Clara Ortiz took a circuitous route to earning her nursing degree and now she’s working in a career that she’d been drawn to for almost two decades.

A 2010 Central Wyoming College nursing pro-gram graduate, Clara is in a familiar environment working on the medical/surgical floor at Riverton Memorial Hospital where she’d done most of her clinical training as a student.

Before Clara had even considered a career in health care, she had been successful in business. After earning an associate’s degree from CWC after high school, the Riverton native worked in retail, managing clothing stores. A Denver store snatched her up because she specialized at help-ing stores with high losses recover.

After starting her family, she came home to Riverton and got a job at the Riverton hospital in the admissions department.

“Admissions was right by the ER and I was so drawn in by what was happening in there,” Clara recalled of her desire to enter health care. But it was when she began working for the hospital’s lab as a phlebotomist that she got involved in direct patient care.

“I really fell in love with it,” she said, ex-plaining how she worked in all the different areas of the hospital with a variety of physicians.

She later began working for a vascular sur-geon who paid for her to take a class in medical transcription. She also began assisting him with office surgical procedures and he suggested she pursue a nursing degree.

But at that time, Clara was a single mother of two, working three jobs and helping her parents who for 51 years owned and operated the Moun-tain View Motel in Riverton. She waited for her life “to be just right, so that when I was accept-ed (into the nursing program) I would be ready and devoted to it.”

Each semester, Clara enrolled in one of the nursing prerequisite courses and carefully studied the requirements necessary to be accepted into the program. It took about ten years before she was ready to apply and was accepted immedi-ately.

By this time, her children were adults and she had married Kelly Ortiz who was very sup-portive of her desire to pursue a new career. In

After a large contingent of Fremont County residents spoke in favor of Central Wyoming College’s proposed Health and Science Center July 21, five of the seven CWC board members approved a resolution that would place the $11.5 million tax question on the November 2 general election ballot. More than 25 people from all parts of Fremont County spoke in favor of CWC’s plan to ask voters to approve the bond. The college is proposing the facility to house its nursing and environment, health and safety programs, sci-ence labs, and classrooms. Riverton and Lander hospital administrators Chris Smolik and Ben Quinton emphatically im-plored the board to seek funding for the facility that should allow the college to double the number of nursing graduates. The two described the current nursing shortage and projected a dismal future for acute care facilities as more and more people seek health care as a result of recent reform. Smolik, Riverton’s hospital administrator, predicts the health care reform package will cause a “tsunami of new patients coming into the system,” and cautioned those at the board meeting not to expect the same level of health care services five years from now. “There will be over 1,000 hospital closures because of the quality initiatives of the re-form,” he said, reminding Wyoming people that

CWC board approves bond resolution for Health/Science Center

Student realizes her dream

(continued on page three)

2Clara Ortiz, a 2010 CWC nursing graduate, loves her job as a nurse. (continued on back page)

3

July 2008, she helped her wid-owed father sell his motel and in August she entered nursing school.

At the time, she was working at Fremont County Public Health as the emergency management coordinator and she thought she could continue to work. But by October, Clara realized she needed to devote herself strictly to the nursing program and quit her job.

Her wedding anniversary was three days later, but she had a clinical, a paper due and a skills lab to videotape. “I didn’t even have the time to buy him a card,” she said, recalling that when she came home to dinner and roses she cried. “My husband was tremendously supportive. He had more confidence in me that I did in myself.”

Clara said all nursing students need that type of support. Some of her classmates were single parents, but she said behind every nursing stu-dent, there are very supportive friends, spouses or family members.

The students are up by 4 a.m. to be at the hospital for clinical training by 5:30 a.m. After the clinical, students must submit a clinical care/nursing plan on each patient. Then they need to read four or five chapters to be prepared for the

four-hour lecture the following day. And each student needs to be checked off on the skills they are learning.

Clara acknowledges that a student has to be really dedicated to complete the nursing pro-gram. Though the two years sped by quickly, she said she also felt like she’d never be a nurse. “I was still in shock when I walked at the pinning ceremony,” she said.

Finding employment following graduation was not hard for Clara or her classmates. She had

been recruited months before taking her final exams and passing the national licensing exami-nations required to become an official registered nurse.

On the medical/surgical floor at RMH, Clara works long shifts taking care of patients of all ages. No two days are the same, and this ex-perience will eventually lead her into a nursing specialty.

