SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Kingsborough Community College is the latest collection point to be part of Verizon Wireless’s UHopeLine, and the mobile company donated $1,000 to the school’s women’s center to help protect women from violence.

UHopeLine is a cell phone recycling program that accepts wireless devices and accessories in any condition, from any wireless service provider, and then refurbishes or recycles them in an environmentally sound way. Proceeds of the UHopeline program benefit local domestic violence survivors in the form of wireless phones with service and cash grants to domestic violence advocacy groups working to end domestic violence. Continue Reading »

Want to get hooked on a new profession? Kingsborough Community College has just the junk you need.

Kingsborough Community College is dispersing $60,645 in full scholarships to train aspiring professionals in chemical dependency counseling. The funds come from $500,000 in federal stimulus funds awarded to New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) for training as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and will be given to eligible students afflicted by the ailing job market. Continue Reading »

Photo courtesy of Paypaul via Flickr

Kingsborough Community College is booming this year, as a record high number of students pad the school’s budget and spur program growth.

While all of the city’s other community colleges were forced to roll back application deadline dates for the current Fall semester, Kingsborough Community College remained the only two-year public higher education institution that accepted all eligible students. The result was a massive 16 percent leap in enrollment, to a teeming 17,821 registered students.

The increased numbers haven’t stressed the system, according to Thomas Friebel, Dean of Enrollment Management at KBCC. Instead it’s led to some long-awaited improvements. Continue Reading »

In a short address to the crowd gathering in Kingsborough Community College’s gymnasium yesterday, President Regina Peruggi spoke about the placement of the word “community” within the school’s official title. It may have fallen upon deaf ears in the buzzing crowd, but the brief speech before KBCC’s first annual Strive to Provide Walkathon set the pace for the afternoon.

More than 600 students, staff, and faculty gathered to participate in this initial foray into scholarship fundraising, racking up $15,000 for student scholarships. Clearly, attendees gave good reason for the placement of the word “Community” in between “Kingsborough” and “College”, blowing away the initial goal of raising only $4000.

The “Rocky” theme echoed through the gym as everyone gathered to warm up. Despite the overcast day, the weather held and the 48 teams marched on. Team captains hoisted their signs high in the air as KBCC students cheered and encouraged the walkers along the path. Starting within the gym and following the seawall lining Jamaica Bay, walkers marched along the perimeter of the campus not once, but twice, before regrouping in the gym for refreshments, prizes and affirmation from KBCC’s cheerleaders. All the while, KBCC mascot, “The Wave” raced around shouting, “You can do it!” and “Keep going!”

Local businesses, such as Tasty Bagel, Maria’s Restaurant, and Kingsborough’s favorite just-round-the-corner joint Pizza Boulevard, provided door prizes to groups that had raised the most money. The big winners of the day, for both best costume and name, were Milano’s Cookies (donning chef hats and white jackets), led by faculty member Frank Milano. The Buildings and Grounds team, dressed as bees, came in with a close second. They weren’t stung by second place – they received the same prize because it was simply too hard to decide who had the better threads.

Keeping with the spirit of Kingsborough’s generosity, nobody walked home empty-handed. T-shirts and mugs were distributed to some participants while one lucky walker went home with a brand new TV, funded by a separate raffle – 100 percent of yesterday’s walkathon proceeds went directly to fund student scholarships. Every participant walked home with their very own gold medal.

Without the support of such a proactive and lively community, there would be no Kingsborough – and yesterday’s success continues to prove just the worth – beyond mere finance – of our Harvard by the Bay.

[View with PicLens]

William Butler Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” While Kingsborough Community College may be located on a beautiful beach, this Tuesday, November 10, will ignite fireworks as opposed to pack pails of sand.

KBCC is hosting their first annual “Strive To Provide” Walkathon; with 100 percent of the proceeds funding much-needed student scholarships. The 2.5 mile walk will take place along KBCC’s sea wall during club hours, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Southern Brooklyn’s self-proclaimed Harvard by the Bay, KBCC has asked for a paltry donation of $10 per walker. Over 500 students, staff, and faculty have already signed up to participate, shattering the initial goal of raising $4000. To participate, please call 718-368-5666.

During a time of recession combined with the increased rate of dropouts, the financial need is there – Kingsborough is striving – let’s see if the community provides.

Kingsborough Community College will be co-sponsoring, with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development of the City of New York, a FREE Healthy Homes/Healthy Families Expo.

The expo is a jam-packed event of workshops and exhibitors whose goal it is to educate the community  about the prevention and identification of home health hazards. City, state, and federal agency representatives will be on hand to show you how to do that in as efficient and low cost way as possible.

