting too old to becarrying rope and cable hoses andworking 70 hours a week.

As Lane leaves the theatre department,he also is leaving his 15-yearassociation with the annual Heart ofAmerica Shakespeare Festival in KansasCity. He served as technical director forthe festival for the last time this pastsummer.

The job change will give Lane a chanceto spend more time with his wife, Julie,their three children and their five fosterchildren.

Theatre Professor Sheilah Philip saysLane will be missed. But she has afeeling he’ll be back now and then.

Lane thinks so too.

In fact, Lane said, if anyone’s lookingfor the dean next semester, a goodplace to check might be the theatre’sscene shop.

Jim Lane introduces MIG welding to his Basic Stagecraft class in the Carlsen Center scene shop.

24 years, Johnson

County Community College has raisedmore than $5 million and honored 24of the county’s most prominent citizensthrough a series of enchanted evenings,all in the name of student scholarships.

This year marks the 25th anniversary ofSome Enchanted Evening, the JCCCFoundation’s glittering black-tie gala. Eachyear, patrons have enjoyed a gourmetdinner and a night of dancing, knowingthat the proceeds from the event help stu-dents in need to continue their education.

This year, Some Enchanted Evening isscheduled for Nov. 12. As of the timeof this writing, this year’s event hadraised $600,000, more than in anyprevious year.

“We are grateful for the communitysupport that’s reflected in the SomeEnchanted Evening fundraising,” saidTerry Calaway, JCCC president, who withhis wife, Marlene, is co-chair of the 2011Some Enchanted Evening anniversarygala. “Private support of education isessential now, and the community hasnever let us down. Despite the relativelylow cost of attending college at JCCC,many county residents could not comehere without this help.”

Each year, the event has also recognizeda Johnson Countian of the Year – a man,

woman or couple who worked to benefitthe county through civic leadership orphilanthropic support. The roster is awho’s-who of county leadership.

“For the 25th anniversary of SomeEnchanted Evening, we wanted to onceagain thank all our past JohnsonCountians of the Year for their serviceto the community and the college,”Calaway said. “This anniversarycelebration also provides us with abase from which we can launch evengreater efforts for the future.”

This year’s anniversary eventrecognizes these past honorees:

1987 The Rev. Robert H. Meneilly, foundingpastor of the Village Presbyterian Church

1988 Ben Craig, former president of MetcalfState Bank and one of the college’sfounders

1989 Paul H. Henson, former president, UnitedTelecom/U.S. Sprint

1990 John H. (Jack) Robinson, former presidentand managing partner, Black & Veatch

1991 Stan and Shirley Rose, former publishers,Sun Publications

1992 James P. Sunderland, former president andchairman, Ash Grove Cement Co.

1993 SuEllen Fried, community volunteer1994 Adele Hall, community volunteer1995 William H. Dunn, Sr., chairman, J.E. Dunn

Construction Co.

1996 Richard L. Bond, former Kansas statesenator

1997 George and Floriene Lieberman,community volunteers

1998 Charles J. Carlsen, former president,Johnson County Community College

1999 Steve Rose, former editor and chairman,Sun Publications

2000 Betty Keim, community volunteer andformer mayor of Mission Hills

2001 Drue Jennings, former chairman and CEOof Kansas City Power & Light

2002 Mary Birch, former president, OverlandPark Chamber of Commerce

2003 Walter Hiersteiner, former vice chairman ofthe board, Tension Envelopes

2004 Robert Regnier, president and CEO, Bankof Blue Valley

2005 Ed Eilert, former mayor of Overland Parkand current chair of the Johnson Countycommission

2006 Norman and Elaine Polsky, formerpresident and CEO, Fixtures Furniture, andcommunity volunteer

2007 Richard G. and Barbara Shull, president,Shawnee Mission Ford, and communityvolunteer

2008 Fred Logan, attorney, Logan, Logan andWatson

2009 Terry and Peggy Dunn, president and CEO,J.E. Dunn Construction Co., and mayor ofLeawood

2010 David Wysong, former Kansas statesenator

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Over the past

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Pictured are JCCC Foundation President Steve Wilkinson, (front row, from left) Barbara Shull, Richard G. Shull, SuEllen Fried, JCCCPresident Terry Calaway and Marlene Calaway, co-chairs of the event, Ben Craig, Floriene Lieberman and George Lieberman. Backrow (from left) are William H. Dunn Sr., Shirley Rose, Steve Rose, Mary Birch, Kent Sunderland (representing 1992 honoree JamesSunderland), Dick Bond, David Wysong, Betty Keim, Robert H. Meneilly and Charles J. Carlsen.

