front page newspaper 02.28.2012

Tue. 02.28.12 Volume 23, Issue 3 frontpage@frontrange.edu Join us on Facebook >> facebook.com/frontpage Serving Front Range Community College Since 1989

MIDTERM EXAMS WITHOUT THE

MADNESS

Front Range Community College students prepare for upcoming midterm exams.

Look inside for helpful tips for studying.

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NEWS.

Club Fair.

Front Range Community College club and organization representatives promote active student involvement.

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LIFE

Musician Spotlight.

All ears on local performing artists.

>>5

ENTERTAINMENT

Spring Break Destinations.

Spring Break vacation ideas not to be forgotten.

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NEWS

The Front Page

February 28, 2012

Solutions for not so dreadful exam preparations Midterms.

LEFT: Chelsea Beamer studying in the quietest place of the school, surrounded by helpful information.

BOTTOM: Aween Aziz studies in preparation for the more difficult tests approaching.

Photos by Lizz Mullis

Time for round one of exams, are YOU ready?

Vina Sitthisay Staff Writer

S

ome instructors give a midterm and a final exam, while other split the semester up into three or four exams.

The semester has been in session for approximately a month. For many students, this means that the first round of exams has arrived. Undoubtedly, this is causing stress among FRCC students.

Fortunately for students, this coincides with the time of year when not a lot else is going on.

However, because of the dull vibe in the air, the mood inside campus walls is not exactly lively. If students liven up study habits, perhaps the pace will pick up and exams can pass over smoothly.

One way to liven up studying is to form study groups. Being among peers can help to pull one’s mind in new directions. This could be helpful when it is difficult to get a solution or a problem needs new rational. Group studying also provides company while learning, making the time spent with books less tedious and lonesome. If students are content with their company, they are less

likely to stray from their studies in search of companionship.

If studying with others is too distracting, there are ways to make studying alone more interesting.

Sometimes a simple change of scenery is enough to boost study morale. If florescent-lit enclosed spaces are making study sessions turn into naps, try studying in a park or at a diner. These types of places provide external stimulus

Voting.

Nominations.

FRCC recognizes the outsanding

2012 Elections Rachel Bailey Staff Writer

A

s the countdown to the Presidential election is well underway, many people often get overwhelmed by the amount of information available, such as who the candidates are and their values, as well as when to register to vote. The amount of outside influence is often confusing, misleading, or downright annoying, leading people

Photo courtesy of www.colostate.edu

for the senses. When homework gets boring, just look around and momentarily enjoy the surroundings before continuing.

With round one of exams fast approaching, there is no time to tarry. Studying is imperative, but it does not have to be boring.

Taking the time to study in a new place with a fresh mind may be the perfect cure for the first set of exam ailments.

to uncertain decisions. As people start to focus in on the “who, when, where, and why,” they often need only the straightforward facts, without biased opinions.

As states across the United States continue to tally the votes from the recent Republican caucuses, front-runner candidates begin to emerge. The Associated Press informs that Colorado reported Rick Santorum as the winning candidate with 26,614 votes and 40.3%. Following close behind with a 34.9% and 23,012 votes is Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still in the running, but fell below 13%.

On Tuesday, June 26, Colorado will hold its Republican Primary Election between 7am and 7pm.

Voter registration must be completed by May 29 to be eligible to vote in this election.

Rock the Vote, an organization whose goal is to encourage young

Nominations for FRCC awards begin soon.

Photo courtesy of www.psychcentral.com

adults to vote, focuses their time and effort on informing students about how to vote and cast a ballot.

“The Millennial Generation is diverse and huge in number, making up nearly 1/4 of the entire electorate in 2012,” stated by the Rock the Vote website. They offer many helpful tools such as commonly asked questions, important election dates, and what to bring with you as well as when and where to vote.

For students and everyone alike, it is important to stay well informed, involved, and proactive when it comes to the right to vote.

Vina Sitthisay Staff Writer FRCC fosters many students into the next chapter of their lives, but besides the reward of completing school it is nice to get a pat on the back every now and again. Positive reinforcement is a great encouragement and FRCC takes it to the next level. Near the end of the semester, there will be two award ceremonies recognizing students, faculty, and departments for their outstanding achievements throughout the semester.

With over 4,000 students attending the Westminster campus alone, who exactly chooses the nominees? Nominations for the award ceremony can be sent

in by faculty or students. Nominees should be of outstanding moral character, vastly improved from the beginning of the year, or show academic excellence.

Nominations will be accepted in mid-March via ballot boxes placed around the campus. Some of the locations will be the Student Services Center, outside the Student Life office, as well as the Campus Vice President’s office.

There will be two separate award ceremonies, Rising Star awards and On Campus awards.

The Rising Star awards will take place at Arapahoe County College. A select number of students will be chosen by a committee from each campus. The Westminster campus awards ceremony will take place on April 25 in the Rocky Mountain room.

News

The Front Page

February 28, 2012

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Club Fair promotes student activities FRCC Clubs.

FRCC club and organization representatives recruit and inform students about their meetings and objectives.

