Northern Virginia Community College has joined 83 other community colleges across the nation as a recipient of a grant received through the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services to provide expanded Health Information Technology training in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. All tuition, required text books and associated fees are paid in full for qualified applicants.

Walking around on our planet today, there are approximately 681,630,000 people of European descent who are either immune or have an abnormally high resistance to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. What makes these people unable to be infected by one of the worst diseases currently known to mankind? Superpowers? Lots of orange juice? Maybe they pray a lot? Nope.

NOVA received an A+ in a recent survey of community colleges’ use of technology to enhance the student experience and increase educator effectiveness.

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.

Captain Jeff Lewis has taught at Northern Virginia Community College since 2000 and has been a member of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department for the past 16 years. He wears the stress of such intense work well, and one would never guess that this young Emergency Medical Services worker is also the medical section coordinator of the elite Fairfax Urban Search and Rescue team known as Virginia Task Force One (VATF-1).

Born in the northeastern United States, Lewis’ family moved to the Fairfax County area when he was 13. It was as a George Mason University freshman that he experienced what he called an “epiphanous moment.” On the way home from classes at the medical education campus in Springfield he passed a car accident and stopped, though he did not know why.

Kevin Brosnan, 3-year-old Brooke Duncan of Alexandria and Brooke’s father, Ryan Duncan (with pink hair), smile with joy at the St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser at Paddy’s Steakhouse & Pub in Stafford on March 14. One reason they are so happy is that, after being treated for neuroblastoma at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children, Brooke has shown no signs if the disease for several months.

Brooke’s father used to be a NOVA student. The Duncans came to the event to “support to all those still battling.”

The event raised over $25,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to combat childhood cancer.

For two days over Spring Break students at NOVA’s Medical Education campus got to know the poor and underserved of Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington. Students enrolled in the Dental Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Emergency Medical Technician and Nursing programs volunteered their services along with area dentists, pharmacists and translators during the days of March 12 and 13 for the Northern Virginia Mission of Mercy Project, also known as MOM.