“That’s what nursing school does for you,” (continued on page eleven)

Student dream(continued from page two)

4

A pair of longtime Central Wyoming College professors receive the honor of Professor Emeritus at September 9 Convocation activities. The distinction is conferred on Margaret Peart and Rob Richards during the annual beginning-of-the-academic-year event, which begins at 10:15 a.m. with a faculty march to the Robert A. Peck Arts Center, and is followed by welcome ad-dresses, a keynote speech by author and cowboy Michael Johnson, and the Professors Emeriti ceremony. Professor Peart joined the CWC faculty the second year after the CWC campus opened in 1969 though she didn’t begin teaching full-time until after raising children in 1982. Professor Richards left his own accounting firm for a full-time position in August 1986 though he had previous-ly taught accounting classes part time at CWC. Margaret began her ca-reer as a secretarial science instructor, teaching students on new-fangled electric typewriters. With the dawn of the computer age, Marga-ret’s job description signifi-cantly changed as technology evolved. “That was one of the challenges in this particular field,” she said, recalling the need to retrain herself almost every semester as technology often changed overnight.

Most of her summers were spent staying current with the newest Microsoft® applications, and she became the resource for the rest of the campus as updates to software packages were released frequently. “I can truthfully say I was never bored,” Peart said. Transitioning from a certified public accoun-tant to an instructor of accounting was a natural move for Richards. “When you’re in the account-ing business, you are always teaching your clients,” he said. “It really wasn’t difficult for me to teach. It was a kick. I guess I was lucky.” Both faculty members had front row seats

and watched a young community college grow and mature. Not only did they witness the growth of the college’s physical facilities, both saw a change in student demographics as well as large enrollment increases over the years. The one con-stant for both of them was Jo Anne McFarland, who like Margaret, began as a part-time faculty member at the brand new college. “Jo Anne was there in the beginning. I watched her come up through the ranks and have so admired what she has done,” Peart said of CWC’s president. She credits McFarland with mak-ing CWC a “special place to work.” “It was really, really neat to see her move to

where she is today,” Richards said. In the 1980s, most of Richard’s and Peart’s students were older; many who had re-turned to college for retrain-ing during a dip in the local economy. Even when the aver-age age of the CWC student population dropped as more and more high school gradu-ates enrolled, Margaret’s students tended to be older because students coming out of high school were already familiar with computers and their applications. “I loved teaching older students,” said Margaret, a Microsoft Office

Peart and Richards each receive Professor Emeritus distinction

Margaret Peart Rob Richards (continued page eight)

5

Texas cowboy and award-winning author Michael Johnson is the keynote speaker at Central Wyoming College’s Fall Convocation Thurs-day, Sept. 9. A former university professor and author of eight books, Johnson intends to share his views on personal empowerment during the ad-dress, which is open to the public. Convocation, the eighth annual event to welcome students to the new academic year, begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Robert A. Peck Arts Center. It is followed by a free barbecue, games and a social powwow on “The Quad.” A procession of the faculty precedes the Convocation ceremony at 10:15 a.m. Johnson, who holds a doctorate in psychology, is also a nationally published magazine columnist who has entertained and inspired audi-ences throughout the country. He uses storytelling, humor and music in his presentations that focus on motivation, productivity, personal growth and leadership. The author is also a former professional rodeo cowboy and he shares a unique blend of academic and real life experiences with his audiences. Johnson has performed over 1,200 live stage shows in the past ten years across America and Canada, and his nationally syndicated magazine column, Throwing My Loop, is read by thousands each month. His stories of encouragement are heard on a number of public and private radio affiliates throughout North America, and he is the host of a weekly radio broadcast titled Reflections of a Cowboy. His Cowboys and Angels was named Best Non-Fiction Book of 2002 by the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, and he is the 2005 Okla-homa Author of the Year. Johnson’s latest release, Healing Shine - A Spiritual Assignment, is the 2007 winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in American literature.

(continued on back page )

Convocation Texas author, cowboyshares experiences

6

Central Wyoming College Theater Director Mike Myers is no ordinary tourist.

Rather than spend his time off in the summer vacationing in relaxing and exotic places, Myers opts to volunteer his time in third world coun-tries teaching English. It’s a labor of love and he uses his own money to do it.

