The Nelsonite vol. 27, no. 11

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THOMAS NELSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Vol. 27, No. 11 Hampton, VA July/August 1996
Hurricane Bertha Pounds Tidewater
By Paul D. Powers
Hurricane Bertha pounded Tidewater July 13, spawning
tornadoes, rain and winds up to 70 miles per hour. Twisters were
reported to have touched down at a trailer
court near Langley Air Force Base in Hamp-ton,
in Poquoson, Gloucester and Surrey
counties.
In the Langley Trailer Court, trees were
uprooted, crashing down upon two trailers
at about 10:30 PM. Fred EvanS, a trailer park
resident saw when the tornado touched down.
"It actually pushed my car down the street,
with my foot on die brake " said Evans.
Another resident, >T. Marshall, said that the
tornado rattled his trailer and destroyed an outside shed. An office
trailer was moved off its foundation. At least one tree was uprooted
and the park was littered with siding and debris.
In Poquoson, (wo tornadoes were sighted, shearing shingles
off the roof of one house and downing tree limbs. David Sawyer of
Moonefield Drive said that he heard the roar of a tornado coming
down the road from east to west. As he watched from his front door
, the wind twisted trees into pieces and blew them to the ground.
"All I could hear was like a freight train rolling through here."
Sawyer said. In Hampton, Buckroe Beach suffered the worst, with
flooding along North and Third Streets.
There, several lawns were completely under
water up to residential porches. Tourists in
two cars and a ranger were trapped between
two trees on Colonial Parkway for hours while
maintenance crews worked to remove the
barriers.
On campus, there was no damage,
whatsoever, thanks to the hard work of Plant
Services personnel who boarded up win-dows
and doors and Campus Police who
It was a job well done, guys! The worst I
Photo by Paul D. Powers
secured the buildings.
noticed while walking through the campus the next day was minor
flooding and a few branches scattered on the ground. Once again
we were spared the full brunt of an hurricane. Next time we may not
be as fortunate. ..
Photo by Paul D. Powers
Pippins Welcomes Students To Upgraded Campus
Photo by Marlene Waters
By Dr. Shirley Pippins, TNCC President
Welcome to our new students and wel-come
back to all returning students! We are
pleased that you have chosen Thomas Nelson
Community College to continue your educa-tion.
The faculty and staff of TNCC are pre-paring
a challenging semester for all of you.
Our purpose is tp help you prepare to meet
the challenges of tomorrow. We are here to
help you set your goals, plan programs to
reach them and then execute those plans for
success.
The past year was painful for all of us
on campus with all of the renovations that
were going on. During the summer, much of
that has come out of the dust and is ready for
your use. Gators is now open and serving
food for breakfast, lunch and dinner on most
class days. For those of you who like to "un-wind"
between classes and studying, Gators
has an enclosed game room available for your
use. I ask that you share this facility with your
fellow students in a congenial manner. The
Library is back in full operation, and the Gal-lery
provides an area for quiet study. The
computer lab, tutorial lab and writing lab are
available for you to work on your class
projects. There is'a new look to our business
office and admissions and registration areas.
Some projects are still to be completed,
such as new seating and carpeting in Room
100. We have repainted many of the class-rooms
and will continue this project. Our cam-pus
call-boxes for security and safety will soon
be fully installed, and the new parking lot is
all but complete. We have new student desks
for many of our classrooms and plan to con-tinue
upgrading your environment.
Finally, we have a new housekeeping
contractor working in all of our campus build-ings.
They have made some real progress in
brightening the campus. I am sure you will
notice the results of their efforts to date and
as time goes on.
All of this has been done to provide you
with a better place to reach your academic
goals. We need your help in keeping the cam-pus
looking clean and safe. Please be careful
about litter. Post signs and flyers on bulletin
boards in accordance with our policies. Try
to keep down the clutter in the hallways and
classrooms. And, most importantly, keep food
and beverages out of the classrooms.
This is your campus. We want you to
have pride in TNCC. We want you to feel
comfortable as you pursue your education. If
you see something that needs improvement,
let your SGA officers know or drop a note in
the Dean of Student Services office. With
your help we will have a pleasant place for all
who come here.
Again, welcome to the Fall Semester.
We're glad to have you back.
SGA Officer Receives Award
Inside the Aebonite
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A New took
WÊtèBÈÊË 1111®
By Paul D. Powers
The United States Achievement
Academy announced this Summer (1996)
that Eric S. Green has been named a U.S.
National Collegiate Award winner in Busi-ness
Administration.
This award is a prestigious honor very
few students ever hope to attain. In fact, the
Academy recognizes less than 10 percent of
all American college students. Eric S. Green,
a TNCC student, was nominated for this
national award by Charlene Jones, Student
Activities Technician at the school.
Eric's name will appear in the United
States Achievement Academy Collegiate
Yearbook, which is published nationally.
"Recognizing and supporting our
youth is more important than ever before in
America's history. Certainly, United States
Achievement Academy winners should be
congratulated and appreciated fortheir dedi-cation
to excellence and achievement." said
See Award, Page 2 Photo by Melissa Nicholson