Views & Voices
With Rachel Katz

Views and Voices in a 30-minute public affairs program that invites local and state officials and representatives from regional foundations and organizations to discuss their activities and related issues that are of interest to WWFM listeners. We also bring in guests from Mercer County Community College to talk about the college's program and its role in the larger community.

Past topics:

2010

August 14

• MCCC's Kelsey Theatre - 2010-2011 Season (Kitty Getlik, artistic director).

• Jacqueline Ivey, co-founder of The Conservatory New Jersey, on efforts to restore the former Trenton Conservatory and turn it into an arts and cultural education center for the region.

August 7

• MCCC Educational Talent Search (Peggy Brown, assistant director).

• Donna Giovannetti, chief of the Mercer County Division of Consumer Affairs, on avoiding contractor and financial fraud, and protecting yourself against identity theft.

July 31

• MCCC Transfer Agreements (Laurene Jones, director of transfer services).

• Al Revy , public affairs officer, Division 7 U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Station Barnegat Light, NJ, about the auxiliary's boating safety programs, general organization activities and upcoming open house.

July 24

• MCCC Center for Training and Development's Mobile Computer Lab (Elaine Weinberg, director).

• Mitch Aiken, education director, Progressive Automotive X-Prize, and Bryan Blaney, director of guest experience, Liberty Science Center, about the current X-Prize competition to build a more energy-efficient car and the related "Under the Hood" exhibit at science museums including the Liberty Science Center.

July 17

• MCCC Center for Training and Development (Elaine Weinberg, director) and new programs for training members of the African American Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic State Chamber of Commerce.

• Brian Morrell, president of the Canal Society of New Jersey, and Helen Maurello, superintendent of Lake Hopatcong State Park, about upcoming "Canal Heritage Days" at Waterloo Village.

July 10

• MCCC Online Nursing Program (Donna Penn, chair of nursing and health professions, and Karen Ruffin, online program coordinator).

• Richard Norz, Jr., of Norz Hill Farm in Hillsborough, and Joe Atchison, marketing specialist with the NJ Department of Agriculture, on the NJ farming scene and Jersey Fresh program.

July 3

Differing views on instituting a cap on property tax increases in NJ

• Barbara Keshishian, president, New Jersey Education Association.
• Michele Siekerka, (outgoing) president and CEO, Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce.

• William Dressel, Jr., executive director, New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

June 26

• MCCC Student Pam Prather on the New Leadership New Jersey Program.

• Paul Meecham, president and CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Marin Alsop, BSO music director, on the social and economic challenges facing symphony orchestras and innovative ways to expand audiences and support.

June 19

• Tracy Antozesski and Brian Bara of the James Tolin Memorial Fund about the upcoming performance of "Sordid Lives" at MCCC's Kelsey Theatre.

• James Vaslides, program scientist at the Barnegat Bay Partnership, and Rich Batiuk, associate director for science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeak Bay office, on the similarities and differences of these two mid-Atlantic estuaries and lessons to be learned about the importance of such areas from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

June 12

• MCCC student David Hoyt.

• Feature: The New Jersey International Film Festival: William Goins, Director/Producer of the microdocumentary, "TreShawn P."; Al Nigrin, curator, New Jersey International Film Festival.

June 5

• MCCC Hospitality Club (Frank Benowitz, club advisor).

• Jeanine Cava, outreach coordinator for the Barnegat Bay Partnership, about recent program initiatives and the Barnegat Bay Festival.

May 29

• MCCC veterans' services (Paul Scheid, veterans services coordinator).

• Feature: The Battleship New Jersey: Jason Hall, vice president of curatorial affairs; Capt. Walter M. Urban, Jr, (USNR); Walter E. Olkowski, past president/trustee, Battleship New Jersey Historical Society.

May 22

• Part 2 - MCCC distinguished lecture on abolitionist Richard Waln (Historian/MCCC Professor Susan Kozell).

• Angelo Valente, Executive Director, Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, on Operation Medicine Cabinet, a one-day collection of unused and expired prescription drugs.

May 15

Opera Extravaganza Special

• MCCC music program and jazz band concert (Jim Kelly, MCCC music program director).
• Roundtable Discussion - Economic and Social Challenges Facing Opera Companies: Kevin McDowell, Director, Academy of Vocal Arts and Richard Russell, General Director of Opera New Jersey.
• Sandra Milstein Pucciatti, founder and managing director of Boheme Opera New Jersey .

