Sharayah Goodwin
Staff Writer

After spending 15 years researching how literature can help people to better understand and empathize with others, Professor Kimberly Karshner was excited when a publisher solicited her after a conference, asking if she’d ever considered working on a book about the use of storytelling to heal sexual trauma. Teens are at the highest risk of being sexually assaulted, Karshner said. In her 23 years of teaching creative writing, Karshner had many students who were victims of sexual assault and had written about it in her classes. One of the main components of sexual trauma for survivors is feeling silenced or feeling that they don’t have a voice. Literature and writing empower survivors by providing a means to begin an active healing process.
“I feel like writing is a huge component of moving through [the healing process], moving through feelings,” Karshner explained. “Creative writing can be a great way to work through feelings, and not only those related to sexual trauma or abuse.”
The book is titled, “Voices From the Wreckage: Young Adult Voices in the #MeToo Movement,” and includes chapters written by many contributors. When she put out a call for papers, Karshner was overwhelmed by the response she received from scholars who wanted to contribute something on this topic. Each of the chapter authors in the book introduced different perspectives, and several focused on LGBTQ characters and voices that are newly emerging in young adult literature. The #MeToo movement was very vocal during the time that this book was being written and focused on survivors finding their voices and identities as well as their right to speak out about sexual trauma.
Karshner serves as an editor for North Coast Review, a literary journal that publishes writing and artwork by students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Lorain County Community College. It was there that she came across Alexandros “Alex” Nicolaou’s “Birdie,” and knew immediately that it would be the perfect cover for her book. The subject appears pensive and the colors set a somber tone, while the lighting of the portrait portrays the potential for hope and healing.
“Birdie” is a self-portrait that was Nicolaou’s final project for his Figure Drawing class at LCCC. He worked on this project from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and explained that he wanted to capture the feeling of hopeless optimism in “Birdie.” Nicolaou’s passion for art took off during high school and he loves that he can create anything that he can think of. He started off by drawing people and likes to work on projects where he can use his artwork to make people laugh. Art helped him with his critical thinking skills, particularly in software development courses, because it isn’t easy to translate an idea into art and doing so forces you to find solutions to complex problems, he said. Alex Nicolaou graduated from LCCC with an Associate of Arts.
Kimberly Karshner received three degrees from Bowling Green State University: an undergraduate in Art and creative writing, a master’s in Scientific and technical communication, and a master’s in literature. Karshner will be teaching another creative writing class this fall, and there are a wide variety of art classes available this summer and fall.
Voices From the Wreckage will be available through the Bass Library as an e-book, and a print copy has been ordered for circulation. More information on the book can be found at https://vernonpress.com/book/1684 and the book is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Wreckage-Young-Movement-Sociology/dp/1648896057
Support services are available through LCCC’s Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC) to help students with advice, resources, and connections for a wide variety of challenges that students face. The ARC office is on the first floor of the Bass Library building and additional information is available at https://www.lorainccc.edu/support-services/arc.