“I like being in a country for a reason,” he said after his return from Cambodia, where he spent fi ve weeks teaching poor orphans in May and June. If he hadn’t been in the southeast Asian country teaching, Myers said he’d be just like any other tourist and his only contact with the Cambodian people would be with those sell-ing goods.

Instead, Myers chose to live with a strange family in a distant land where toilets are con-sidered a luxury and there is no such thing as residential air conditioning. He taught in a make-

shift orphanage school and his students were literally pulled out of a garbage dump.

Cambodia is “more third world than other third world countries,” a result of the reign of the Khmer Rouge, he said.

Myers believes the U.S. was partially respon-sible for the rise of the Khmer Rouge during the Vietnam War and volunteering in Cambodia was his way of giving back.

“Cambodia is certainly one of the most dam-aged countries on the planet, and it will take several more generations for them to get over it,” Myers said. The communist Khmer Rouge carried out arbitrary executions and torture and purged the country of “intellectuals” associated with capitalism, thereby obliterating the Cambodian culture. Myers said approximately two million Cambodians died from executions, overwork, star-vation and disease during the reign.

This wasn’t Myers fi rst time teaching Eng-lish abroad. He spent six weeks in the capital of Nepal during the summer of 2009 teaching at a Buddhist monastery. “In a country like Cambodia, it’s a real economic advantage to learn English. It will improve your livelihood,” he said. “I’ve never been to a country where there wasn’t a desire to learn English.”

Joined by volunteers from many other na-tions, Myers had a one-day orientation when he arrived in Cambodia’s capitol Phnom Penh. He was the only volunteer in the group to work at the school and was totally on his own, which was unlike what he experienced in Kathmandu when the volunteers got together every evening to exchange stories and spent their weekends exploring Nepal.

Myers had been a Peace Corps volunteer in Oman shortly after graduating from college and

CambodiaMike Myers chose to live with a strange family in a distant land

where toilets are considered a luxury and there is no such thing as residential air conditioning. He taught in a makeshift orphanage

school and his students were literally pulled out of a garbage dump.

(continued on page seven)

7

his work in Nepal and then in Phnom Penh were the first opportunities to continue volunteer service. His experience in Nepal and Cambodia is especially helpful to Myers as he is an advisor to international students at CWC.

“I have a really good idea of how they feel when they come here,” he said of exchange students. He said his experiences teaching abroad also benefit his teaching at CWC.

He was very impressed by the Cambo-dian school and the orphanage, which were both founded less than a decade ago by a Japanese donor. The children came to the orphanage from the villages near the capi-tol’s giant garbage dumps; their parents were either dead, in jail or incapable of raising them.

Though the children came from the depths of poverty, he said in most instances “you just wouldn’t know they weren’t normal kids. Considering where these kids came from, most were quite bright.” Cambodia

A few of the photos taken by CWC Professor Mike Myers while traveling in Cambodia include (top from left) images of

children at the orphanage school where he taught English, and (top right and bottom) tourists and monks visiting Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world which was

built between 802 and 1220 AD.

(continued on page eight)

Cambodia (continued from page six )

8

Master®. “They had to work really, really hard to get their degrees.” She also saw individuals make a “complete turnaround in their lives” as a result of their CWC education. “It’s very rewarding.” Richards taught students of all ages. “It was really great to see the students blossom,” he said. “It was fun to see them catch on to learning and to succeed.” In the early 1990s, Rob started the Volun-teer Income Tax Assistance program at CWC, and over the years, he estimates he and his students helped approximately 1,800 low income and el-derly people with their taxes. The soon-to-be Professors Emeriti both enjoyed being in the classroom, and like the rest of the Central faculty, were also teaching their

Professor Emeritus

has a very young population and a majority of its people are too young to remember the Khmer Rouge era.

Mike worked with children in grades one through six though he only knew a few phrases of Khmer, the Cambodian language. He asked a 16-year-old girl who lived at the orphanage and worked at the school to be his aide. She helped him with translation and the pairing was so suc-cessful the school intends to continue using the older orphans to assist foreign workers.

classes online. Peart received a “Quality Matters” designation for her online courses and in 1992 won the Wyoming Association of Community Col-lege Trustees Outstanding Faculty Member Award. When the honor is conferred upon Richards and Peart, they will join 20 others in CWC’s four decade history to receive the Professor Emeritus distinction. “It’s a wonderful feeling to have your peers recognize you in that respect,” Richards said. “It’s a real honor,” said Peart, who sees the distinction as giving her a permanent association with CWC. Though retired, Margaret continues to teach courses for CWC’s Workforce and Community Edu-cation department. Her free time has allowed her to attend sporting events in which her grandchil-dren compete as well as babysitting a grandchild. Richards intends to keep his CPA license but mostly plans to relax and do activities that he enjoys like golfing and fishing.