Some Enchanted Eveningturns record-breaking 25

Community College now has acloset full of clothes on campus,

and the apparel is expected to get quite a bit of use.

This is no ordinary closet, however, and no one will bedonning the garments for a night on the town or a day atthe mall. Rather, the clothing will get a workout fromstudents in the fashion merchandising and design programas they study fashion history, clothing construction andvisual merchandising, among other subjects.

The collection was established by Fashion GroupInternational of Kansas City. It includes more than 3,000pieces of apparel and accessories dating as far back as the1860s.The collection had been housed at Bishop Miege HighSchool, but when the college closed its Bishop Miege sitethis spring, the collection had to find a new home.

The solution was a former media closet between rooms 232and 234 in the Carlsen Center. Renovations to the 875-square-foot space added a divider wall with double-deckedhanging space on both sides as well as double-deckedhanging space around the perimeter of the room.

It took a small army of movers a full day in June to loadscores of hanging clothing boxes onto three moving trucksand then unload the collection in the refurbished room.

Volunteers from the fashion merchandising and designdepartment then unpacked the boxes. On one side of thedivider wall, garments are sorted by decade. On the other,they’re sorted by designer.

“We’re thrilled to have the collection on campus so we’reable to use it,” said Joan McCrillis, professor and chair,fashion merchandising and design. “This collection cansupport anything we teach.”

The history of costume class, for example, will be able tosee firsthand decades’ worth of garments from the 1860s tothe 1990s. Clothing construction and pattern-makingstudents will be able to examine designer garments close-upto see the construction details. And visual merchandisingclasses will use the garments in display cases on the secondfloor of the General Education Building and on the thirdfloor bridge between the Office and Classroom Building andthe Billington Library.

“Every class has a way they can incorporate it,” said Joy Rhodes, associate professor, fashion merchandising and design.

Though faculty used the collection for teaching before themove, they’re likely to use it even more now that it’sconveniently located in the Carlsen Center, she said.

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Johnson County

Hundreds of garments surround Joan McCrillis, chair of fashion merchandising and design, in the Carlsen Center.

Couture collectionthat dates to 1860sfinds home on campus

in a row, Johnson CountyCommunity College is offering

three days of jazz in January for the public to enjoy.

Two of the nation’s top jazz bands, plus many of KansasCity’s best jazz musicians, will perform during JazzWinterlude, which will run from Friday, Jan. 20, throughSunday, Jan. 22, at the Carlsen Center. For details, visitwww.jccc.edu/music/jazz-winterlude.html.

Various forms of jazz will be presented, includingcontemporary, Kansas City swing and New Orleans style.

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, which will perform Friday at8:30 p.m., likes to integrate straight-ahead jazz withinfluences of funk, blues and world music. And PonchoSanchez and his Latin Jazz Band, which performs at 8 p.m.Saturday, adds some soul and salsa.

Doreen Maronde, a member of the festival committee, saidshe hopes the festival draws people from all over.

“We are really trying to push jazz – to get people to listen toit and to like jazz,” Maronde said. “That’s part of the efforthere.”

More than a half dozen Kansas City area groups willperform. They include the Bill Crain Quartet, whose leaderhas been called “a Renaissance Music Man” by JAMmagazine and Lynn Zimmer and the Jazz Band, whichregularly plays at the Gaslight Grill. Zimmer’s band features

some of Kansas City’s most recognized names in jazz.

