I took this photograph, shown above, at the Bronx Zoo in New York. It is a photo of Sasha the Siberian Tiger. There are approximately 3200 tigers left in the world.

I love nature. It is the one thing that we are losing every day that we can not replace. Just like our lives, the lives of plants in the forests of the world and the lives of wild animals are precious. I'm not going to throw blood on anyone's fur coats but I do believe that we must try to preserve the little that we do have left.

If you are not already familiar with it, please visit the Wildlife Conservation Society web site at www.wcs.org and take a look.

We can all do our part. We benefit so much from nature, the least we can do is help it out, once in a while. Take a look at this video from their YouTube channel.

The Jazzy Salute for Vets was held on November 10, 2011 in Philosophy Hall Room 11 on the BCC Campus. It was hosted by the HSC 11 Case Management class of Fall Semester 2011.

It was a tribute to veterans of foreign wars. There were special guest speakers, presentations and gifts. The student representative, who is in the HSC 11 class and a veteran herself, was Karlisha Lattibeaudere.

The National Anthem of the United States of America was sung by Belinda Barnes; a stirring rendition that made many of those in attendance, hold back a tear.

There was a short speech by Michael Williams who was the keynote speaker for the luncheon held the previous day. Tom Sawyer, army veteran of Vietnam, spoke on the differences between returning Vietnam vets and today’s vets, and how they should always look for the things the country has bestowed upon them in gratitude for fighting for their country.

Dr Ray Carman spoke about the history of Jazz and how it reaches across ethnicities, not just those of the black community but its AfroLatino roots in New York City reaching all the way south, through the greater and lesser Antilles and into South America. He mentioned that such a thing as Jazz could only develop in a place like NYC because of this diversity and connectedness.

Veteran Resources enrollment manager, Clifford Marshall delivered closing remarks. He stated that the program has been running for six years and that there are now approximately 225 self-identified veterans at BCC.

Refreshments were served and there were photo opportunities for students and representatives.

- Written by Jared Seales & Sebastian Rothwyn