His most advanced English-speaking students were the oldest children. There were two sixth grade classes of 13 students so Myers wrote a play with 13 parts based on the fairy tale Snow White. “It wasn’t easy,” Myers said of his play. “I gave them several challenging words.” Though the students had never seen a Disney movie, somehow they had some notion of the story of Snow White.

From his own experience working with college theater students, he knew the project would bring the class together. “They became an extremely

tight group and were far closer to me than any of the other grades,” Myers recalled. “They were really proud of what they had done.”

The younger students watched as they re-hearsed in a room where they had lunch and picked up extra language instruction.

On the weekends, Myers ventured outside the capitol to see the sights. He took the bus to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat, the largest reli-gious structure in the world; visited the village of Kampong Cham and went to the beach town of Kampot on the Gulf of Thailand.

“Traveling alone was good for me,” he said. “It really teaches you to be independent and self reliant.”

The average Cambodian doesn’t speak a lot of English, Myers said, but noted “they speak more English than I speak Khmer.”

(continued from page seven)Cambodia

(continued from page four)

(continued on page 15)

A drama depicting the compelling love story between two emotionally disturbed adolescents, a popular com-edy about the seemingly mad Sycamore family and an award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical round out the 2010-11 season of theater at Central Wyoming College.

The Theater Department has sched-uled family friendly shows throughout the year and will continue to offer a matinee performance of each produc-tion. And, the cost of both the season and individual tickets remain the same for the coming year.

Auditions for the fi rst show of the season David and Lisa are Tuesday, Aug-ust 31 and the play runs October 6-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 10 at 2:30 p.m.

The James Reach drama, adapted from the book by Theodore Isaac Rubin, is the love story of two mentally ill teens. David is exceptionally intelligent and afraid of being touched, while Lisa is a beautiful woman with two per-sonalities. Together, they try to grope their way out of the darkness of mental illness.

In November, the theater depart-ment stages You Can’t Take it with You, a comedy about the very eccentric Syca-more family. The successful Moss Hart and George Kaufman play, which won a

Pulitzer Prize, was made into a movie in 1938 and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Auditions for the comedy are set for Tuesday, Oct. 12, and the performances are Nov. 17-20 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m.

This year’s musical is the clas-sic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacifi c, which is based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The winner of nine Tony Awards is set in the remote corner of World War II and is fi lled with some popular songs.

South Pacifi c runs Feb. 25-26 and March 3-5 at 7:30 p.m., with the mati-nee scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m.

The season concludes with Show-case 2011 April 14-17 and features student-directed plays.

Individual ticket prices are $8 for adults and $6 for children and seniors except for the musical, which are $12 and $10 and the Showcase, which is $3.

As usual, the Theater Department is selling season tickets and Myers encour-ages theater patrons to take advantage of the discount ticket prices, the fi rst selection of seats and recognition in the programs. The cost of a single adult season ticket is $25 and $20 for youth and seniors 60 and over.

(continued on page 15)

A drama depicting the compelling love story between two emotionally disturbed adolescents, a popular com-edy about the seemingly mad Sycamore family and an award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical round out the 2010-11 season of theater at Central Wyoming College.

The Theater Department has sched-uled family friendly shows throughout the year and will continue to offer a matinee performance of each produc-tion. And, the cost of both the season and individual tickets remain the same for the coming year.

Auditions for the fi rst show of the season David and Lisa are Tuesday, Aug-ust 31 and the play runs October 6-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 10 at 2:30 p.m.

The James Reach drama, adapted from the book by Theodore Isaac Rubin, is the love story of two mentally ill teens. David is exceptionally intelligent and afraid of being touched, while Lisa is a beautiful woman with two per-sonalities. Together, they try to grope their way out of the darkness of mental illness.

In November, the theater depart-ment stages You Can’t Take it with You, a comedy about the very eccentric Syca-more family. The successful Moss Hart and George Kaufman play, which won a

Pulitzer Prize, was made into a movie in 1938 and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Auditions for the comedy are set for Tuesday, Oct. 12, and the performances are Nov. 17-20 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m.

