Beginnings
Host Colleges NCC Beacon History This Year
The Beacon Conference was born when folks at Rockland Community College (NY) with a grant from the American Association of Community Colleges and the Kellogg Foundation and in association with Bergen Community College (NJ), Brookdale Community College (NJ), Catonsville Community College (MD), Dutchess Community College (NY), Harford Community College (MD), Kingsborough Community College (NY), Middlesex Community/Technical College (CT), Nassau Community College (NY), and Westchester Community College (NY) organized a conference for student scholars at two-year colleges in the mid-Atlantic region.
Host Colleges
1993 Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
1994 Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
1995 Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
1996 Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD
1997 Westchester Community College, NY
1998 Bergen Community College, Paramus, NJ
1999 Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2000 Rockland SUNY, Suffern, NY
2001 Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, PA
2002 Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY
2003 Ulster Community College, Stone Ridge, New York
2004 Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, PA
2005 Montgomery College, Rockville MD
2006 Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2007 SUNY Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
2008 Bergen Community College, Paramus NJ
NCC Beacon History
Northampton Community College has been involved with Beacon for a number of years. Listed below are the NCC students (with the name of their faculty mentors) whose papers were judged outstanding in their academic categories:
2007 Rockland Community College, Suffern, New York
NCC Student: Ivy Lynn Fox
Mentor: Elizabeth Bodien
Title: Homo versus Hetero Familial: Separate But Equal
NCC Student: Cathy Guptill
Mentor: Karen Rhines
Title: One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure: A Look at Compulsive Hoarding
2006 Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, New York
NCC Student: Evette Olszyk
Mentor: Evi L. Dobrila
Title: Matthew's World: A Cognitive Perspective on Autism in Our Family
NCC Student: Alexander S. Radus
Mentor: Harold Weiss
Title: Altruism and Egoism: Sticking Your Neck Out in Casablanca
2005 Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland
NCC Student: Evette Olszyk
Mentor: Evi L. Dobrila
Title: Dead Man Walking: The Silent Death of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy and HIV?AIDS
2003 Ulster Community College, Stone Ridge, New York
NCC Student: Nancy Sacckette
Mentor: Elizabeth Bodien
Title: Nothing "Really" Exists Until the White Man Discovers It: A Look at the Kikuyu Tribe from the movie Out of Africa
NCC Student: Rachel M. Smith
Mentor: Elizabeth Bodien
Title: Female Genital Surgeries: Cultural or Savage?
2001 Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, PA
NCC Student: Diane Gasiewski
Mentor: Julie Houston
Topic: The literary symbols in The Birthday Party
NCC Student: Al Smith
Mentor: Elizabeth Bodien
Title: Is an Egalitarian Society Possible in Our Society?
NCC Student: Romy Mariano
Mentor: Harold Weiss
Title: Existentialism in the film American Beauty
2000 Rockland SUNY, Suffern, NY
NCC Student: Eric Kenny
Mentor: Uriel Trujillo
Topic: Railroad strike of 1877-causes and consequences
NCC Student: Stephanie Surch
Mentor: Sharon Gavin-Levy
Topic: Update on Brown v. Board of Education
1999 Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
NCC Student: Don Jackson
Mentor: Uriel Trujillo
Topic: Exploration of black gay identity politics
1997 Westchester Community College, NY
NCC Student: Tom Santanasto
Mentor: Doug Heath
Topic: Land usage in Adirondack Park, NY
1996 Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD
NCC Student: Tom Santanasto
Mentor: Victoria Rosenholtz
Title: Trivial Pursuit or 'Little Things Mean a Lot' (about Susan Glaspell's work Trifles)
1994 Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
NCC Student: Robert M. DeHart
Mentor: Roopinder Tara
Title: Synthesis: The Design of a Commuter Bicycle
