As NIACC students follow the path that connects the dormitories and campus, dorm residents may find themselves playing a friendly game of hopscotch in order to avoid goose droppings. 
According to Carol Schutte, NIACC biology instructor and chair of Environmental Affairs Council, the geese arrive at NIACC between March and April and depart around November, depending on the weather.  Some may even stick around during a mild winter. 
“The geese are attracted to the freshly mowed grass and the three separated ponds that our campus offers,” Schutte said.  “Nearby fields also provide plentiful feeding for them in the fall.” 
NIACC serves as a type of haven for the waterfowl.
“Since NIACC is considered within city limits, hunting is off limits.  We sort of serve as another refugee for the geese,”  Craig Zoellner, also a biology science instructor and member of the Environmental Affairs Council said.
Zoellner added that the nearest refugee to Mason City is located at Rice Lake. 
He also stated that the population of Canadian Geese has increased in recent years due to the efforts of the DNR in the setting up of refugee systems. 
Unfortunately, increasing numbers result in increasing problems, especially for area farmers. 
Zoellner said that in the spring, a group of geese can wipe out acres of corn and oats. 
A problem for dorm residents involves the aftermath of the geese feeding. 
 “I have to be sure to dodge the piles and really watch out for the slippery ones,” Toni Christianson, a freshman and dorm resident said.
NIACC has tried several methods of addressing the problem.
“Last year we used a water truck and sprayed the path clean,” Lowell Nuehring, supervisor for the dormitories said.
During the winter months, Nuehring said that a rake behind a tractor is used to drag the path clean. 
“Other than the path, the geese do not cause any other maintenance problems,” Nuehring said.
 On the other hand, when the geese aren’t doing their business on the path, they provide fertilization for surrounding lawns and fields. 
“Mostly during the fall months when the geese are feeding, they provide free fertilizer for local farmers,” Zoellner said. 
He also added that they provide recreation for hunters and bird watchers. 
“Hunting licenses and the purchasing of guns and ammunition provide money for the improvement of habitat areas,” Zoellner said.
 While others may dislike the sound of geese honking early in the morning, Zoellner said he doesn’t mind the noise. 
“They may be loud, but it may help students get up so they can make it to class,” Zoellner said.

NIACC’s Auditorium Gallery, which is in its 12th year, recently had its first scheduled art exhibition of this school year with artist Amy Harris’s work. 
Carol Faber, gallery director, coordinates these exhibitions.
Harris’ work was displayed from August 30 - September 15 with a reception on September 13 at the gallery from 7 - 8 p.m. that featured a talk by the artist.
“The chairs were full,” Faber said. “We had about 50 people that attended.”
Faber said the purpose of these receptions is to bring in artists to expose students to more culture. 
Faber said she asks the artists to share with the audience their educational background to give students in attendance an idea of what they might be looking at as far as future schooling, especially when choosing a career in the art field. 
Faber said that when she considers artists, she looks at the students enrolled in art classes, who  is majoring in art and where the students plan to transfer after NIACC. 
Then she said she tries to bring in artists that have attended those particular schools. 
Faber said another consideration is the amount of work the artist has produced. 
“We have a pretty good sized gallery, so it is important the artists have enough art to fill it,”  Faber said.
In her presentation, Harris presented the audience with slides of some of her other work that was not included in the gallery display.
In her talk, Harris expressed her interest in figures and said she relies a lot on intuition. 
“A true symbol is one that there are no words for,” Harris said.
One member of the audience asked Harris how long it usually takes her to complete a piece. 
In response, she said she is usually working on three of four different pieces at a time, so it gets to be a long, drawn out process.  She estimated that it could take anywhere from a month to two years to complete one piece.
Harris described herself as a saver and a packrat. 
She said she has xeroxes and other images saved from as far back as high school. 
Harris said she would find herself looking for a particular image in the piece she was working on, so she’d go to her old xeroxes and dig through to usually find what she was looking for. 
Then she would continue with the painting using that image.
Faber said she felt the reception went well and that Harris covered the areas Faber felt she should.
Upcoming exhibitions scheduled include Postcards from Purgatory and other Assorted Images, by Chuck Richards.  His exhibition is scheduled to run from September 20 - October 21 with a reception held on September 27.

NIACC has around 10 acres of prairie and has planted the prairie in six spots around NIACC which include:
• near the south side of the west pond 
• hillside on the north shore of that west pond
• north side of the farm pond 
• southwest corner of campus
• lake shore in front of the new apartment building 
• along the west edge of the campus
• the most controversial spot, the Highway 18 entrance.

Some people speculated that planting so close to the corn crops might get the prairie killed with an accidental spraying of herbicide.
According to Schutte, the Ag department is extremely careful and considerate when spraying. 
So careful, in fact, that they take in the wind direction on a particular spraying day so as not to spray on the prairie plot.
Through it all, many people have contributed to the prairie project. 
Many staff and faculty, maintenance and administration along with students have helped the prairie project continue to  bloom.