Learn About MCCC’s New A.S. In Public Health During Info Sessions‏

Blue Bell, Pa.—Current and prospective students are invited to attend information sessions about Montgomery County Community College’s (MCCC) new Associate in Science (A.S.) degree program in Public Health, which begins this fall.

The information sessions will be held on Wednesday, March 23 from 12:30-1:15 p.m. and 5-5:45 p.m. in Parkhouse Hall room 103 at MCCC’s Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell.

In MCCC’s Public Health program, students will earn how to apply population perspectives to examine social, environmental and behavioral determinants of health in the prevention and control of disease. The program prepares graduates to transfer to a four-year college or university to continue their studies in Public Health.

“The field of public health is far reaching. It’s an ideal major for students who want to be in a health field, but who do not want to work in a clinical setting. Health education and health promotion practitioners work with patients in a different way,” explained Natasha Patterson, instructor and coordinator of Public Health at MCCC.

Graduates of public health programs frequently work in the areas of health policy, regional planning, health education and promotion, health administration and in public health specializations in a variety of social sciences fields.

“Public health can’t be put in a box. It crosses so many fields,” said Pattersen.

Even though MCCC’s A.S. degree program in Public Health begins in fall 2016, Introduction to Public Health (PBH 101) is being offered this spring and will be offered during both summer sessions. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.mc3.edu/academics and click on Areas of Study, followed by Health Sciences, then by Public Health.

Pottstown Regional Planners Offer Park Improvement Grants

A mini-grant program for park improvements in the eight municipalities that comprise the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee is now accepting applications.

Eight grants of up to $25,000 each will be awarded to towns which participate in the regional planning effort to help fund park improvements that promote recreation.

Funding for the grants comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and is being facilitated by the PottstownArea Health and Wellness Foundation.

At this point, the “Request-for-Proposals” phase, the regional planning committee and the foundation are inviting the region’s eight member municipalities to apply for funding for the planning or development of park improvements.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130525/NEWS01/130529453/regional-planners-offer-park-improvement-grants#full_story

Suburban Areas Becoming More Convenient, City-Like

English: Text that accompanies the ULI logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the past two decades, suburban areas have been making a slow transition from car-dependent to people-oriented design, with more options for walking, cycling or public transportation, according to Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization.

ULI recently published a report, “Shifting Suburbs: Reinventing Infrastructure for Compact Development,” detailing how this change is mostly driven by generation Y, who favor the convenience of urban-style living in more densely populated areas.

The U.S. population is expected to increase by 95 million in the next 30 years, and most of the growth will occur in suburban towns, which makes smart suburban land use essential to growth. But redeveloping these areas is harder in practice than in theory, according to the report.

Read more:   http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/Suburban_areas_becoming_more_convenient_urban-like.html

2012’s Most Annoying Words Are ‘Whatever,’ ‘Like’

NEW YORK— “You know,” “whatever” is a really annoying term — “like” “you know.  ” We’re “just sayin’.”

When it comes to the most annoying words or phrases used in conversation, those four top the list in 2012, according to the annual Marist Poll.

“Whatever” headed the list, cited by 32 percent of adults, and next came “like,” which 21 percent didn’t like.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-whatever-like-2012-annoying-words-20121227,0,3660199.story

Urban Farm Proposed In Lancaster

The School District of Lancaster maintains a 21-acre vacant lot across from Wheatland Middle School.  A Lancaster City resident, Ben Weiss, would like to turn 10 of these vacant acres into farms and a garden.  Weiss runs two organic farms in Mount Joy and Millersville.

Weiss would actually farm five acres, four acres will be available as “incubator plots” for other farmers and the last acre would be devoted to a community farm and garden.

To read the entire article, click below:

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/408596_Farmer-wants-land-near-school-for-crops.html