June 2011 | North Central College

Commencement coverage available online

Naperville Sun coverage of Saturday's 146th Commencement was featured in Sunday's issue and is available online.

Sunday coverage included a front-page photo, a page 3 photo and list of honorees, and another full page of coverage inside that included photos and the text of class of 2011 student speaker Carolyn Kalafut's Commencement speech.

Expanded coverage online includes a gallery with additional photos.

In Honor: The Max Lacewell & Brianna Sharp Memorial Scholarship

This is a story of coincidence, long odds, a rare disease, friendships, grief and the generous alumni who have channeled their emotions into helping support the educations of future physicians and medical researchers.

Inaugural Pi Mu Epsilon Prime Time Mathematics Colloquium held in May

Math department inaugurates Pi Mu Epsilon Honor Society and first of many mathematics-related colloquia featuring talks by Google software engineer, students.

Nearly 90 students, faculty, staff and visitors enjoyed hearing two talks as part of North Central’s Inaugural Pi Mu Epsilon Prime Time Mathematics Colloquium on May 25. The first talk, titled “The Mathematics of Google,” was presented by Shaun Cox, software engineer with Google. Following his talk, students and faculty were initiated into the Pi Mu Epsilon Honor Society.

Skurkis decorates sculpture for garden exhibit

Barry Skurkis, associate professor of art, is one of many artists showcasing their artwork in an exhibit at the Oakbrook Center gardens this summer.

Barry Skurkis, associate professor of art, is one of three dozen artists showcasing their art in an exhibit titled “In Bloom” at the gardens and fountains at Oakbrook Center. Some 30 fiberglass sculptures and 11 fine art sculptures decorated by artists or artist groups will be on display through Sept. 20 as part of a good cause and fundraising effort.

Senior accounting majors sit for Ethics part of CPA Exam

For the third year, graduating accounting seniors take Ethics portion of CPA Exam and hear guest speaker discuss how to prepare for rest of exam.

On April 27, some 23 accounting graduating seniors took the Ethics portion of the five-part Uniform CPA Examination on campus. Typically, students don’t have an opportunity to take part of the CPA exam to become licensed as U.S. Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) before graduation. However, Assistant Professor of Accounting Sarah Lureau arranged the Ethics exam through her professional association with the Illinois CPA Society. Because North Central and the Illinois CPA Society co-sponsored the test, students received a discounted rate.

Students’ outdoor assignment for environmental studies class changes their view

Students in the Environmental Studies 120, People and Nature class, tend campus garden and landscaping as part of class work and learn more than gardening.

Two columns of rectangular black plots of dirt along the pedestrian spine produce a variety of vegetables the campus community can eat at Kaufman Dining Hall.

Several students have helped tend these plots as part of Environmental Studies 120, People and Nature, taught by Martha Bohrer (photo, below), associate professor of English.

Res/Rec summer hours

Summer hours for the Res/Rec Center have started and remain in effect until Sept. 10.

The Res/Rec front desk will be staffed 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays. The fitness center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and closed Sundays.

Carpet from Kroehler Field is repurposed, recycled

As work on the Kroehler Field resurfacing project in Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium continues, the College has arranged for the disposal of the rubber field or “carpet” that was removed. FieldTurf Corporation, the company installing and supplying the new field, has told North Central it will try to either recycle or reuse the removed carpet. In addition, a percentage of the carpet has been repurposed by the Cardinal baseball team for several batting practice locations.

Heller and McMahon lead math workshop for girls

Katherine Heller, assistant professor of mathematics, and Mary McMahon, associate professor of mathematics, led math workshop for middle school girls.

Katherine Heller, assistant professor of mathematics, and Mary McMahon, associate professor of mathematics and mathematics education coordinator, led a workshop in math activities on deciphering codes, Fibonacci numbers, golden rectangles and tessellations for middle school Junior Scholar girls during three afternoons in April and May. The workshop was funded by a Sonia Kovalevsky Grant from the Association of Women in Mathematics and National Science Foundation. The goal of the grant is to foster interest in girls to follow careers in mathematics.

Gems gives paper, contributes to documentary

Gerald Gems, professor of health and physical education, presented a paper on “Interwar Black Basketball” and was interviewed for part of a documentary.

Gerald Gems, professor of health and physical education, presented a paper titled “Interwar Black Basketball: Bridging, Race, Class, and Gender Gaps” at the North American Society for Sport History convention at the University of Texas in Austin on May 28. He was also interviewed for part of a documentary film, “Sanctioned Savagery: A History of American Football.”

A member of North Central’s faculty since 1988, Gems received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.