Samantha Donisi
Assistant Editor/Opinion Editor

Approximately 700 NIACC students will be graduating this spring, according to the NIACC Registrar's office.

Six hundred candidates are expected to graduate during the annual commencement exercises in May, and 100 additional students made application midyear last December.

The spring commencement exercises will be held on May 5 in the NIACC gym. Doors to the gym, auditorium and activity center will open at approximately 6:30 p.m. on the night of the ceremony, and exercises will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Graduates and their guests are encouraged to arrive as soon as possible as the NIACC gym will not seat everyone. There will be closed-circuit TV available in the NIACC auditorium and activity center to accommodate the overflow.

Parking may be a problem for people who arrive after 7 p.m. so graduates are encouraged to park in the lot west of the Buettner Careers building in order to leave the east lot next to the gym open to guests and to minimize traffic problems on Highway 122.

A graduation reception will be held for graduates and their guests on the night of the ceremony from 5 p.m. Ð 7 p.m. in the Muse-Norris Conference Center. Graduates should return the R.S.V.P. cards found in their graduation packet no later than April 28. The cards can be dropped off in the boxes located around campus.

Students wishing to graduate must fulfill certain requirements prior to receiving their diplomas or degrees. NIACC school policy states that attendance at the graduation ceremony is mandatory unless circumstances make it impossible for a student to attend. Students who wished to be excused should have submitted a written statement to the Records Office by April 19.

Also on April 19, a graduation meeting was held for all graduation candidates in the NIACC gym. Students had the opportunity to check the spelling of their name on their graduation application. The spelling provided will be how names will be listed in the commencement program and engraved on degrees or diplomas and any student who has not done so should visit the Counseling Center/Student Services Department in the Administration building.

Students earning an associate degree must have taken a post- testing of general education academic skills. Tests were held April 3-27 in McAllister Hall.

Graduates should also have been measured for their gowns on either April 5 or 6, but if a student still needs measuring, he or she should contact the Records Office as soon as possible.

The commencement ceremony will be televised on the local cable station, Channel 4. Broadcast will start at 7:15 p.m. and end around 8:30 p.m.

NIACC communication skills instructor Borden Plunkett will be announcing the names of graduates as they cross the stage during commencement exercises. Students are encouraged to discuss the pronunciation of their names with Plunkett, who can be reached at his office in Beem Center 205.

During the ceremony, graduates will receive the NIACC blue diploma cover only, diplomas or degrees will be mailed 8-10 weeks after graduation, or after all work is completed for the award.

A professional photographer will be taking a picture of each graduate as they receive their award cover. Graduates have the opportunity to purchase the pictures if they choose.

NIACC will make special accommodations for graduates and guests. Anyone requiring special accommodations needs to see Larry Mozack, registrar, or Mary Wendt, assistant registrar, before Wednesday, May 3.

Angie Von Rueden
Staff Reporter

There has been a lot of talk in the media about the mumps disease and how rapidly it's spreading across Iowa. Even though it's easy to push the concern aside and think, ÔIt won't happen to me,' local health officals say college students especially need to be concerned.

"College students need to take this seriously and get vaccinated because the average age that Public Health is seeing of the mumps is 21," Karen Crimmings, disease prevention and investigation manager at the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health, said.

"The symptoms can be sore throat, neck pain, headache, fever, loss of appetite," Crimmings said. "And most common are the saliva glands, which are in the back of the jaw by the ears, get really swollen," Crimmings said. The mumps are contagious and can spread easily through sneezing, coughing and talking.

Once a person is diagnosed with the mumps virus, the individual cannot be around others, which means no school and no work for at least five days. The individual should feel better in a week depending on the person.

"There is no specific time after getting vaccinated that the person is immune," Crimmings said. "But it is a live vaccine so it should only take a few days."

There are a few rare, but serious side effects of the mumps such as, infection and inflammation of the brain, hearing loss and males can have orchitis, swollen testicles that can cause fertility issues, she said.

If a person can't remember or doesn't know if he or she has had a mumps vaccination, the individual should get the vaccination because it won't hurt to get one, unless the person is pregnant or has a weakened immune system. "If a person wants to find out if he or she needs a vaccination the individual can get blood drawn to find out," Crimmings said. She added that an individual might as well get the vaccination right away because the person will have to pay for the blood work, regardless of whether or not the individual needs the vaccination.

According to the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health, there have been 354 confirmed cases reported in Iowa as of April 5, 2006. The office said that Cerro Gordo has not yet reported any cases, but surrounding counties such as Wright, Butler and Kossuth have. "Only time will tell when cases will arise in this county," Crimmings said. "I'm trying to encourage people to get their vaccinations while they have time." Anyone can talk to their doctor about the vaccination, or the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health has vaccinations available for $54. A person can get information about the mumps virus and vaccinations on the Web site, http://www.cghealth.com, or call the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health at (641) 421-9300.