Rochester College’s theatre department will present George Bernard Shaw’s Candida and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in rotating repertory beginning on Feb. 29.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House premiered amid much controversy for its portrayal of issues surrounding marriage norms. In response, George Bernard Shaw wrote Candida, and the initial production of that play was performed on tour in England in repertory with Ibsen’s play. Rochester College rekindles the spirit of that historical production by presenting these plays in rotating repertory. Both plays explore questions of duty to oneself versus duty to marriage and society, but in very different ways.

Performances of Candida take place Wednesday, Feb 29, at 10 a.m.; Friday, March 2 at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. A Doll’s Housewill be presented Thursday, March 1, at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

All productions take place in the Rochester College Theatre on the campus of Rochester College at 800 W. Avon Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. Early-bird tickets for both shows are two for $18. Tickets for any single show are $10 for students, seniors, RC alumni, faculty and staff, and $12 for adults. For tickets or more information, call (248) 218-2149 or e-mail theatre@rc.edu.

Avalon Films has created commercials for companies such as Ford, Lincoln and Chevy and were originally scheduled to film the Oakwood Hospital commercial at Wayne State University. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, Wayne State had to back out at the last minute.

RC Mass Communication Major Josh Jones contacted the commercial’s location manager, Michael Jones, and recommended Rochester College as an alternative.

Avalon Film’s location manager was familiar with Josh’s name from other film productions Josh had been involved with. After a quick phone call, the location manager and producer for Oakwood Hospital’s shoot agreed to come out and scout RC as a possible location for the commercial. After seeing it, both thought the location would work well.

Josh will graduate in May 2012 and has spent a significant amount of time working as an extra or a stand-in with film productions shot locally. He worked as an intern in the film “Freaky Deaky,” filmed in downtown Rochester and staring Crispin Glover and Christian Slater. He’s also worked on “Red Dawn” and a Harold and Kumar film.

For students interested in getting into the film industry, Josh points out that organization and networking are two very important skills, as well as making the effort to work as an intern or an extra whenever possible. He says, “My favorite quote is, ‘If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.’ That’s a quote I put on my desk and try to live by.”

RC’s mass communication program offers tracks in broadcasting and graphic design in cooperation with Specs Howard School of Media Arts. The program also offers a track in public relations.

The 50-member chorus will present a program spanning many years and nationalities. Lotti’s “Cruxifixus” represents early baroque Europe, while Moses Hogan’s arrangement of “I Can Tell the World” represents a 20^th-century vision of 18^th century African-American spirituals. Other works include music by Eric Whitacre, Randall Thompson, Pavel Tschesnokoff and more.

The 70-member Rochester College Concert Band will present music including Overture for Band by Felix Mendelssohn and Australian Up-Country Tune by Percy Grainger. The Mendelssohn overture is unique in that it is an original piece of wind music written in the 1800s by one of the giants of classical music. The band includes RC undergraduates and faculty, students from other area colleges, advanced high school musicians and adult community members. The group is directed by RC music instructor August J. Thoma, who is the retired director of bands at Rochester High School.

The Tuesday performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Rochester College Theatre at 800 West Avon Road in Rochester Hills, Mich. Admission is free, though small donations are accepted. For tickets or more information, call (248) 218-2149 or e-mail music@rc.edu.

Beginning February 6, a construction project will begin to remove and replace the Avon Road bridge that runs over the Clinton River just east of Livernois. The project will involved repaving the approaches to the bridge, placement of new guardrails, relocation of a water main, and constructing a new bridge of pre-stressed concrete. 

Once construction begins, Avon Road will be closed between Rochester Road and Livernois Road for the duration of the project. During the road closure, the detour route will be Livernois to Hamlin to Rochester and back to Avon. Residences and businesses (such as Rochester College) on Avon east of the bridge will be accessible via Avon from the east, with access maintained at all times. 

Following the beginning of the project in mid February, the new bridge is expected to open to traffic by June 15. The project should be completed by July 13.