Philip Pohlman Staff Writer

O

n Feb. 15 and 16 in the main halls of level C, the Club Fair set up by Student Life helped raise awareness of the clubs available for students at the FRCC campus.

“We promote these clubs so that students can interact and enjoy something that they may not know too much about,” says Jason Wright, the Student Activities

Coordinator. The clubs promoted their groups, informing others about their activities.

“The students are not as excited to join as they were in the fall semester,” Ted Rich, the President of the Cross Impact Campus Ministries explains. Although they did not have the best recruitment numbers, they still believe that they were successful in letting others know about when Bible Study meets which is Wed. 11:30 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. in the Club Room (S0117).

“It has been pretty lonely,” says Ramon De Los Monteros, a Psychology major, having difficulty advocating the Active Minds Club. The main goal for their meetings, which are from 1-2 p.m. on Wednesdays in S0117, is to break down stereotypes for mental health.

“Recruitment is going about as smoothly as last semester,” exclaimed Veronica Bryant, the advisor of FRCC Bible Club. They

FRCC bible club representative provides information for students about their club. Photo by Curtis Halley

convene from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Tues. in S0117. Although they do not have the largest group, Bryant proudly declares that they have a diverse group in age and ethnicity.

Cathy McNeely and Kevin Mack, both Astronomy majors,

promoted the “First Successful Astronomy Club,” as they called it. McNeely and Mack were very excited about their successful recruitment of 15 students. Unlike other clubs, they do not have a set meeting time; instead, they plan on setting up dates through the

group email for stargazing.

“We provide leadership opportunities and scholarships,” boasted Sue Hansen, Biology major and Vice President of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Publicizing and recruiting was a success, but they are still looking for more students. Some of the qualifications to be a member are that the student must have a 3.5 GPA and must be seeking a degree. They will be meeting at 4-5 p.m. on Thurs. and 12:15-1 p.m. on Mondays in S0117. The President of the PTK Honor Society, Ola Stockhold, can be reached at frontrangeptk@gmail.com.

The other clubs and organizations represented at the Club Fair were Student Nurses Association, Student Ambassadors, Front Page Newspaper, and Student Government Association.

To learn more about the mentioned clubs and organizations visit www.frontrange.edu/wcstudentlife.

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The Front Page

Frebrary 28, 2012

LIFE

The Front Page

FRCC’s MGD Program moves ahead with technology Vina Sitthisay Staff Writer

T

here are many late-night commercials that advertise technical schools, but for FRCC students there is another option; there is a Multimedia Graphic Design (MGD) Program. The program offers an Associate of Applied Science degree (AAS), which can be earned in two years, or students can get technical certificates in graphic arts specialties. The Graphic Arts Department is located on B-Level at the Westminster campus.

The students of the MGD Program produce many works of art and some are displayed in cases on campus. Each semester instructors compile a handful of the best pieces of work from each class and exhibit them at the Visual Performing Arts Gallery (VPAG). This semester their art exhibit will run from March 12 to April 5.

The MGD creates many forms of art taught by the various courses offered on campus and online.

Those courses include digital printing, animation, video and web design. Prints are digitally created or altered images; digital animation is seen a lot in media; and, web design concerns creating esthetically pleasing web pages. Certificates can be earned in any of these fields.

Different types of media require different exhibition. There will be a video exposition held on May 7. The expo not only features students’ work, but also gives prospective employers a look at what talent is out there.

With technology advancing at a fast pace, people must adapt. FRCC prepares its students for this field of art and technology and grooms them for the working world.

Multimedia Graphic Design student working in the MGD computer lab on level B. Photo by Lizz Mullis

February 28, 2012

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Musician Spotlight Music.

Two musicians at FRCC share their passion for music.

Rachel Bailey Staff Writer

Matthew McKenzie serenades the audience with his voice and strum of his guitar.

Photos by Curtis Halley

Matthew McKenzie (singer - left) and Nate Garcia (singer - right) perform the song “Boston” by Augustana at FRCC’s Open Mic.

Events such as “Open Mic” and “Tunes @ Noon” open up the stage to FRCC students and can give them the opportunity to shine. For Matthew McKenzie and Nate Garcia, Student Life’s Open Mic has allowed them to fuse their musical talent to a larger audience.

McKenzie, who has played drums since he was two-years-old, found his love for music early on. His musical talent also includes guitar, vocals, and some piano.

“Music would be a dream for me.

Ever since I started, I knew this is what I wanted to do. Obviously, I want to have a fall-back plan, so my major is business,” states McKenzie.

He describes his style of music is “all over the board,” but focuses on alternative-indie, emphasizing that “you want to surround yourself with all types of music.” Since music plays an important part of McKenzie, the question of inspiration was inevitable.

“Jesus Christ is the only reason I do music and I do it for His glory,” as well as “all the people who have taught me drums.” His father, who works 70 hours a week as a pastor,

reminds McKenzie “if he can do it, I can too.”

Garcia, who is no stranger to music, began playing piano when he was five-years-old and guitar when he was 12. He writes much of the music he sings and has video recordings of his songs. His music style is jazzy on piano, but explains that is “hard for [him] to classify.”

