WNC News & Notes

Western Nevada summer session starts Monday

Western Nevada College students and science professors participated in a high-altitude balloon research project last month, gathering data from a connected payload while it traveled from Fuji Park in Carson City to Schurz. The data-collecting payload was recovered in the desert near Schurz after it traveled about 90 miles.

Western Nevada College students and science professors participated in a high-altitude balloon research project last month, gathering data from a connected payload while it traveled from Fuji Park in Carson City to Schurz. The data-collecting payload was recovered in the desert near Schurz after it traveled about 90 miles.

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School isn’t out for the summer at Western Nevada College. There are many opportunities for individuals to catch up on the pursuit of degrees, take classes of special interest, and change or upgrade career paths during summer session.
Summer session began June 13 and will continue through Aug. 6.
WNC is tendering a number of introductory courses in a variety of subjects, including business, criminal justice, economics, creative writing, philosophy, statistics and social work.
For individuals who want to become more successful in their college courses, Strategies for Academic Success has impacted the performance of many students in the past.
Western is also offering Ancient and Medieval Culture, Personal Finance, Survey of U.S. Constitution History, Fundamentals of College Mathematics, College Algebra, Precalculus, Calculus, Entrepreneurship, Human Nutrition, General Psychology and Principles of Sociology courses, and more.
There also is an option for a late-start class this summer: General Biology for Non-Majors is offered from July 6 through Aug. 2.
While many of the classes listed are available online, Air Conditioning: Electrical and Controls for HVAC, Welding Projects and Intro to General Mechanics are offered in person on the Fallon campus starting next week.
Go to wnc.edu/class-schedule/ to learn more about these classes. Students can register for these courses through their personal WNC accounts, while new students can apply for admission at wnc.edu/starthere/.
For information about becoming a student at WNC, phone 775-445-3277.
To receive guidance in planning your degree and certification pathways, contact Counseling Services at 775-445-3267.


Students send helium-filled balloon to Schurz
What better way to end a week of studying for finals than to send a helium-filled balloon into the stratosphere, then track it down in rural Nevada?
That’s exactly what a research group of Western Nevada College students and science professors did last month when they launched the high-altitude balloon from Fuji Park in Carson City. Participating students were Lori Ramm, Hamza Syed, Nathan Thornton, Mason Haynes, Monse Ramirez, Cody Johnson and Billiann Lampson.
Attached to the balloon was a payload, which included instruments and sensors so the students could record research data from the project. Altitude, temperature, relative humidity and speed data were collected. A video camera also recorded the entire flight.
The research group tracked the balloon until it burst, and the attached payload was recovered about 90 miles away in Schurz.
“It was an easy retrieve,” said WNC Biology and Chemistry Professor Elizabeth Tattersall. “We added more helium to the balloon than we have in the past, and that did not seem to significantly affect the burst altitude.”
Added Physics Professor Thomas Herring, “It was quite a successful flight. For the first time our GPS system worked at all altitudes, thanks to some new Arduino coding and a lot of testing with students.”
The third professor assisting with the project, Winnie Kortemeier, photographed the research work.


High school equivalency, adult Honor Society celebration June 18
WNC’s ACCEL program is honoring students at the 2022 High School Equivalency Celebration and National Adult Education Honors Society Induction at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 18 at Carson Nugget Hall on the Carson City campus.
HSE recipients from 2021-22 and 2019-20 will be recognized along with 2020-22 National Adult Honor Society inductees.
ACCEL is a college and career readiness program that fosters a supportive learning environment for adults seeking to enrich their lives and their communities.
For information about the college’s ACCEL program, phone 775-445-4452 or email accel@wnc.edu. ACCEL’s office is located in Room 340 of the Bristlecone Building.
Cross-country cyclists to visit Boys & Girls Club on June 17
WNC and the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities is presenting a friendship party hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada on Friday, June 17.
Community members are invited to attend Journey of Hope from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club located at 1870 Russell Way in Carson City. The friendship visit is from Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, whose cyclists cross the country to raise awareness and donations for people with disabilities.
Free food, raffle prizes, music and dancing, activities for children are planned, as well as resources and information to assist those with disabilities or loved ones with disabilities.
For more information about the event, contact WNC Disability Support Services Program Director Susan Trist at 775-445-4459 or susan.trist@wnc.edu.
For information about Journey of Hope, or to make a donation, visit abilityexperience.org.


Capital City Arts Initiative presents ‘Contrasts’
Capital City Arts Initiative is presenting “Contrasts” in Western Nevada College’s Bristlecone Gallery through Sept. 15 on the Carson City campus.
It’s a collaboration of work by artists Sogand Tabatabaei and Mariah Vargas. Their mixture of art includes Vargas’ freestanding rectangular sculptures and the much smaller rectangular collages of Tabatabaei.
Vargas’ sculptures are paired together, interfacing, leaning or abutting one another. Tabatabaei’s collages come from magazines and catalogs and focus on windows, couches and dining room sets that conspicuously lack people.
Many interpretations can be made from their contrasting and overlapping art.
View the exhibit in the Bristlecone Gallery on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For information about WNC’s art exhibits, email artgallery@wnc.edu.