Press Releases, April 2008

HCC Players Stage Anna in The Tropics
Elusive American Dream Plays Out in Cigar Factory
April 1, 2008

HOLYOKE - The HCC Players Present Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz, Thursday through Sunday, April 10-13, in the Leslie Phillips Theater at Holyoke Community College.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m. and the Sunday performance begins at 2:30 p.m.

Please call the HCC Box Office at (413) 552-2528 for more information or to reserve tickets. Admission is $7 for the general public, $5 for seniors and students.

Anna in the Tropics is a poignant and poetic play set in Florida in 1929 in a Cuban-American cigar factory, where cigars are still rolled by hand and “lectors” are employed to educate and entertain the workers. The arrival of a new lector is a cause for celebration, but when he begins to read aloud from Anna Karanina, he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners, for whom Tolstoy, the tropics and the American dream prove a volatile combination.

Anna in the Tropics, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, recreates on the stage a time when the sound of the human voice reading poetry is about to be replaced by the sound of a factory full of machines.

For more information, visit the HCC Department of Communication, Media and Theater Arts at www.hcc-cmta.org.


HCC Hosts Regional Conference on Information Security
For everyone from high school students to business owners
April 10, 2008
HOLYOKE – Leading IT security experts will offer workshops at Holyoke Community College’s 2nd annual “Information Security and Assurance Conference,” to be held on April 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the People’s Bank Room, Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development on the college campus.

The presenters are Kevin Andryc, Nancy Kindness Heath, Mich Kabay and Susan Miller.

Andryc is manager of systems and application development at WISER, the World Institute of Strategic and Economic Research, in the Kittredge Center. Kindness Heath is a security awareness specialist with MassMutual Financial Group. Kabay is author of more than 900 articles on operations management and security, technical editor of the fourth edition of Computer Security Handbook, and associate professor at Norwich University School of Business and Management in Vermont. Miller, chief operating officer of HealthTransactions.com, is project manager for Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) in New Jersey and Massachusetts and is the health care research analyst for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Federal Employees program.

The conference is designed for anyone who uses computers and is concerned with protecting personal or sensitive information. High school students interested in pursuing cutting edge careers and pathways to IT education are encouraged to attend. The conference also will serve as a professional development opportunity for academic faculty and staff.

“Whether it is a customer database, product information, or trade secrets - businesses of any size have sensitive or critical information that need to be properly secured while ensuring proper access to employees,” Radostina Koleva, HCC professor and co-chair of the conference. “Business owners need to know how to invest in information security to ensure productivity, efficiency and protect their reputation. High school students will learn a lot about a new immerging and vibrant career field and will have opportunities to meet college students and business professionals. Information security is not all about technology -- it is for the most part about people, behavior, perception, knowledge, management, planning, processes and policies.”

In addition to The Kittredge Center, the conference is co-sponsored by the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, The Bank of Western Massachusetts, Course Technology, Boston Area Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC), the National Science Foundation and the Center for the Advancement of Information Technology in Education.

Breakfast will be served between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and lunch will also be provided.

To register, please visit www.hcc.edu/pvisac. For more information, contact Arvard Lingham, Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development 413-552-2500, Kittredgecenter@hcc.edu

HCC Student Makes All American Academic Team
Westfield native heading to UMass Isenberg School of Business
April 10, 2008
HOLYOKE –Melissa J. Salois-Blood, a May 2008 graduate of Holyoke Community College, was selected to be part of the All American USA Academic Team. She was one of 18 students from the state to receive the national distinction.

Salois-Blood, 32, a native and resident of Westfield, was nominated because she has sustained an honor level Grade Point Average (in her case, a G.P.A. of 3.5) in her time at HCC. College President William Messner and Phi Theta Kappa Chapter advisor Kim Hicks, dean of the Honors Program at HCC, both recommended Salois-Blood for the recognition.

Salois-Blood will graduate next month with an AA degree in accounting and another in business administration. She will continue her studies at the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Business, where she plans to major in accounting. Her goal is to become a Certified Public Accountant.

At HCC, she was a member of the student Senate and CEO of Business Association Club. She also served on the search committee for the appointment of a new dean for the college’s business division.

The All Massachusetts Academic Team went to the Statehouse in Boston last week, where they were awarded medals and certificates by the state’s Board of Higher Education and the state’s Phi Theta Kappa.

Natalia Muñoz
(413) 552-2183

Ernie Watts Guest Artist at HCC Jazz Festival
Two-time Grammy winner will play on April 25
April 22, 2008

HOLYOKE – The incomparable Ernie Watts, distinguished tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger, will be the guest artist at Holyoke Community College’s 11th annual Jazz Festival to be celebrated April 25-26 at the Leslie Phillips Forum in Building C.

On April 25 at 8 p.m. in the forum, Watts will perform in concert with the Amherst Jazz Orchestra. Tickets are $8 for everyone except HCC students, faculty and staff.

On April 26, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., several free events will be held. They are:

• High school jazz bands from Holyoke and Enfield, Conn., among others, and combos as well as the HCC Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Vocal Ensemble and Jazz Improvisation Combo performances will each have half-hour sets in the Forum. Each group will be critiqued by professional jazz educators. Individuals who wish to participate should call HCC music professor Robert Ferrier at (413) 552-2480 or Deb Golas at 552-2485.
• Watts will conduct a music clinic in 10 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. in Building C, Room 137.
• Two jazz combos comprised of HCC faculty and other professional musicians and educators will conduct combo performance workshops and jazz jam discussion groups throughout the day.
• A concert to close the festival will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. in the forum, featuring Watts playing with a select combo of high school students, HCC students and faculty.
• Gerry’s Music Shop of South Hadley will have a booth displaying instruments and accessories.

HCC Provides Free College Preparation Class
Math, reading/writing help and mentoring included

April 23, 2008
HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College, in collaboration with the Holyoke-based Community Education Project, provides prospective students at least 18 years old who graduated from high school at least four years ago or who hold a GED a free college preparation class from June 9 through August 15.

Classes are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on the campus. In addition to 12 classroom hours, there are optional mentor/tutor hours provided.

Among the subjects that are covered are math, reading & writing, study strategies and computer instruction. The program offers assistance in filling out financial aid and admission applications, access to HCC student support resources, counseling in English and in Spanish. Free bus passes are provided.

The deadline for applications is May 31, 2008.

“This program prepares participants to be successful college students,” said Elia Dreyfuss, coordinator of the program. “Students will improve their academic skills, gain confidence and familiarity with the college environment.”

For more information, please contact Elia Dreyfuss, coordinator of the ABE/College Transition Program at HCC at (413) 552-2852 or by email at edreyfuss@hcc.edu. In either case, se habla español.