35,000? Yep…it’s true. Jumping 7 percent in registration numbers from fall 2007, ACC has passed the 35,000-student mark in its 35th anniversary year. And enrollment numbers are up at every ACC campus this semester, with South Austin growing by 18 percent. The Round Rock Higher Education Center’s enrollment grew nearly 40 percent, indicating the importance of the recent annexation election.

AH, that’s the ticket. Save the dates for upcoming events sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Division.

• Works from the Constitution Day Art Exhibit are on display in the Highland Business Center Lobby until October 8.
• The South Austin Campus will host the Aimee Nezhukumatahil Reading at 7 p.m. October 2 in Room 1130. Nezhukumatahil is the 2008 Balcones Prize winner for her volume of poetry, “At the Drive by Window.”
• The “What is Identity?” panel discussion will be in Room 8500 at the Eastview Campus on October 9 at 9 p.m.
• The Drama Department will perform the Tony Award-winning drama “Proof” October 10-12 and 17-19 at the Rio Grande Campus Theater. Performances will be 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Firefighting, food, music, fun … and ACC. Come and cheer on our ACC Fire Academy cadets at the 51st annual Buda Fire Fest on October 3-4. The ACC cadets will be pitting their firefighting skills against teams from the Oak Hill Fire Academy.

ACC prof snags position with NAGT. Geology Professor Robert Blodgett, Ph.D., is the newly elected councilor-at-large with the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). Blodgett will serve a three-year term on the association’s 14-member executive committee. NAGT is a professional association of college and university geoscience professors, K-12 earth science teachers, and other geoscience educators.

Write it, read it, and win it. As one of six finalists, creative writing Adjunct Professor Joe O’Connell is up for the Violet Crown Book Award in fiction for “Evacuation Plan.” The novel tells the story of a residential hospice and the people who live, work, and die there. The award is given by the Writers League of Texas, the largest regional writing group in Texas, and the second largest in the nation. The winner will be announced November 1 at the Texas Book Festival.

The Buck Stops Here. ACC has earned a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. The certificate was presented for ACC’s comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2007.

Bon appétit at the Bistro. From October 10 through November 20, culinary arts students are serving lunch and dinner at the Eastview Campus Bistro. Lé Bistrette lunchtime series offers quick service and regional American dishes. The dinner series, Bistro 3158, showcases peasant dishes – simple, rustic fare from across the globe. Dinner reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are accepted on a space-available basis. Lunch reservations are not required. Contact Culinary Arts for information.