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The Dean's
Corner
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Permit me to tell you a story:
Once upon a time, there was a merchant who owned a store in an average part
of downtown. Businesses came and went around him, but he was honest and offered
good products at a fair price, and his store seemed to always make its margin
to stay afloat.
One day, however, a new merchant purchased the vacant building immediately
to his right. This new fellow offered the exact same line of products and boldly
placed a banner sign above his door that read "Best Prices in Town." Sadly,
the merchant watched a portion of his business fall off, as old customers were
tempted away by the newcomer's colorful sign.
To make matters worse, within a very short period of time, another merchant
purchased the vacant building immediately to his left and he, too, offered the
same products as the other two stores! And, this brazen fellow erected a neon
sign that read "Best Deals Anywhere!" Again, our merchant watched as more of
his business slipped away.
Distraught about the situation after several weeks of poor sales, our merchant
awoke in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea. The next day he went
to the sign maker and had his own flashing sign made and placed it proudly above
his door. It read: "Main Entrance!"
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Old Timers will remember the travels of Continuing Education we have moved
over the years, like Bedouins, across the campus searching for a permanent
oasis to set up our shop. After many years tucked away on the mezzanine in
Elston Hall, we were relocated to the Tempo Building - a temporary, flat-roofed,
wooden eyesore that was long past its prime. There, bordered on one side by
the beautiful Begley Building and on the other by the contemporary New Wing
of Elston Hall, we conducted our business until we were moved "waaay out west"
to the Gateway Building, a nice structure intended to be a daycare center.
But now, with the dawning of Spring 2002, we have found our oasis in the new
Stockade Building and as the newest structure
on campus, the invisible sign above our door flashes brightly "Main
Entrance! Main Entrance!" |
If
you haven't had the opportunity to visit our new facilities in the Stockade Building
and to see the new campus "quad", I encourage you to do so. The Stockade Building
offers six new fully computerized electronic classrooms, and eleven classrooms
with electronic teachers' stations. On the ground floor, immediately across from
the Continuing Education office are two large lecture rooms, one seating 80 and
the other seating 120. One of the best views of the new quad is from the Stockade
Building's third floor, immediately outside the elevator. This quad is dynamic
and gives us the "campus look." It clearly signals, as President Basil recently
announced, that "SCCC has arrived!"
Thanks,
Edward Baker
Dean of Continuing Education
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