After initial practices, NOVA’s team competed in four scrimmages in late August before officially opening its season at the Howard Community College tournament in Columbia, Md., in which it played four matches in two days.

The Northern Virginia Community College annual sports banquet took place on the evening of April 29 at the Springfield Hilton Hotel. It was organized by NOVA’s collegewide Student Activities Coordinator Brian Anweiler.

The event began with remarks by Dr. Peter Maphumulo, provost of the Alexandria campus. He discussed the importance of sports within the overall NOVA experience, and mentioned that NOVA would soon be considering whether or not to strengthen its sports program.

Last December’s shooting at the Woodbridge campus opened many concerns on safety issues at NOVA. To address those questions and provide ideas for a safer environment for students, faculty and staff, NOVA president Robert Templin created the Presidential Commission on Safety and Security. The commission was charged with creating a report on the state of safety and security.

Despite a special web page detailing the creation of the commission, neither the final report nor a summary of its findings, are publicly available on NOVA’s web site. However, the NOVA Fortnightly was able to obtain the report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Dr. Terry Alford’s upcoming biography, Fortune’s Fools is about the life of John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor and infamous assassin of the 16th president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln scholar has already written two books published by Oxford Press, made numerous television appearances, worked as a consultant for the 2007 film hit National Treasure 2, and helped found the NOVA Honors Program. He was recently awarded the 2010 Outstanding Faculty Award by the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is the only community college professor to ever receive the accolade.

Canadian author Denise Chong spoke about her most recent book Egg on Mao at the Annandale campus on the afternoon of April 8.
Her book follows the life of one of three persons, who during the Tiananmen Square student sit-in in Beijing, China in 1989, threw eggs filled with paint at the giant portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong in the Square. They were subsequently arrested, termed vandals and counter-revolutionary reactionaries, and sentenced to various terms in prison, from 16 years to life.

At the Annandale campus, the Korean Student Association is currently providing tutoring sessions for students taking a Korean course or those with an interest in learning the language.

On Mondays and Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in CF 230, officers of the association and some fluent speakers are teaching a few students ways to speak and write in Korean. The majority of the participants have been non-Korean but they said that they welcome those who were born in America and have Korean roots within their families. This gives them the opportunity to learn their own language.

“Relay never stops because cancer never stops” is the slogan and theme of the Relay for Life, the flagship fundraiser of the American CancerSociety. The event, which started at NOVA in 2002, allows students to channel the passion of those words and continue to make an impact in the war against cancer. For two nights, on April 17 and 18, over 170 registered students making up 26 teams will honor the lives of those with cancer through joining in the planned activities.

NOVA plays host to a wide variety of students and faculty. All manners of talents are displayed on campus, from musicians to football players, and from computer wizards to fashion divas. Annandale campus boasts a very special inhabitant; however, Gerald Boyd, Dean of Languages and Literature, has a talent which makes him very popular in the office. He is a professional cook.

Students are frequently in a situation between classes where they are hungry but do not have enough time to go to a restaurant off campus. Although the chips and chocolate in the vending machines look tempting, there has to be a better solution.

On the Annandale campus, food options are limited. The main location to buy food is in the school cafeteria. But is choosing to eat there really the best choice?

If one needed encouragement to counter balance the negative daily news regarding the employment and the economic downturn, the Ernst Cultural Center Theater on the Annandale campus was the place to be on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Author, entrepreneur and public speaker Jonathan Sprinkles was the special guest speaker on that afternoon.