The festival will open on Friday with daylong master classesand clinics that connect local jazz professionals with areastudents. The Brubeck Brothers will be this year’s specialguest clinicians. The public is invited to observe.

On Saturday, six area jazz groups will play beginning at12:30 p.m.

The Sunday event is an 11 a.m. brunch with the Dan DeLucaTrio in the Regnier Center Cube, which is on the secondfloor. DeLuca is noted for his impressive interpretation ofjazz standards and the American Songbook. He will bejoined by Monte Muza on guitar and James Albright on bass.

Tickets cost $20 for Friday and $25 for Saturday. A pass forboth days is $30. The Sunday brunch costs $25. The price forstudents with a student ID will be $5 on Friday and $5 onSaturday.

Tickets for the Brubeck concert are $20, $5 for students withan ID. (But anyone with a Friday day pass gets in for noadditional cost.) Tickets for Poncho Sanchez and his LatinJazz band are $45 and $35. (If you have a day pass, ask thebox office about a discount for Poncho Sanchez. And if youare a student with an ID, you can get in for $5.)

Call the college box office at 913-469-4445 or visitjccc.edu/TheSeries.

For the third year

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Top jazz bands show off theirstyles at Winterlude festival

Jazz Winterlude:

K a n s a s C i t y S t y l e

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Winterlude ScheduleFriday, Jan. 208 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. School band clinics and classes6 to 7 p.m. Bill Crain Quartet7:15 to 8:15 p.m. Crosscurrent8:30 p.m. Brubeck Brothers Quartet

(Opening act: JCCC Faculty Jazz Combo)

Saturday, Jan. 2112:30 to 1:30 p.m. Jazz Disciples1:45 to 2:45 p.m. Brandon Draper Group3 to 4 p.m. Lynn Zimmer and the Jazz Band4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Matt Otto Quintet5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Will Matthews Quartet6:45 to 7:45 p.m. Kansas City Bass Quartet8 to 10 p.m. Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band

Sunday, Jan. 2211 a.m. to 1 p.m. Brunch with the Dan DeLuca Trio in the Regnier Center Cube

All events take place in the Carlsen Center except for the Sunday brunch.

Info on the bandsBill Crain Quartet: Longtime jazzreed player, band leader and educatorBill Crain leads a group of Kansas Citymusicians capable of playing multiplestyles. Called by JAM “a RenaissanceMusic Man,” Crain also runs arecording studio.

Crosscurrent: This group of youngmusicians plays music of or inspired bythe great pianist/composer LennieTristano, who left his mark onAmerican jazz during the mid-20thcentury.

JCCC Faculty Jazz Combo:Made up of musicians who play a rolein JCCC’s educational program, thisnew combo features composers,arrangers, leaders of their own bandsand red-hot soloists.

Jazz Disciples: Led by GeraldDunn, Blue Room general manager, theJazz Disciples feature some of thearea’s most in-demand musicians. Youcan find them at the Blue Room and atfestivals around the area.

Brandon Draper Group:Percussionist Brandon Draper is notedfor innovation and creativity. A memberof the musical group performing withQuixotic Fusion, his beat provides themomentum for any group he joins.

Lynn Zimmer and the JazzBand: Longtime clarinetist and bandleader, Zimmer plays regularly at theGaslight Grill. His band features someof Kansas City’s most recognizednames in jazz.

Matt Otto Quintet: A relativelyrecent arrival in Kansas City,saxophonist Matt Otto is alreadymaking his presence known. He is aversatile musician who can play anumber of styles (and reed instruments)and who is a popular recruit in anumber of bands. Matt leads his ownpowerful jazz group as well.

Will Matthews Quartet: Thislong-time guitarist for the Count Basieband brings the famous swing to hiscontemporary quartet.

Kansas City Bass Quartet: Yes,that’s right! It’s four double bassestossing around a melody and providinga bass line and harmony for each other.

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet will play at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20.

Poncho Sanchez and his band will play at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.

is all about perspective. As asculptor, he creates pieces where

everyday objects are given new meaning. A tree with its rootsystem spreads into and under a large wall panel. A citysidewalk is cut away to reveal the machination of pipes andcables.

