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A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Volume 120 - Issue 8
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Inside the world of cosplay.........................Page 5
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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College Hour being considered for campus Time dedicated to engaging students outside of the classroom curriculum
Marissa Nall News Editor
Nicolas Heredia / Roundup
Jimmy McGill rounds up cattle into groups as part of a rodeo competition at the Farm Walk at Pierce College on Sunday, April 27.
A walk on the wild side
Annual farm event brings campus and community together Marissa Nall News Editor Jessica Boyer Arts & Entertainment Editor This year’s Farm Walk brought less revenue than previous years but more student groups were in attendance to experience all the agriculture program has to offer. Leland Shapiro, chair of the agriculture and natural resources departments said that he tried to make this years event different from tradition in that he involved more campus organizations, bringing informational booths and groups into the department. “My goal was to make this an open house for the whole school because we’re all Brahmas,”
Shapiro said. “I love being a Brahma.” The event was open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and student workers arrived hours before the opening to prepare the farm. People of all ages attended the event including local families with small children and students from the college. “I worked twelve days straight,” said Shapiro. “I’m too old for that. But I enjoy it. I love those little kids, looking at their smiles.” The event was hosted by the agricultural department and money was raised to fund the various programs within the department such as animal sciences, veterinary sciences and plant sciences. Thirteen different departments from the college attended the event, including the Foundation of Pierce College. “I used to be a Brahma,” Shapiro said. “I was
a Pierce student. I think I saw that excitement among the chemistry, physics life science and nursing. The choir was fabulous, the Brahma bull with the cheerleaders, it was all great.” Community members could walk the entire farm circuit, with hands-on events and informational booths where they could learn more about what different Pierce programs are doing. “I love working with the animals and it’s what I want to do,” said volunteer and student Tamara Clark. “I’m an RVT major which is registered vet technician and it’s essentially like a registered nurse. We’re required to learn about all species. They teach us how to hold the chickens properly and a little bit about their system.” [For the full story visit theroundupnews.com]
KTLA reporter highlights career
Administration is looking into the possibility of implementing a “College Hour” at Pierce College, which would enhance the student life on campus. Having an hour dedicated to hosting student activities and engaging students beyond the classroom greatly improves academic success, according to Earic Peters, vice president of student services. “We have wonderful ideas and wonderful intentions,” Peters said. “The issue that I’ve seen being here for six months, that many other colleges have, is when do we do it? When is there a collective time when we can really strategically look at how we’re going to engage students? This college hour is a time which we set aside for people to help plan, engage, and get involved with our students.” Having a College Hour would mean using block scheduling, setting aside an hour so students could gather for club activities, social events or one-on-one time with professors. Some classes could be taught during this time but would probably be single-unit classes and labs, taught by adjunct professors according to Peters. “The research unanimously says that one of the best ways to increase student success is to get them involved with your activities beyond the classroom,” Peters said. Other campuses have implemented college hours with varying guidelines. “While I agree that there are so many different ways that we can engage students socially, please do not discount the importance of that face-to-face because that is really, really important,” Instructor of Nursing Connie Tiu said. Arguments were heard against the College Hour, saying it would be a waste of Pierce’s time and resources. “I came from a place that had
a college hour and it was a dismal failure,” Instructor of Political Science, Economics and Criminal Justice Anthony Gabrielli said. “I just don’t see how that will succeed.” Others were interested in the idea but decided to withhold judgement until more research was done. “I would really love to see some evidence about the impact that this is going to have on the number of students,” Angela Belden, instructor of psychology said. “In part of that campus climate, we need to have things on campus for students to do, places for them to eat. So this is part of an overall climate that needs to shift.” Peters thinks the hour will be an effective way for students to network with one another and with faculty outside a set curriculum. “There’s not a lot of research in exactly ‘College Hour,’ but there’s a ton of research in engagement,” Peters said.
“We have wonderful ideas and wonderful intentions.” -Earic Peters
Vice President of Student Services Gabrielli is worried that students are less interested in making personal connections and focus more on networking digitally. “Students will start to schedule their classes opposite of college hour. They’ll come Mondays and Wednesdays and they’ll just have work Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he said. “My students would rather see me on Twitter than face to face. They’d rather see me on Facebook than face to face.” The discussion was far from unanimous, with many expressing concerns over the marketing, scheduling, and use of such an hour on campus.
Speaker focuses on importance of networking Jessica Boyer Arts & Entertainment Editor Pierce College students received insightful networking information from KTLA reporter Kimberly Cheng at the final Media Arts Department Speaker Series event for the semester. “I wanted to come here today because I really wanted to give you guys some information that could really help you because that’s what helped me when I was in college,” Cheng said. “When speakers would come in, I would keep notes from their lectures.” More than 100 Pierce College Media Arts students attended the lecture in the Great Hall on Monday, April 28.
“I want to know what I can do to help you,” she said. To begin the event, Assistant Professor of Journalism Stefanie Frith introduced Cheng to the audience and directed them to tweet questions from their phones to Cheng’s personal twitter including the hashtag “#ChengPierce.” “I wish that someone had talked to us [in college] more about the power of networking,” she said. “The best thing that you can learn is how to build a relationship.” Her main focus in the lecture was to inform students of the importance of networking and creating relationships with potential employers. “What can you do to help me grow and what can I do to help you,” Cheng said. “It might be
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as simple as being excited and interested in how the person got to their position.” She described how students should start building relationships as soon as possible to create lifelong connections. “I would put aside a few hundred dollars every year to meet people for lunch, dinner, coffee, if they could just talk to me on the phone for ten minutes,” Cheng said. “I would email people, I would ask my friends, colleagues, fellow students ‘Do you know someone who is in this business who can help me, just talk to me for ten minutes.” Cheng discussed how working on her connections and persistence in communication helped her get every job as a reporter. [See SPEAKER pg. 4]
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Nicolas Heredia / Roundup
KTLA reporter Kimberly Cheng gives a presentation for the Media Arts speaker series in the Great Hall where more than 100 students were in attendance for the discussion on Monday, April, 28.
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