A1 Ghost hunting? It’s as easy as ABC
On winning the battle with breast cancer
VOICE B1
THE
October 21, 2013
Volume 20, Issue 6
B8
washtenawvoice.com
The student publication of Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor, Michigan
ADAM LOWIS THE WASHTENAW VOICE
Your thoughts? We all know a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one speaks volumes. While it hardly needs a caption, this photo – shot by WCC student Adam Lowis when he was in the nation’s capital during the U.S. government shutdown – begs for a description. Share your creative captions with us and we’ll print some of the better ones in our next issue. And the staff of The Voice will choose the winner, who will receive a Washtenaw Voice T-shirt. Send your zingers to contest@washtenawvoice.com, by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28.
Judge puts hope on hold for same-sex partners College’s By KELLY BRACHA Staff Writer
Gay couples gathered at the Washtenaw County Clerk’s office last week hoping for a marriage license – but were left at the civic altar holding a number and a date. Nickol McKenzie, 27, and her partner Alicia Wilk, 25, of Ypsilanti, were among the 62 couples yearning for the opportunity to get a marriage license and immediately exchange vows. “We have a wedding set for May 17, but it was going to be without a license,” McKenzie said. “We have everything set for a typical wedding, but when we heard there might be a chance to get a license, we came here together.” But they will have to wait for a decision following a Feb. 25 trial. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman delayed making a decision on Wednesday, saying he prefers to hear testimony from experts on whether there’s a
legitimate state interest in banning gay marriage. “I feel that the judge is giving a very fair review,” said Rev. Gail Geisenhainer. “We’re going to be back here on Feb. 25. No one is going away from the issue. The hope is right here in this room.” Geisenhainer and members of the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor were joined by dozens of supporters hoping to see a change. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who are suing the state seeking the right to marry and adopt each other’s children, filed the lawsuit at issue. “We can’t give up hope because hope is what we have and keeps us strong,” Washtenaw County Board Chairman Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, said in a speech after news of the delay broke to the crowd. “Every citizen of the world has an equal right to marry the person they love and to be with that person for the rest of their life.”
youngest director talks politics Director of Government and Media Relations Jason Morgan is probably the youngest administrator on campus. He talks about the changes that are happening in Lansing and Washington D.C. and how these might affect students at Washtenaw Community College, in an interview with Voice Editor Maria Rigou.
KELLY BRACHA THE WASHTENAW VOICE
Same-sex couples with numbers in hand and papers filled out wait outside the Washtenaw County Clerk’s Office last Wednesday.
C++ student finds himself in Grade A career to the United States. Aziz got his start with computers in 2004, when If self-motivation has a face, name he began experiand a voice, it just might belong to menting with the Washtenaw Community College stu- family’s first PC. dent Azzam Aziz. “I just startThe polite and driven 21-year-old ed messing with programming student from Saline is at (the computer),” a point in his career that many would said Aziz. “I had envy, due in no small part to his ex- this curiosity for traordinary motivation and passion things for some Azzam Aziz for his field. reason.” In 2007, Aziz moved with his father, And computer technology helped mother, and two sisters from Jordan to break down a barrier. By DAVID FITCH Staff Writer
“I learned English by playing video games,” said Aziz. “I learned grammar perfectly, but I still have an accent.” WCC instructor Khaled Mansour, one of Aziz’s future mentors, taught Aziz’s first programming class, a course in C++ language. This, according to Aziz, is where his vocational story “really begins.” “I didn’t get enough of the class… The two hours weren’t enough for me,” he said. “I wanted more, so I knew I liked this stuff, and when I came to it I was into computers, I didn’t know where exactly but I started with that
class.” Neil Gudsen, the computer information systems program manager, served as a guiding mentor along the path from the beginning. “I told him, ‘really pour yourself into this thing.’ And boy did he! He really did,” said Gudsen. Aziz continued to teach himself programming, expanding his knowledge to include C# programming language over the following summer.
To learn more about Career Services, go to A6
AZZAM CONTINUED A6
Washtenaw Voice: You seem to wear many hats, according to the job titles beneath your name: Director of Government and Media Relations Department, Foundation. Tell us about the work you do for the college? Jason Morgan: I do wear many hats here. Partially because the work with our local state and federal elected officials impacts every facet of the college. Legislation impacts our students when it comes to student aid, our veterans when it comes to veteran programming, the college’s bottom line when it comes to our budget from the state, when it comes from federal funding through grants. MORGAN Q&A CONTINUED A5