Reti also likes new perspectives in his own life. He left hisstudio in a renovated warehouse in Paris and in Septemberventured into the vistas of Kansas. He will spend threemonths at JCCC as part of the Scholar-in-Residence Program,working with both art students and French-languagestudents.

“I have been invited to share time with students and facultyas it will be possible,” Reti said. “This is an experiment foreverybody.”

The road to Reti’s residence began in 2008. Janette Funaro,professor, French, was planning the JCCC “Art in Paris” tripwith Allison Smith, department chair, art history. As part ofthe trip, the group would partake of a cheese tasting in arestaurant in the same neighborhood as Les Frigos, an artists’community in an old warehouse once refrigerated to housemeat for the city.

Familiar with Les Frigos from previous visits to Paris, Funarowondered if some of the artists might be open to a visitfrom the JCCC group. Reti was one of the artists who repliedto her email request, offering to organize a visit to seeseveral of the studios. In spring 2009 and again in spring2010, Reti led JCCC groups through Les Frigos.

“Jean-Paul was so generous with his time and so genuinelyinterested in teaching us about the building and about theartists,” said Funaro, “and his own work was so fascinating,that asking him to come to our campus seemed like anatural progression to me.”

Smith agreed that inviting Reti to JCCC would be atremendous opportunity. Fast-forward through the Scholar-in-Residence application process, emails, funding requestsand mounds of government paperwork, and Reti ended upas artist in residence at JCCC.

Reti doesn’t like the term “artist.” It’s too elitist for his liking.He prefers “craftsman,” and he’s not big on formalintroductions, either. During a recent visit to the sculpturestudio in the Arts and Technology Building on campus, hemet students of Sydney Pener’s Metals and Silversmithing

Jean-Paul Reti

Sculptor Jean-Paul Reti is spending much of the fall semester with students at JCCC.

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Artist in residence

Parisiansculptorsharestime atJCCC

class. It was without the fanfare the phrase “visiting sculptorfrom Paris” would imply.

“I prefer to make it very normal,” Reti said. “I just said hello,and I looked around, and I tried to get an idea of the job(students are doing).”

Reti’s father was a doctor, and his home was filled with bookson anatomy. The young Reti was enthralled with the unseenworld of the human body. Initially, he thought he wouldbecome a doctor as well, but art became his career path.

“I did not leave surgery completely. I like to think that in mywork I take a scalpel and cut into the earth,” Reti said,showing the unseen world of – well, the world.

His father also left to him another legacy – that of dividinghis time between personal growth and societal responsibility.When the mayor of Paris wanted to tear down Les Frigos,the building holding his studio and the workspace ofanother 120 artists, writers, designers and otherentrepreneurs, he spearheaded the effort to retain it.

“I worked four or five hours a day, at the expense of mysculpture,” Reti said. In Paris, he explained, there are manymuseums, but few places for artists to work. “It is as if they

make windows where people can see things, but they don’tgive room for people whose job it is to fill the window.”Costs to create studio space from scratch – especially in anexpensive metropolis like Paris – can be prohibitive. So hefought, and he won.

He also likes to think his art reflects a societal responsibilityas well. His work may dissect the earth, but bordersdisappear. “When you show the earth as a homogenousthing, you forget the things that make tensions – murderseven. You are showing the earth as it is, as unity. I hope totell the viewer to accept the whole of the earth.”

Reti’s schedule in the coming months won’t include anyformal teaching, but he’ll work with associate professorMark Cowardin’s advanced sculpture students, speak toclasses, give formal presentations and try to work on asculpture that reflects his time in Kansas.

Pener said she’s delighted to have him work with herstudents. “Even having him come through the studioprovoked interest. It’s exciting to have a visiting artist hereon campus, working and talking to students, especially aninternational artist.”

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Jean-Paul Reti talks with student Wendie Collins about a sculpture that she is creating.