Here are some of the important details about the event, or check the attached flyers and program details for more information:

Healthy Homes/Healthy Families Expo

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Open all day – 9am-8pm

WHO IT’S FOR: Tenants/Residents Home owners  Health educators/teachers
Contractors  Realtors  Sellers and potential buyers

REGISTRATION:   FREE! But signing up in advance is appreciated.
Email: expo@environmentaleducation.com or
Phone: (718) 443-8574 ext. 282

LOCATION: 2001 Oriental Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11201
MAC Rotunda, 2nd floor

DIRECTIONS: Bus B1 or 49 to last stop/KCC main entrance
Train Q or B train to Brighton Beach, transfer to B1 bus
(School is in session, so on-campus parking is limited during the day,
better in the evening)

Here’s the flyer [.pdf] and the program [.doc].

Congressman Anthony Weiner is hosting a Town Hall Meeting on healthcare reform this Tuesday evening, September 1, at 7:30 p.m. Kingsborough Community College is hosting the Q&A-style event, and everyone ought to come out, find out more, and voice their opinions on such an important issue to our country.

The event is free, obviously, and takes place at KCC’s Performing Arts Center, which seats 500. It’s a five minute walk from the campus’s entrance, and free parking is available behind the venue.

I’ll be there, but not as a journalist; I’m going as a resident in full support of universal healthcare. If anyone wants to meet up  before or after, e-mail me.

When: September 1 @ 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kingsborough Community College’s Performing Arts Center

This is the time of year when my depression sinks to a new low. It’s mid-August and college students everywhere are heading off to another year of higher education.

You see, when I was a lot younger, I was approached by some guys who said they were college recruiters. They told me I was smart, and offered me a scholarship, even telling me that I could do my GED while taking college classes. It sounded a little suspicious that a cart without a high school diploma could enter college (and that too, tuition free), but I trusted the guys. They even showed me their official Kingsborough ID’s.

So my mom (a single mother living on disability income), and I discussed it and we felt this was the best decision for my future. Asking me to look through the course bulletin and schedule of classes, the guys really got my hopes up high for my first semester. I had heard that Kingsborough Community College was the college by the sea with its own private beach, so I imagined myself sitting on that beach with my books doin’ my higher learning. I wasn’t so much interested in underwater basketweaving like the other carts my age, who weren’t admitted to the college, had advised me to take. It was the high road for me and I signed up for philosophy and math.

Fast forward 9 years. Yeah,  that’s right. I’m here at college. Kingsborough Community College’s shop — that’s where! Those liars brought me here to college, but I never seen the inside of a classroom.

Here I am living my life in this windowless room, where my main job is to carry tools, wires, and ropes around this generator room. I’m not a college student, I’m a shop cart. Those guys fed me lies about my future and told me I would get my degree. I’m getting a degree, alright — 95 degrees. Boy, do they keep the temperature hot in this shop.

Some might say those jerks never really lied when they said I was going to college. Sure, they brought me to college, but I haven’t seen a book since I arrived here. Only one of my evil captors still works in this department, Now as a shop steward.

Whenever we see each other and others are around, he treats me like a regular cart. But when the other workers can’t hear him, his taunts and cruel remarks cut right through me: “Hey, Cartie, Cartie, wanna go to college? I got a mortarboard just your size.”

Yeah, man, don’t be surprised when one of these cables in my cart makes its way around your neck. Not even a Ph.D. on parchment, printed with gold ink, can give me that degree of revenge.

Why can’t Sheepshead Bay have a commuter ferry to Manhattan? It’s the parking, stupid.

That was the message Sheepshead Bay residents sent the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) during last night’s hearing on increasing Brooklyn ferry service to several locations including Sheepshead Bay.

The hearing, hosted by the EDC, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and Councilman Michael C. Nelson’s office, brought out local leaders including Community Board Chairperson Theresa Scavo, Bay Improvement Group president Steve Barrison, and several members of the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association and the Manhattan Beach Community Group. All opposed the plans.

“It’s romantic. It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. But practically speaking, it’s not practical,” said Barrison.

Concerns by local leaders revolve around costs, demand, infrastructure needs, and the time it would take to reach Manhattan. But at the heart of it all is parking.

“Parking in the area is already at a premium. To bring more people in would be a nightmare,” said SB/PB Civic’s attorney, Gene Berardelli.

The ferry proposal, officially known as the Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study, is still in its early stages, with landing profiles yet to be created. The EDC was unable to provide implementation or operating costs for the service, but noted that the ferry ride from Sheepshead Bay is estimated to take about 40 minutes and cost $6. Continue Reading »

Imagine this: the open air, cool summer breezes, sun setting into darkness, great music, space to kick up my feet and dance, and a chairs to sit on for some rest. But it doesn’t end there, there was refreshment available for just a couple of dollars and parking for free!

Now, imagine, you have the venue practically to yourself and there is excellent music playing in the background. Who are you, some music executive on a palatial estate? Well, not exactly. Continue Reading »