This year’s musical is the clas-sic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacifi c, which is based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The winner of nine Tony Awards is set in the remote corner of World War II and is fi lled with some popular songs.

South Pacifi c runs Feb. 25-26 and South Pacifi c runs Feb. 25-26 and South Pacifi cMarch 3-5 at 7:30 p.m., with the mati-nee scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m.

The season concludes with Show-case 2011 April 14-17 and features student-directed plays.

Individual ticket prices are $8 for adults and $6 for children and seniors except for the musical, which are $12 and $10 and the Showcase, which is $3.

As usual, the Theater Department is selling season tickets and Myers encour-ages theater patrons to take advantage of the discount ticket prices, the fi rst selection of seats and recognition in the programs. The cost of a single adult season ticket is $25 and $20 for youth and seniors 60 and over.

CWC theater season planned

9

(continued on page 11)

10

Collaboration is the emphasis Jason Wood is taking with his new role as Central Wyoming College’s Vice President for Academics. “With the quality of people we have in place, it should be an exciting opportunity to accomplish our dreams,” said Wood, who started at the col-lege the end of June. Fresh off a two-day retreat with campus academic leaders, the group is making plans to better utilize people in the community to move the college forward. “A strong link with business and industry is really important,” he said of the college building cementing relationships with the community. He’d like the college to make better use of advisory committees, which are made up of individuals from businesses in the area that have a relation-ship to CWC. It is important to the college to have a better understanding of what businesses need from an academic standpoint and “how we can better prepare their current and future employees,” Wood explained. The college is also exploring partnerships to expand academic offerings at CWC outreach sites in Lander, Thermopolis, Jackson, Dubois and the Wind River Reservation, as well as capitalizing on the unique learning facility at the Sinks Canyon Center. In his fi rst year, Wood will be leading several new initiatives, including the development of new academic programs, expanding experiential learn-ing opportunities for students and improving the transition of GED gradu-ates to enroll in college. Immediately the college is developing a Facilities Maintenance program that will initially be offered at the Sinks Canyon Center to prepare students as technicians and/or supervisors for maintenance and janitorial workers. The facility in the Sinks Canyon will also be used by students to become skilled through hands-on learning for such programs as outdoor education and archaeology. “Being in that environment allows for a cohort of students to develop skills that are really unique,” Wood said.

New academic VP focuses onstrong link with community

(continued on page eleven)

CWC’s new VP for Academics Jason Wood with wife Kathyrn and daughters (from left) Amy, 2, Heidi, 4, Melanie, 6 and Natalie, 8. The family has been busy exploring Wyoming (pictured here in the Sinks Canyon) and getting settled into their new home.

Central is also devel-oping a new ag-business program and is currently conducting a search for a faculty member to lead that process. Job opportunities for CWC graduates should be expanded with the development of degree programs in technical studies, health studies and health technology. The technical studies degree provides broader opportunities for students who have earned credentials or certificates in technical fields, such as electrical apprenticeships. Pros-pects for students enrolled in shorter certified nursing assistant and medical assistant programs would be enhanced by degrees in health studies and health technology. “Absolutely, it will im-prove their job skills,” Wood emphasized. “This is something that is changing so rapidly.” Utilizing his experiences from a variety of jobs at community colleges in Oregon, Wood wants to improve the “pathway” for students enrolled in CWC’s Adult Basic Education/GED program. “We need to do a better job to get these students to transition into college-level programs,” he said. The college’s math depart-ment is redesigning the developmental math cur-riculum to ensure students have more success. The college is also developing an employee leadership program which is designed for aspir-ing employees who have shown an interest in leadership to develop those skills. In the first

year, the program will be offered internally to CWC employees. Wood, who started his academic career as a high

school Spanish and history teacher, rose to the top of the 89 applicants applying for the chief academic position at CWC. He came to the college from the relatively new Klamath Community Col-lege where he was a student services dean. He was also a dean at Southwestern Oregon Community College and senior director of College Prep and Recruitment Coordinator at Blue Mountain Com-munity College. His initial impressions of CWC and the commu-nities it serves have been very positive. “There’s strong support for CWC,” he said. “People aren’t coming to work to do their jobs here, they are coming to work to make this a great place for students and the community.” The Wood family, which includes Jason’s wife Kathryn and four daughters, Natalie, 8; Melanie, 6; Heidi, 4 and Amy, 2, is getting the true college experience this summer. While waiting to close on a house, the family has been living in a two-bedroom apartment on campus. In his spare time, Wood is working on his dis-sertation to complete his doctorate later this year in Community College Leadership from Oregon State University, emphasizing on issues facing rural community colleges. He earned his Masters of Education from the University of Idaho and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University.

she said. “You get a vast amount of knowledge in a short amount of time and you are pressed into doing a lot of things in a short amount of time.”

