Oak Ridge Today

Roane State students collect food for local food banks

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Roane State Food Drive

Roane State students collected food for local food drives. Front row, from left, are students Rebekah Sullivan and Kelli Green, medical transcription program director Linda Marsh, students Paul Charpie and Summer Hammontree, dental hygiene program director Melinda Gill, and students Emily Scruggs and Jessica Ankrom. (Submitted photo)

Students in Roane State Community College’s dental hygiene program and medical transcription program teamed up to collect food for area food banks.

The academic programs are located at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. The students collected the donations for various food drives in Oak Ridge.

“The project gives students an awareness of people who have a need,” said Linda Marsh, director of the medical transcription program. “We are in a depressed economy, and I think it’s important for students to give back to the community.”

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Roane State Holiday Concert scheduled for Dec. 7, 9

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The Roane State Community College’s annual holiday concert is scheduled for the second weekend in December.

The holiday concert includes two performances, one at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, and the other at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the O’Brien Theatre on the college’s Roane County campus in Harriman.

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Roane State open house Saturday

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Roane State Community College will host an open house for high school seniors, juniors, and parents on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Roane County campus in Harriman.

Attendees will register in the theatre lobby in the O’Brien Humanities Building, a press release said. A brunch will be offered at no cost.

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B&W Y-12 awards scholarships to two Roane State students

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B&W Y-12 STEM Scholarships

B&W Y-12 Commercialization Manager Jeremy Benton, left, chats with STEM Scholarship winners Sara Lemmonds and Wes Jenkins, two Roane State Community College students who will split $5,000 in scholarships. (Photo courtesy of B&W Y-12)

B&W Y-12 recently awarded $5,000 in scholarships split between Roane State Community College freshmen Wes Jenkins and Sara Lemmonds, a press release said.

B&W Y-12 operates and manages the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The contractor said the scholarships are part of its effort to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, education.

Recipients of the B&W Y-12 STEM Scholarship must be full-time students at Roane State pursuing a degree in one of the STEM fields of study.

Jenkins is a Harriman High School graduate and plans to major in biology. Lemmonds graduated from Oak Ridge High School and is enrolled in the college’s pre-med program.

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Clinton approves five-year Roane State lease, sells 10 acres to Techmer

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The Clinton City Council on Monday approved a five-year lease with Roane State Community College on the old National Guard Armory, which will allow the school to use the facility as an “Industrial Training Center.”

The Council also agreed to sell almost 10 acres of land to Techmer PM, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

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German World War II veteran speaks at Roane State today

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A German veteran of World War II will speak today at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus and at the main campus in Harriman.

Gerhard Hennes will speak in the City Room at the Oak Ridge campus at 12:30 p.m. He will lecture at 4:30 p.m. at the Roane County campus in room O-202 in the O’Brien Humanities Building. Each event is free and open to the public.

The lectures are presented by the Roane State-Bethel University 2+2 education program.

Hennes served as an officer in the German signal corps and fought in the Polish invasion, the Battle of France, and in the North Africa campaign.

In North Africa, Hennes was stationed at the Army headquarters of Erwin Rommel and worked with the famed Panzer leader personally.

He surrendered with the Afrika Korps in 1943 and then spent the rest of the war in 16 POW camps, including more than a year in Crossville.

After the war, he was deported to Germany in 1945, but immigrated back to the U.S. in 1953 and became a citizen in 1958.

At 90 years old, he resides in Fredericksburg, Va., and has written four books, including two on his wartime experiences.

For more information, contact Roane State history professor Casey Cobb at cobbcc@roanestate.edu or (865) 481-2000, ext. 2205.

Reception for new Roane State president on Tuesday

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Chris Whaley

Chris Whaley

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will host a reception on Tuesday for Chris Whaley, the new president of Roane State Community College.

The hour-long reception starts at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Whaley is Roane State’s fifth president, a press release said. He succeeds Gary Goff, who retired Oct. 31 after leading the college for seven years.

Whaley is a Roane State graduate. After three years in private practice as an attorney, he returned to the college in 1997 as program director of the A.A.S. Paralegal Studies program, a position he held through 2002.

Since then, he has worked his way up through other administrative positions at the college, the release said. He was named dean of social science, business, and education in 2002, and in 2010, he was promoted to vice president of student learning/chief academic officer. Whaley has also taught as an assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor of legal studies, and he continues to teach.