Article by: by Emilie Vinson

Elizabeth graduated from Rochester College in 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in mass communication. She also completed the broadcast arts program at Specs Howard School of Media Arts in 2009. During her time as a student, Elizabeth interned with WDIV Channel 4, where she worked with the digital department on coverage of local high school football games and worked as a personal assistant for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This internship led her to gain more experience as a runner for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover,” and eventually landing her dream job at Team Detroit, where her workdays hardly ever look the same. One day she might be out on a shoot. The next she might be in meetings or sitting in on an editing session—it all depends on where she’s at in the process of seeing a commercial grow from an idea to a fully-executed reality. Elizabeth also gets to travel on a regular basis because many of the people Team Detroit partners with are located in California.

Elizabeth attributes the opportunities she’s had to the education and hands-on training she found in RC’s mass communication program. “I was able to get an amazing internship that helped me get an amazing job because of my decision to attend Rochester College. Having the opportunity to attend Specs as part of a college degree plan set me apart from other graduates in my field,” Elizabeth said.

She continues, “RC and Specs were a huge stepping-stone in my dream to become a producer. Without my schooling, Team Detroit wouldn’t have even glanced my way for a job. I received the experience and knowledge that have helped me excel in the environment that I am in now. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. Making something from the beginning to end is a wonderful feeling. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else!”

The class will offer opportunities to develop analytic and assessment practices such as interest inventories, visual and auditory discrimination tools, language expression and writing assessment tools. The course facilitates discovery and implementation of the best instructional practices in intervention and differentiated instruction related to: English language learning, phonemics, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling, writing and in all areas of literacy.

A practicum experience n a classroom setting is required for participants in the course. Participants will develop a case study presenting an analysis of the literacy strengths and weaknesses of actual students. Using diagnostic assessments, they will determine the best method of instruction for these students’ individual literacy learning needs.

The course will be offered on the main campus of Rochester College, beginning on March 7, 2012 and ending on May 16, 2012. Classes run from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays during that time. Tuition for this three-credit course is $570. To register, visit www.rc.edu/reading.

Courtesy of Kent State University; Photo by Ben Jackson

By Klint Pleasant
Men’s Basketball Coach and Athletic Direction

On Monday, Nov. 7, the Rochester College men’s basketball team traveled to Ohio for a game against Kent State University, a successful, NCAA Division 1 program. Kent State has an impressive basketball history, a huge arena and a million-dollar budget with a full scholarship for every player.

Kent State is one of the most successful NCAA Division 1 teams in the past 10 seasons, winning at least 20 games a year for the past decade. A unanimous choice to win the MAC Conference this year, Kent State has a few players who will undoubtedly play professional basketball in the future. When you compare Kent State to Rochester College, you can tell we don’t quite have the same resources.

With Kent University’s starters measuring 6′ 11”, 6′ 9”, 6′ 5”, 6′ 3” and 6′ 2”, nobody picked RC to win this game, but then again, there’s nothing in the rulebook that said we couldn’t. It was a hard fought game, going back and forth for much of the first half.

Finally, Kent took an 11-point lead into the locker room at half time. Kent came out the second half and went up by as many as 25 points, but the Warriors did not quit.  We continued to fight and actually battled back, making it a close game with five minutes to go. The Warriors lost 76-63—not bad, considering the game resembled “David vs. Goliath.”

But maybe the most impressive thing about the game was the way the team  represented RC off the floor. A fan and a security guard approached me after the game and mentioned how impressed they were and how much it meant to them to see the Warriors serving one another water instead of yelling at the visiting trainer to get it for them. Both said, “We don’t ever see that.” They also recognized the fact that I was willing to get on my hands and knees (while in a suit) during the game to wipe up water instead of waiting for the trainer to walk all the way over from the home team’s bench to do it.

Lastly, the athletic director emeritus at Kent State mentioned to me how impressed he was with the fact that after our players shook hands with the opposing team, they stayed and cleaned up their own bench. A cleaning crew would have come to tidy the area, but as a team, the Warriors cleaned up after themselves. They threw away cups, wiped up water, straightened the chairs, threw away tape and stacked up dirty towels.

According to the scoreboard, we lost the game—though when you consider the difference in resources between the two schools, our team did exceptionally well. However, we did accomplish what we set out to do in every game, and that is to represent Rochester College well.  Maybe when you look at it from a holistic perspective, we actually won!

For a recap of the game, go to http://www.kentstatesports.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/201111076fwjik