Students notice a need,establish food pantry

to concentrate when you’re hungry. But forsome Johnson County Community College

students, it’s a fact of life. Buying books or filling the carwith gas to get to class may come at the cost of three squaremeals a day.

That’s one of the factors that led the college’s Students inFree Enterprise chapter to establish a food pantry in thebusiness division’s main office in the Office and ClassroomBuilding.

The food pantry got its start in November 2010 when SIFEstudents participated in the Campbell’s Soup Company’s“Let’s Can Hunger” challenge. The corporation challengedSIFE groups across the nation and in Canada and Mexico toraise awareness of hunger, translate that awareness to actionin the form of hunger relief and empower those in need todefeat the cycle of hunger.

“We were going to collect the food and give it to other foodpantries,” said Stacey Allison, project manager for SIFE whowas part of last year’s effort and continues to be involvedthis year. “But then staff asked us about keeping the food oncampus. We learned there was a real need.”

That’s not surprising. United Community Services, a JohnsonCounty agency that monitors human services needs,reported in September that U.S. Census Bureau figures for2010 showed that 6.6 percent of the Johnson Countypopulation had incomes at or below the poverty level.Though Johnson County’s poverty rate was steady from ayear earlier, the agency said the rate rose to 12.7 percent forthe six-county Kansas City metropolitan area.

With an area-wide growth in poverty, the SIFE students

found that the JCCC pantry could serve a niche of need.

In all, SIFE collected 6,000 pounds of nonperishable fooditems and earned a Silver Spoon Award for their efforts in2010-2011.

This year, the group plans to continue the effort. BarbaraMillard, SIFE adviser and associate professor,entrepreneurship, said she expects that SIFE students willwork with other student groups both to gather food for thepantry and to raise awareness of its existence.

Millard said protein items – tuna, peanut butter and chunkysoups, for example – are in short supply. Personal care andbaby items, like diapers, also are welcome. Anyone iswelcome to drop off food in the marked barrels aroundcampus.

Those in need can stop by the food pantry in OCB 272between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to pickup the food they need. Typically, around 10 people stop byeach week, but Allison and Millard would like to see thatnumber grow.

Allison noted that local food pantries are running low onfood as the economy continues to falter, and she said shewants to get the word out about the food available on-site atJCCC.

Her involvement with the food pantry has left her feelingfulfilled.

“We’re helping them survive so they can finish school,” shesaid. “When you face the choice of eating or buying books,that’s really difficult.”

14

It’s hard

Fall 2011 | Imprint

Students talk with their adviser about collecting food for those in need.

and Kathy Carver went toUganda the first time, they

knew immediately that they’d have to go back again. Soon.So they did. And if things work out, they’ll visit a third time.And a fourth …

The two women, both professors in the nursing departmentat JCCC, were extended an invitation to visit the war-tornAfrican country by Dr. David Zamierowski, the HealthcareSimulation Center medical adviser at JCCC. The retired doctor invited them to go with him on a 12-day trip in 2009.

Those days were just enough for them to realize they neededto help more than their short trip would allow. Uganda waswithout leaders. Generations of Ugandans had been wipedout, all casualties of war. Missing was a firm organization runby the voice of experience, and health care was noexception. Ugandans were trying their best to educate a newcadre of nurses, but it proved difficult given recovery fromchaos. They wanted to learn so much, explained Smith. Theyjust needed someone to help support them.

“That trip really was about making introductions,” saidCarver. “In that part of Africa, they really appreciate the ef-fort you are making to teach and to share.”

So Smith and Carver applied to the sabbatical committee atJCCC, and last spring, they returned to Uganda. They stayedfor five weeks at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, a private hospitalfounded by missionaries 50 years ago in the northern city ofGulu.

They lived in a dormitory near the hospital, thankful for flushtoilets, electric fans and mosquito netting. The days hoveredat 100 degrees, but the nights were sweltering. The twowould lay for hours waiting for it to cool off enough to sleep.

During the day, they would offer their services however the hos-pital and its affiliated nursing program wanted to use them. Theyhad laptops and Internet access, so they emailed colleagues forfiles, Powerpoint presentations, photos – anything they neededto teach the nursing concept the students wanted to learn.

