The Lookout

• LCC truck driving instructor awarded flashy semi truck

• Adviser's Blog

• Crown Boxing Club hits the road this summer

Silent protest

With posters and flyers in hand, the LCC Gay-Straight Alliance marched through the TLC Library on Friday, April 25, in recognition of the National Day of Silence. According to www.dayofsilence.org, the event’s purpose is to “bring attention to anti- (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.” The club marched silently through several buildings and departments on LCC’s Main Campus, including the math lab and the Kennedy Cafeteria.


 

Photo by Zane McMillin

  

Pictures courtesy of
www.backontheroad2008.com
 
LCC truck driving instructor
awarded flashy semi truck

Rich Tupica
Associate Editor

LCC truck driver training instructor Donald Turkelson, 64, is on the road again after winning an 18-wheeler and a one-year work contract on March 28. The prizes came from the Arrow Truck Sales and Heartland Express trucking company.

Turkelson, a Battle Creek resident, said he wrote and submitted a 250 word essay for the “Back on the Road 2008” competition after randomly seeing an advertisement in a magazine.

Turkelson wrote his winning essay about a hijack attempt he fell victim to at semi-truck yard in Indiana on March 19, 2002. The violent incident endangered his life and kept him from driving trucks for two years.

“It was a dark fenced-in lot — it was night,” Turkelson recalled about the night of the attack.

 The assailant approached the cab and unhooked cables from the back of the truck, which coaxed Turkelson out of his truck and into the line of fire, according to Turkelson.

“(The attacker) took my air-line off and it caused my truck to get locked up, so I had to get out and check on it,” he explained.

“He bumped me on the back from behind as I was trying to hook the line on, then he ordered me in the truck.”

After being ordered into his semi at gun point, Turkelson said he feared “(the attacker) wanted to get in the truck with me and hold a gun on me.”

This is when turkelson decided to slam his truck door in the attacker’s face. In response, the assailant fired a gun at Turkelson, wounding him in the leg.

Turkelson was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. The attacker was never captured.

Fast forward six years. Turkelson has recovered and is back in the driver’s seat in a flashy truck he won for sharing his story. He said the new truck is drawing attention from folks passing by.

“No matter where I am, it’s an eye catcher. Everybody looks at me and gives me thumbs up,” he said.

While he is enjoying being back on the road in a big rig, he said he still has  a soft spot for teaching truck driving at LCC, an occupation he may return to after his driving days are over.

“(Truck driving) is a young man’s sport,” Turkelson said. “I enjoy it very much, but it’s a demanding job. I am going to do my best this year and we’ll see from there.”

  Adviser's Blog

 For What It's Worth
  By Larry Hook

Tobacco-free policy needs to be enforced

 I am anxious to see how LCC’s new “tobacco-free” policy will be enforced. The much-talked about policy goes into effect May 12, 2008.

Much has been written in The Lookout during the 2007-08 school year about the new policy. Almost everyone interviewed has a strong opinion about the policy, one way or another.

Since January of this year, LCC officials have been working hard to spread the word about the new guidelines.

Starting May 12, the following changes will take effect:

* Tobacco use will not be permitted on campus property.

* Non-compliance will be addressed by public safety officials. Warnings will be issued to first-time offenders and names will be taken;

* Students who are repeat offenders to the policy will be subject to suspensions. Employees could be subject to disciplinary actions by the college;

* The smoking shelter on the downtown campus will be removed May 12, 2008.

Tobacco use in private vehicles will still be allowed. The shelters on the West Campus will remain intact, due to the distance involved in accessing non-LCC property.

Since 1998, LCC has had some form of prohibition on the use of tobacco products on campus. Officials say tobacco-free campuses provide students and employees a safe and healthy environment.

As a non-smoker who really hates the smell of cigarette smoke, I wholeheartedly agree with the policy change. I just hope the new rules are enforced.

For years I have seen LCC police officers look the other way when people were smoking in prohibited areas. Many times I have had to walk through clouds of smoke as I entered or exited buildings on campus.

Many student/smokers make no effort to hide their cigarettes, or to apologize for breaking the college rules and polluting the air.

The new policy seems fair. It really isn’t a long walk for anyone on the downtown LCC campus to access non-LCC property. And it will literally be a breath of fresh air to rid the campus of the ugly, tattered smoking tent located between the Gannon Building and Dart Auditorium.

I just hope college officials and the LCC Department of Public Safety will enforce the new tobacco-free policy. It will be vital for them to crack down right away on violators, so people know they are serious.

To read more about the policy and the penalties that will be in place for violators, go to www.lcc.edu/tobaccofree.

Larry Hook is a graduate of Lansing Community College and Michigan State University, with a degree in journalism. He has been adviser of The Lookout since the summer of 2004.