May 8

• David Davidson, director of "A Place Out of Time," a documentary about the Bordentown School.
• Lydia R. Patterson and Lionel Hunter, alumni of the Bordentown School.

May 1

A Look at Regional Community Colleges

• Raritan Valley Community College President Casey Crabill, who also serves on the executive committee of the New Jersey Council of Community Colleges.
• Roundtable discussion: Patricia Donohue, president, Mercer County Community College; Joann LaPerla-Morales, president, Middlesex County College; and James Linksz, president, Bucks County Community College.

April 24

• MCCC upcoming distinguished lecture on abolitionist Richard Waln (Historian/MCCC Professor Susan Kozell).
• Martin Johnson, founder and president of Isles, Inc., about the organization's efforts to foster community development with an eye toward environmental issues in Trenton and other New Jersey cities.

April 17

• MCCC LGBTF's observance of the National Day of Silence.
• Corinna Bowser, a Cherry Hill-based allergist, about how weather earlier this year have combined to lead to an unusually difficult allergy season.

April 10

• MCCC Self-Employment Assistance Program and Small Businesses Administration Certificate Program
• Cheri Freeh, incoming President-Elect of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants on last-minute tax tips and thoughts for planning 2010.

April 3

• MCCC Student Documentary "Women Who Dare"
• Rush Russell, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse NJ, about Child Abuse Prevention Month programs

March 27
Highlights from the 2010 Mercer County Economic Summit

• Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes
• Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce President Peter Crowley
• NJ Economic Development Authority CEO Caren Franzini
• Tourism Marketing Manager for Destination Trenton Candice Frederick

March 20

• MCCC's Kelsey Review
• Monica Davis, media specialist for the Philadelphia Regional Census Center, on the 2010 U.S. Census

March 13

• MCCC Scholarship Dinner Dance
• Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, on attracting film and TV production to the Philadelphia region

March 6

• MCCC's LEADS program and a new initiative to help Trenton Central HS students prepare for college
• Steve Gorelick, executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, about what it takes to attract filmmakers and TV series to film in the Garden State, and what the state receives in return

February 27

• MCCC Camp College summer programs
• Michel Bittrito, executive director of the NJ Meadowlands Commission Business Acclerator, about a joint project with the Rutgers Eco-Complex Business Incubator to attract and grow green technology and alternative energy companies to New Jersey.

February 20

• MCCC Distinguished Lecture series (Mary Inzana, founder and CEO of Life Ties, Inc.)
• MCCC Distinguished Lecture series (MCCC Professor and Artist Mel Leipzig)

February 13

• MCCC Distinguished Lecture series (Mary Inzana, founder and CEO of Life Ties, Inc.)
• Rutgers Professor and Anthropologist Laura Ahearn, on her research into the development of a tradition of love-letter writing among young people in Nepal

February 6

• Mercer County Artists Juried Competition and Artist (to be held at The Gallery at MCCC)
• Heart Health (Dr. Charles Dennis, NJ cardiologist and spokesman for the American Heart Association, and stroke survivor Kristin Weinkopff)

January 30

• MCCC Dance Program Workshop with Battery Dance Co.
• MCCC Center for Continuing Studies - Healthcare profession certificate programs
• John Drengenberg, director of consumer safety for Underwriters Laboratories, about the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to prevent and detect risks in the home

January 23

• MCCC Symposium on "Warsaw," a new musical drama
• Regional efforts to support the recovery in Haiti - American Red Cross and Salvation Army guests

January 16

• MCCC Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and plans for African-American History Month
• The Fading Art of Letter Writing, with guests Cindy Post-Senning, a director at the Emily Post Institute; and Wendy Cooper, the Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator for furniture

January 9

• MCCC Center for Continuing Studies (career advancement courses)
• Virgen Velez, director of the Mercer County One-Stop Career Center, on resources to kickstart your job search in 2010

January 2

• MCCC-William Paterson University Program
• Ken Shapiro, chairman of the NJ Society of CPA's Financial Literacy Committee, on 2010 Financial Resolutions.