Vol. 13 Issue 3March 2007
 

Headlines

Shuler Visits A-B Tech Campus

Rep. Heath Shuler with President Bailey

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler and President K. Ray Bailey discuss education during a meeting held at A-B Tech Feb. 21 with eight area community colleges represented.

A-B Tech hosted an historic meeting between representatives of Western North Carolina community colleges and U.S. Rep. Health Shuler Feb. 21.

President K. Ray Bailey welcomed Shuler and officials from Blue Ridge, Haywood, Isothermal, Mayland, McDowell, Southwestern, and Tri-County community colleges to the gathering in Simpson Lecture Room. The event marked the first time the eight community colleges had met as a group with an 11th District Congressman, according to Mr. Bailey.

Shuler's visit to the College was one of several meetings he attended with local officials during the week to gather their thoughts and concerns as he prepared to return to Washington.

President Bailey told the Congressman community colleges are in the business of changing people's lives. "If we ever lose sight of that, we're in deep, deep trouble," he said.

To illustrate, Kathy Godfrey shared the story of how A-B Tech helped her move from a life as a factory worker who sewed waistbands on 634 pairs of women's pants a day to an English/Communications instructor at her alma mater.

Godfrey spoke of visiting France a year ago and of sights and sounds that moved her to tears. "I want to be one of those people (at A-B Tech) who convinced me I could be sitting in Sainte-Chapelle, listening to Mozart, Haydn, and Bach."

Student aid and facilities were among the most frequent requests college officials made to Shuler. The Congressman said he expects education will continue to be a top priority for leaders from both parties. "I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can on your wish list," he added.

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A-B Tech Student Culinary Team Wins State Competition, Advances To Regionals

A-B Tech Hot Food Team

A-B Tech Hot Food Team members Daniel Gorman, Matt Gruber, Chambli Stuber, Michelle Bailey and Jason Huang, captain, won the N.C. State Student Hot Food Competition Feb. 10 at the Art Institute of Charlotte.

The A-B Tech Hot Food Team took first place and a gold medal at the N.C. State Student Hot Food Competition Feb. 10 at the Art Institute of Charlotte.

The A-B Tech team has won for more than a decade at the American Culinary Federation (ACF) state competition. The team will advance to the Southeast Regional competition April 29-May 1 in Nashville with a chance to compete nationally.

Team members are Jason Huang, captain; Daniel Gorman, Chambli Stuber, Michelle Bailey, Matt Gruber and Kim Aasland serving as alternate. Bronwen McCormick, Culinary Lab manager/instructor, and Charles deVries, Hospitality Education instructor, are coaches.

"It went very well. The students were very excited and certainly a little nervous," McCormick said. "For most of them, it was their first competition, but they appeared calm and collected and performed at a very high level. They worked well as a team and their food was beautiful."

"The results of their hard work, dedication, and determination paid off. They kept to their target times, were focused and performed beautifully. As always, these venues allow a team to showcase their talents out in front of their peers. We are all proud of them. They came back with more than just medals, they came back with knowledge and confidence," deVries said.

Teams are judged on kitchen skills including butchery, filleting of fish, fruit and vegetable cutting and preparing pastry cream. After the skills demonstration, teams are required to prepare a four-course meal of a fish starter, salad, a classical meat dish, which is chosen by the ACF, and a dessert.

Teams have 30 minutes to set up for the cooking phase and 90 minutes to prepare and serve the four courses. Each team is then allowed 30 minutes to break down and clean their station, leaving it in the same condition as found.

The A-B Tech Hot Food Team menu consisted of pan seared striped bass with sweet pea sauce and black-eyed pea terrine; frisee salad with pickled beet, sweet potato Napoleon and mustard cream vinaigrette; Supreme de Volaille a l'Ecarlate with sautéd broccoli rabe and glazed butternut squash; and vanilla cream on spice cookie and fruit compote served with apricot sauce and spun caramel.

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A-B Tech To Become Tobacco Free Aug. 1

A-B Tech President K. Ray Bailey recently announced the College is taking a significant step toward creating a healthier environment by adopting a 100 percent tobacco-free policy on its three campuses.

The policy, which takes effect Aug. 1, bans tobacco use in A-B Tech's buildings and on its grounds. The policy was approved by the College's Board of Trustees Feb. 5.

A-B Tech is part of the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) Tobacco-Free Colleges initiative. As part of this statewide initiative, grantee colleges and organizations work to establish smoke-free policies on NC campuses and to promote North Carolina's Tobacco Use Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) among college students.

"We are pleased to adopt a policy that promotes healthy lifestyles for our students, faculty, staff and visitors," said Bailey. "Studies show that reducing tobacco use and eliminating second-hand smoke exposure greatly decreases the chances of tobacco-related illnesses, including cancer, stroke, heart and lung disease. By having this policy in place, we will not only make everyone who attends, visits and works at A-B Tech healthier, but we hope to set an example for other schools in North Carolina to follow. "

"One of the top 10 issues that emerged from surveys and focus groups during the college's Quality Enhancement Planning process was a concern about tobacco use on campus. The two most frequently cited issues were exposure to secondhand smoke and litter caused by cigarette debris across the campus," said Ned Fowler, dean of Allied Health and Public Service Education and chair of the College's Tobacco Use Concerns Committee.

The plan includes the continuation of tobacco use cessation classes, educational efforts and the annual Great American Smokeout activities in November. A resource area will be established in the Holly Library and a tobacco cessation web page will be developed on the College web site.

Notice about the tobacco-free policy will be included in college publications and will be posted prominently around the campuses.

A new state law, passed in 2006, gave all NC community colleges the legal authority to adopt policies to make their campuses 100 percent tobacco free. Prior to this law, community colleges only had limited authority to adopt tobacco-free policies. HWTF, along with its community college grantees, led the charge in helping to get the historic legislation passed.

HWTF Chair Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue said that the new policy sends a strong message that the health of the entire A-B Tech family is a top priority for the College.

"This is a critical step for A-B Tech as we continue to find ways to reduce the number of college students who use tobacco products," said Lt. Gov. Perdue. "If more policies like this are implemented, North Carolina could have the lowest middle school, high school and college smoking rates of any state in America."

In 2005, HWTF awarded $1.6 million in grant funding to promote such policies on NC college campuses, making this the first state-funded effort to prevent and reduce tobacco use among college-age youth in North Carolina.

"Our goal is to establish an environment where our students, faculty, staff and visitors can learn, work and grow in a place where they can be healthy and happy," said Bailey. "Our new tobacco-free policy greatly enhances these chances."

The NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund makes North Carolina stronger, both physically and economically, by funding programs that promote preventive health. Created by the General Assembly in 2000 to allocate a portion of North Carolina's share of the national tobacco settlement, HWTF has invested $127 million to support preventive health initiatives and $78 million to fund a prescription drug assistance program. For more information, please visit www.HealthWellNC.com.

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Secretary Of Corrections Found A-B Tech Beneficial »

 

Tech Talk is published by the Communications Office for employees and friends of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
Editor: Mona Cornwell, Writer: Martha Ball, Designer: April Sides
Send submissions to: Mona Cornwell, Director of Communications, at mcornwell@abtech.edu