Although the hospital was equipped with some basic med-ical equipment, it lacked supplies American hospitals takefor granted.

In her journal, Smith wrote of a baby who stopped breath-ing shortly after his birth. There was no oxygen toadminister, as there would be at a U.S. hospital, so Smith

tried CPR. The baby did not recover. In her journal, Smithdescribed what it was like to see the parents pick up thebody of their child.

“Later [the father] returned with some of their family, and thebaby was given to them to take home to bury. I conveyed mysorrow, and he replied that this is accepted, and their faith inGod will give them strength and acceptance. I prayed withhim,” she wrote. “I am indeed disturbed by what we saw but I also feel that witnessing the death of a baby is part of theirreality here, and we should not be immune to it as we arehere to gain understanding and to convey genuine caring.”

Due in part to this experience, Smith has applied to becomea trainer in the Helping Babies Breathe program, a jointcurriculum from the American Academy of Pediatrics andthe World Health Organization, to so she can teach theUgandans neonatal resuscitation on her next visit.

Both Carver and Smith would like to return to Uganda withstudents. They said they’d like to create a college programsimilar to the Las Pintas service learning program, which isalready in place.

Las Pintas is an impoverished community on the edge ofGuadalajara, Mexico. Students and faculty from JCCC havebeen helping in a clinic there for 13 years, and Smith wasinvolved in that project from the start.

“I have a passion for international service, since the 1980swhen I worked in Haiti, then when I went to work here inthe ‘90s, for Las Pintas,” Smith said. “There is just so muchmore to do in this world.”

Along with the University of Kansas, and the RockhurstSchool of Nursing, JCCC could team withmedicalmissions.org to send students and faculty to Ugandaas early as June 2012.

When Mary Smith

15Fall 2011 | Imprint

Professors Mary Smith (from left) and Kathy Carver pose outsidea hospital in Uganda with Robin, their driver.

Professorshelp hospitalin Uganda

Johnson County Community College again this year islisted among the top-rated community colleges for digitaltechnology by the Center for Digital Education andConverge magazine. JCCC was also top-ranked in 2005,2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The annual Digital Community Colleges Surveydocuments advances made by community colleges inutilizing information technology and recognizes whichcolleges, as a result, provide a high level of service totheir faculty, students and communities.

The survey looked at technology integration into collegecurriculum and campus life, documenting the use ofonline admissions processes, distance education,technology training for students and faculty, campussecurity alerts and use of Web 2.0 social andcollaborative capabilities as well as online tutoring andadvisory services. Use of mobile devices was also a keyindicator of success.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by experts as one ofthe best in the country,” said Terry Calaway, president,JCCC. “Our faculty, staff and administrators findinnovative ways to use technology in and out of theclassroom to improve teaching, learning and studentsupport.”

JCCC was listed among the top colleges in the largecollege category (10,000 students or more).

1st: Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, N.Y.

2nd: Lone Star College, The Woodlands, Texas

3rd: Montgomery County Community College, Tacoma Park, Md.

3rd: Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, Va.

4th: Catawba Valley Community College, Hickory, N.C.

5th: Scottsdale Community College, Scottsdale, Ariz.

6th: Howard Community College, Columbia, Md.

7th: Johnson County Community College

7th: Tidewater Community College, Norfolk, Va.

8th: Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, Ala.

9th: Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Ill.

9th: Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah

10th: Delaware Technical and Community College,Wilmington, Del.

10th: LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, N.Y.

“As community college enrollments continue to increase,school leaders are incorporating new technologies toenhance student services and improve coursecurriculum,” said Cathilea Robinett, executive vicepresident of the Center for Digital Education. “Expandeddistance learning offerings, use of mobile devices andgreater collaboration – among other efforts – demonstratethese winners’ drive to provide students with a high-quality education at a lower cost.”

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

12345 COLLEGE BLVD

OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

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Johnson County Community College

JCCC again ranks among topdigital community colleges