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Mark Poalson
JRNM 151

A minority entrepreneur displays her products at the event. Photo: Mark Poalson

Known as the month of love, February boasts popular holidays such as Groundhogs Day and Super Bowl Sunday.
February also kicks off Black History Month, a time to celebrate Black Culture, heritage, and African American history. As part of Black History Month celebrations, Lorain County Community College put together an African American Pop-Up Shop to support Minority Entrepreneurs and jumpstart their careers and businesses.
The event was organized by NEO LaunchNET and took place in the Campana Center.
“This is the second time we have done a pop-shop in honor of Black History Month. We reach out to our businesses we have helped and other NEO LaunchNET in the region,” Janice Lapina, program director for NEO LaunchNET.
Lapina, who has a doctorate in Education, said, “Under-represented populations are overlooked in all industries. However, access and awareness are helping to shed light and open opportunities to them.”
Matthew Poyle the Program Coordinator of NEO LaunchNET said, “I am very happy for this great turnout and to be able to help showcase the different businesses as they start their journey.”
Eleven minority entrepreneurs got the opportunity to show their products to the college community.
The creativity factor was not an issue as there were many unique products to gaze upon and purchase. The Covid 19 pandemic played a huge role in the jumpstart to most of the entrepreneurs at the event.
Deana Sutton, the owner of Design Passion & Purpose, was one of many people who were affected by the pandemic. Sutton who previously worked for Cleveland City Schools was laid off. She needed something to keep herself occupied during these tough times. Sutton got the idea from her son who was making t-shirts at the time. Sutton said, “I was so intrigued by my son who was making t-shirts at the time that I decided to get my own machine.”
Sutton’s business makes clothing and other miscellaneous items with empowering and inspirational messages displayed on them. Sutton’s main goal of her business is to “motivate and inspire” African Americans to be culturally aware of who they are.
Like Sutton most of the entrepreneurs wanted to encourage African Americans to feel strongly about who they are.
Secunda Starr, the owner of Thoughtful Reflections, is making it her mission to encourage African American Women of all ages to practice positive self-talk. Self-Talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through our heads every day.
Starr said, “I want to empower women to be confident throughout their daily lives”. A member of the entrepreneurship program at Kent State University, Starr has been making decorative mirrors and glass mugs with motivational messages such as “Black Girl Magic” and “Love Yourself.” Starr feels “very strong and compassionate” about her business and is confident that she will succeed in the future.

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Sharayah Goodwin
Staff Writer
          Tucked away on the eastern end of the North Parking Lot-6, the unimposing Plant Services building could be easily overlooked. Inside the building, Leo Mahoney, director of Physical Plant and Construction Management, has been hard at work finding ways to make the college’s main campus in Elyria more sustainable. During the five years that Mahoney has been at LCCC, numerous measures have been implemented by his office toward maintaining sustainability.

Mahoney is currently working with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) to bring electric vehicle charging stations to the main campus. The charging stations will be funded by grants for installing charging stations at no cost to the college and to other parts of the country. Federal funds will be distributed by NOACA to fund the project, which is still up for public bidding.

This is great news for faculty and students who drive electric vehicles soon as the U.S. races toward the net-zero goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, according to https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition.

LCCC will receive two dual-port charging stations, providing charging availability to four electric vehicles simultaneously. These new charging stations would be installed in Lot 8 as soon as the Fall of 2023. At this time, no fee structure has been identified for the use of the stations.

         Current plans are to offer the use of them at no cost initially, pending a review of usage and cost to the school.

          Mahoney’s other recent project was an energy performance contract of $16 million. This contract brought about many of the recent changes on campus, saving a lot of energy and money. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unique challenges as well as advantages during implementation. Empty buildings and classrooms allowed crews nearly easy access, and upgrades went quickly and smoothly. Some energy-saving measures included upgrading to LED lighting, low-flow toilet fixtures, and efficient HVAC systems. Electric consumption plummeted from approximately 2.3 million kWh to 1.5 million kWh. 

         Over two years following the implementation of these measures, LCCC saved over $1 million in energy costs, about 40% over the energy-saving guarantee of the contract. These numbers might further improve as more students return to campus. One reason for this is that the 28 buildings on campus rely heavily on body heat to maintain temperature during winter. Fewer students on campus translate to additional stress on HVAC systems and greater energy consumption. 

          LCCC has also been working on sustainable approaches to maintaining its buildings and grounds. 

          Four of the more recently constructed buildings on campus were awarded LEED Silver status (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design): Bass Library, Lab Sciences, and the Richard Desich SMART Commercialization Center (DEC and SMART). 

          The Plant Services does its construction cleanup, sorting materials for recycling. They also compost yard waste for use in other areas of campus and ceased cutting the grass to allow a meadow to grow, supporting plant and animal life. 

          There are several easy ways students can help with sustainability at LCCC. 

          It can be as simple as being conscientious, respecting school property so that it must be replaced less often, and by throwing garbage or recyclables into any of the 500-plus receptacles around the campus. 

          A new streamlined process for recycling has recently taken the guesswork out of recycling on campus. Recently, all receptacles on campus have been replaced with a single blue recycling bin. These new blue receptacles provide a single stream of recyclables that will be sorted off-campus.

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