Whaley earned his associate’s degree in social science from Roane State, a bachelor’s degree in political science from Middle Tennessee State University, and the doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Roane State is hosting receptions for Whaley at the college’s nine campuses. The first reception was held Nov. 1 at the main campus in Harriman, and more events are planned for the next few weeks.

Ranked the 27th best community college in the nation by StateUniversity.com, Roane State has campuses in Crossville, Harriman, Huntsville, Jamestown, Knoxville, LaFollette, Lenoir City, Oak Ridge, and Wartburg.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

For more information about the receptions, call (865) 882-4507 or (865) 882-4501.

Radio astronomer to speak at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus

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Radio astronomer Stan Kurtz from the National Autonomous University of Mexico will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.

The lecture will be in the City Room, and it’s free and open to the public.

Kurtz conducts most of his research in New Mexico at the Very Large Array, one of the world’s premier astronomical radio observatories.

For more information about the lecture, contact Roane State’s David Fields at fieldsde@roanestate.edu or (865) 927-5155.

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Paranormal investigator discusses ghost-hunting projects on Monday

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Chad Calek

Chad Calek

Paranormal investigator Chad Calek will discuss his ghost-hunting projects on Monday at the Roane State Community College in Harriman.

It’s free and open to the public.

Calek is a regular on television on A&E’s “Paranormal State,” and he has filmed and investigated many tales of paranormal activity, a press release said.

The discussion is presented by Roane State Student Activities. It starts at 6 p.m. Monday in the O’Brien Theatre at the college’s Roane County campus in Harriman. The press release said children should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

According to Calek’s biography, his interest in ghosts started at age 12 when he heard rumors that his Iowa home was haunted.

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Roane State’s Goff receives Muddy Boot award

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Gary Goff Muddy Boot Award

Former state Rep. David Coffey, left, presents the Muddy Boot award to Roane State Community College President Gary Goff. Also pictured is Goff’s wife Heidi Goff. (Submitted photo)

Roane State Community College President Gary Goff received a “Muddy Boot Award” during an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday.

The awards honor people who have used their work and community activities to make East Tennessee a stronger region.

“Gary is an example of the person who—though not here for a very long time—makes a huge difference in the quality of the community,” ETEC President Jim Campbell said. “His leadership spanned from higher education, to K-12, to business partnerships and beyond. His legacy will last far longer than his seven-year tenure at Roane State Community College, and for that we honor him today with our highest award, the Muddy Boot.”

The Muddy Boot Award was created in the 1970s to honor people who have gone above the call of duty—like those who served the nation during the Manhattan Project—to make the community, the state, and the nation a better place to live and work, a press release said. More than 70 people have received the award since then.

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MTSU, Roane State sign transfer agreements

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Roane State and MTSU Signing

Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee, left, and Roane State Community College President Gary Goff sign dual admissions, concurrent enrollment, and reverse transfer option agreements in September. (Submitted photo)

The presidents of Middle Tennessee State University and Roane State Community College signed agreements on Sept. 26 that will ease the transition for students seeking to transfer from the college to the university in Murfreesboro.

Sidney A. McPhee of MTSU and Gary Goff of Roane State authorized three agreements that create dual admissions, concurrent enrollment, and reverse transfer options between the college and the university. The signing took place at the Knoxville Museum of Art during MTSU’s “True Blue Tour,” a six-city admissions caravan of deans, administrators, and counselors, a press release said.

“We welcome this opportunity to strengthen our already strong ties with Roane State,” McPhee said. “MTSU is the No. 1 destination of transfer students in Tennessee and this agreement makes it even easier for Roane State students to attend our university.”

“Roane State is excited to sign these three agreements with MTSU. The agreements will provide greater opportunities for our students,” Goff said. “We are proud to partner with Middle Tennessee State University.”

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Labor Secretary, student star in Roane State grant announcement tour

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There were actually two stars at Roane State Community College on Wednesday.

One was U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. She was there to celebrate the recent announcement of a $12.5 million grant to a group led by Roane State that will use the money to train students for health care careers and help them graduate.

The other star was Sunbright resident Loretta Starnes. She was once a pregnant teenage high school dropout who became a Roane State graduate and won a top student honor—the 2012 Roane State President’s Award.

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