Arabic classes all over!

Arabic classes at Anne Arundel Community College are becoming more and more popular.

Professor Gordon Witty teaches students Arabic at Temple University

According to the Modern Language Association, Arabic enrollment at the university level more than doubled from 2004 to 2008. The number of institutions offering programs grew from 264 to 466 over those four years. Those 466 programs enrolled about 23,874 students according to the MLA survey. That's a 77% increase!

    “America’s involvement in the Arab world is drawing an increased attention to this field of study,” said Khaled Sayed, Arabic professor at AACC.


     There are 1,020 colleges today that offer Arabic classes according to the U.S College Search. This is more than ever before.

     Some students are taking Arabic to help them with their careers.

    “I chose to take Arabic because it will be helpful for me in the future,” said Erica Bingham, an ex-student of Sayed’s. “I’m thinking about becoming an interpreter and Arabic is one of the hottest languages right now.”

  
   But Arabic isn't an easy language to learn. Difficulties include: 

• Pronunciation 
• Knowing which letters connect to others and which don't. 
• Learning the various forms of one letter

    For information on Arabic classes at AACC,  you may contact Janet M. Paulovich, director, at 410-777-1192 or jmpaulovich@aacc.edu.

Edited

The Andrew G. Truxal library at Anne Arundel Community College is currently in the process of being expanded.

              “We are now in the 21^st century, we have to have a more adequate library to fit today’s technology,” says Cynthia Steinhoff, Director of the Library. “We want to keep the location of the library because it is in the dead center of campus so it is the perfect location for students.”

Steinhoff told me there are two possible options of how to complete this expansion:

  The first option is to shut down half the library and work on one half at a time while keeping the library open for students. This option would take about 28 months to complete and would have a few inconveniences to students like:

• noise
• dust
• power interruptions

The second option is to move the entire library to another building (right off campus) and finish all the renovations at once. This option would take only 16 months.

“We are leaning more towards second option since it would take less time,” says Steinhoff. “We want to do what is best for the students.”

AACC's Library Expansion

                The Andrew G. Truxal library at Anne Arundel Community College is currently in the process of being expanded.

              “We are now in the 21^st century, we have to have a more adequate library to fit today’s technology,” says Cynthia Steinhoff, Director of the Library. “We want to keep the location of the library because it is in the dead center of campus so it is the perfect location for students.”

There are two possible options of how to complete this expansion:

•   shut down half the library and work on one half at a time while keeping the library open for students. This option would take about 28 months to complete and would have a few inconveniences to students like:
• noise
• dust
• power interruptions

• Move the entire library to another building (right off campus) and finish all the renovations at once. This option would take only 16 months.

“We are leaning more towards second option since it would take less time,” says Steinhoff. “We want to do what is best for the students.”

Natasha Pettigrew killed in accident

Mother to replace Green Party nominee for Senate

Kenniss Henry steps in after daughter Natasha Pettigrew was killed in accident

By Julie Bykowicz, The Baltimore Sun

The Maryland Green Party has nominated Kenniss Henry to replace her daughter, Natasha Pettigrew, on the ballot for U.S. Senate, the party announced Wednesday.

Pettigrew died this month after a sport utility vehicle struck her while she was cycling in Prince George's County.

 Henry's name was submitted Monday to the Maryland State Board of Elections for the seat long held by Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.

The party's coordinating council voted unanimously Sunday night to nominate Henry.

"Natasha's supporters will still have an opportunity to make their voice heard by casting a vote as her mother carries her message forward to the election," Karen Jennings, co-chairwoman of the Maryland Green Party, said in a statement. "Even in her death, Natasha's voice and passion will carry on."

Henry said she is honored to run her "daughter's race to the finish line." She said in a statement she would continue her daughter's theme of campaigning "for the people."

Pettigrew, a 30-year-old law student at the University of Miami, was training for a half-triathlon when she was killed. In honor of her daughter, the Green Party said, Henry seeks to bring attention to bicycle safety and the need for bicycle lanes on all Maryland roadways.

The Maryland State Police are investigating the Sept. 19 accident. Police said the driver of the Cadillac Escalade that struck her before dawn on Route 202 drove off, thinking she'd hit an animal. The woman called the police when she arrived home and found a bicycle lodged under her vehicle.

"Lie" is not the past tense of "Lay" - "Lay" is!

On our own bulletin boards at AACC!

For the longest time, I thought the past tense was "lied down" but in fact it is "lay down"

Everyone seems to think that. My English teacher even had to look it up to make sure.

 Well ya learn something new everyday!

Getting to know Jenn Moreland!

Jennifer Moreland is a big fan of tattoos…she has eight of them. They consist of angel wings at the top of her back, a flower on her foot with her sisters’ initials, song lyrics on her ankle, hips and wrists, and a hummingbird behind her ear. When asked which tattoo was her favorite, she responded with the hummingbird behind her ear. “The hummingbird represents one of my best friends, Amy, who died three years ago this Sunday in a car crash on General’s Highway. Her favorite animal was a hummingbird so a few friends and I got hummingbird tattoos in her memory.”

Along with her eight tattoos, Moreland (who prefers being called Jenn) has her nose and her lip pierced. She got her nose pierced for her 13th birthday. The only reason her mother agreed was because she didn’t think she would stick to it - but she did. She got her lip pierced a little bit after her 18th birthday.

This 21-year-old was born in Augusta, Ga. on March 18, 1989 but lived in Maryland since she was a little girl. She grew up on Kent Island across the Bay Bridge and moved to Annapolis this past April.

Although Moreland has always lived in the U.S, she has been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel all over! When she was 16 years old she was part of her high school’s history club which took her to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Vatican City. So far in her lifetime, Moreland has been to Italy (twice), Greece, Turkey, Austria, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, the U.S Virgin Islands, and Vatican City where she got to see Pope Benedict XVI.

She dreams of one day becoming a travel journalist, “I want to be the female version of Anthony Bourdain (a well known author and chef who travels to various countries and has his own show on the Travel Channel). I would love to travel around the world and write all about my experiences.”

However, Moreland did not always plan on becoming a journalist. She started at AACC because she wasn’t yet sure what it was she wanted to do. She started with a business major but then later realized she absolutely hated it. “Math and Science are not my subjects, I’ve always been better at English and History.”

News Blog

http://www.foxnews.com/blogs/

Confusing Words

"I said vehemently, but they took it off." pg. 207 "Ten Days in a Mad House."

Definition of vehemently: fiercely; in an intense manner.

"So the face I was trying to find in Churchill Downs that weekend was a symbol, in my own mind, of the whole doomed atavistic culture that makes the Kentucky Derby what it is." pg. 214 "The Kentucky Derby is  Decadent and Depraved."

Definition of atavistic: The reappearance of characteristics in ancestors that appear over time.

Dr. Laura's "N" word

I was really upset to read that Dr. Laura quit her radio talk show. My mom and I would listen to her in the car all the time! And I must say, I've learned a lot from it. It's amazing to see how people are all so different. However, Dr. Laura should know that better than anyone. She should have been more careful with her choice of words because obviously her use of the "N" word would offend that caller since she was complaining about her husband's "insensitive race talk". I see where Dr. Laura is coming from, today the "N" word is being used so frequently that it might as well no longer be a taboo. But it must be kept in mind that when this word began, it was a racial slur that offended blacks very much. Although it may not mean the same thing today, she should have known a lot of people today would still be offended by the use of it.