At 47, Clara was the oldest of her classmates though many of the students “were close” or in their mid-30s. Her age and experience caused her to take a leadership role in her class and she be-came president of the Student Nurses Association, which did a number of activities to “give back to the community.”

“Nursing is a helping profession,” she ex-claimed. “The day is not perfect unless you can do something for someone who could never repay you.”

She now has a career that pays good money, but Clara said it’s really important for students not to enter the profession for that reason. “You do work hard for that money,” she added.

Shifts at the hospital are 12 hours, though Clara said nurses often are there for another hour or two completing reports.

Now it is time for Clara to support her hus-band and daughter as they enter the health care field. Clara and daughter Kesha Blair graduated to-gether this spring from CWC, and she’s headed off to Sheridan to enroll in a dental hygiene program. Her husband would like to pursue a career as a physical therapist assistant.

“No matter who you are, you’re always going to have to deal with someone you love having a medical condition,” she said. “What I’ve learned in the nursing program has benefited me in my personal life…you can never know too much.”

Student dreamVice presidentnew ag-business

program in the works

(continued from page ten)

(continued from page three)

11

Connect is a publication of the CWC Public Information Offi ce and is scheduled to be published quarterly.

Schedule of Upcoming Events

2660 Peck Avenue, Riverton, WY www.cwc.edu

12

August 30 Fall Semester 2010 classes begin

August 31 Auditions for David and Lisa

September 1-2 Volleyball at CWC vs. Dawson Community College

September 6 Labor Day holiday

September 9 Convocation

September 17-19 CWC Rustler Rodeo

September 28 Volleyball at CWC vs. Casper College

October 1 Volleyball at CWC vs. Western Wyoming

October 6-10 CWC Theater production of David and Lisa

October 8 Volleyball at CWC vs. LCCC

October 9 Volleyball at CWC vs. Eastern

October 12 Auditions for You Can’t Take it With You

October 23-24 Breakaway Roping Clinic at Equine Center

October 27 Volleyball at CWC vs. Northwest College

October 29 Jazz Nite

October 30 Orange and Black basketball scrimmage

October 30-31 Barrel Racing Clinic at Equine Center

(continued from page six )Previous winners include Larry Mc-Murtry (Lonesome Dove) and Mi-chael Blake (Dances With Wolves). Healing Shine - the story of the author’s seven-year journey with the great - but severely troubled - roping horse called Shine, also won the 2007 Hollywood Book Festival, and First Runner-Up at the 2007 New York Book Festival.

Convocation speaker

travel to urban areas may be required for health care. “We need more and more institutions creating opportunities for students to go into these fi elds,” he said. “I guarantee those individuals (who do not support the Health and Science Center) will rue the day when they don’t support health care initiatives.” Quinton, who is the Lander hospital CEO, said his institution doesn’t have enough doctors and nurses right now. “At Lander Regional Hospital, the number one challenge is recruiting enough nurses,” he said, noting that the hospital is only able to staff two of its four ICU beds because of the short-age. Alan Moore, a Riverton accountant who is the founder of a local econom-ic development group, said the college’s proposed facility would be a benefi t to the communities in Fremont County. “Eighty percent of the nurses who graduate stay in the area,” he said. “It’s about jobs and opportunities.” Also speaking in support of the project were nurses who graduated from the CWC program, who said the facility could provide continuing education to healthcare professionals. Four student senators talked about the need for larger science labs because of the college’s more than 40 percent enrollment growth in the past three years. For more information on the bond proposal, contact CWC Public Informa-tion Offi cer Carolyn Aanestad at (307) 855-2103.

Convocation Schedule 10:15 a.m. Faculty Processional 10:30 a.m. Convocation Ceremony 12:00 p.m. Barbecue, music and games 12:00 p.m. Information Fair 2 p.m. Social Powwow

CWC board approves bond resolution(continued from page three )