“He’s his own classification,” McKenzie states. Garcia’s career plan is to obtain an Associate’s Degree at FRCC while recording music and playing as many shows as possible.

Garcia shares that his parents are his biggest inspiration, as they encouraged him to stay with piano lessons, even when he felt like quitting.

“My dad has always been a hard worker,” Garcia reveals. He was taught, “You can’t gain anything worthwhile if you don’t work for it.”

McKenzie and Garcia are working on playing another show this semester, although specific dates are to be announced. Until then, check out Garcia’s YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/NateGarcia92.

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The Front Page

ENTERTAINMENT

February 28, 2012

Gadgets and “apps” made for students Gadgets.

Simple tools built to save a student time and money for school.

Graphing calculator app:

Smart phones, tablets or iPod products have huge money saving opportunities that can be loaded on them.

In almost any application (app) store, at least one five dollar or less graphing calculator app exists, easily substituting the typical $150 graphing calculator found in stores. These apps can do any calculation a normal graphing calculator can do at a fraction of the price and size. A drawback is that some teachers may be against allowing students to use a smart phone, tablet or iPod during class, especially exams. Check with instructors on use of calculator apps prior to purchase.

Evernote® app:

Philip Pohlman Staff Writer

If organizing notes is difficult, Evernote can help. This free app enables pictures and audio recordings to be attached to notes so that, even after class, the solution to that tricky problem has been recorded and saved. Since these notes are digital, Evernote allows quick and easy sharing between devices and even with friends. This app can even be upgraded for five dollars a month to access additional tools.

E

very student knows that time and money are very important, but with busy schedules and the cost of education, a student can find themselves lacking in one—if not both—of these necessities. Luckily, 21st century technology is here to help, providing gadgets and applications to aid students in both of these areas.

Ranging from calculator apps to alarm clocks, these gadgets could save any student from going broke and failing a class.

Livescribe 4 GB Echo™ smartpen: Anyone can take notes on paper, but with the Livescribe Smartpen note taking has moved into the 21st century. This $100 pen can remember what was written, allowing notes to be uploaded onto a computer.

The pen also records the lecture and automatically matches the recording up with the notes. By simply tapping on a word or picture, the pen will replay the voice recording assigned to the note. This pen will serve as a very handy key for any student reviewing notes for an exam.

Flying alarm clock:

Mornings are undoubtedly a college student’s least favorite time of day, while the snooze button is the most favored of alarm options. There are several ways to break the habit of snoozing, like a runaway alarm clock, but thinkgeek.com offers the most effective approach. This alarm clock will launch a helicopter, which must be returned to its dock in order to stop the alarm. This clock would be a perfect aid for anyone who needs help getting on their feet and to that class they dread.

Photos (from top to bottom) courtesy of www.itunes.com, Philip Pohlman, www.amazon.com, and www.livescribe.com

Spring Break.

Spring Break destinations

A guide to creating lasting Spring Break memories.

Lizz Mullis Staff Photojournalist

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pending a week doing little to nothing in the house over Spring Break seems like a plush alternative to the past few weeks spent balancing school, work, paying bills, more school, and life. After the third day of staring at an unchanging Facebook timeline is when the boredom hits. Then comes longing for warm weather, being able to leave the house without a jacket or the ability to go wild somewhere exotic. College students in Colorado should start planning for their dream Spring Break now.

Staying Local: Ski Colorado:

California is always nice:

The time has come for a family reunion or a getaway with close friends, and students cannot go wrong with a trip to any of Colorado’s ski resorts and mountains. A popular place to be this year is Steamboat Springs as there are activities for those with little ones and it is surrounded by captivating mountain peaks. There is the option to stay in town at a hotel or drive back and forth each trip to get up to the slopes.

It may sound appealing to spend this Spring Break lying in bed all day. Why not move that bed next to the beach and get a little sun amidst the laziness? From Disneyland to the La Jolla reefs and every hipster coffee shop in between, Southern California really can satisfy any need during Spring Break. Make it cheap by renting a simple hotel and hitting the beach all day. It is a sure escape from Colorado’s cold and windy weather.

Photo courtesy of www.breckshredfest.com

Venture out a little: The act of saying the words, “Las Vegas” is enough to produce a smile of excitement for the unknown. This Spring Break, Las Vegas is MTV’s headquarters for one nonstop party. While there is the lure of gambling and great nightclubs this year, Vegas will be filled with celebrities all a part of MTV’s Spring Break Week.

Check out MTV’s StudentCity for package deals that cannot be beat. Vegas is close enough to drive to and there are a wide variety of hotels in town.

Photo courtesy of www.studentcity.com

Photo courtesy of www.flickriver.com

Mexico at last: Puerto Vallarta and Cancun: Top on the list for college students internationally has always been Mexico. A trip down south to a land where the language is different does not distract from the beautiful beaches and cities. The nightlife goes on later than late and there is no better cure for the next day than relaxing on any of Cancun’s beautiful, sugarysand beaches. Because it is Spring Break month, the influx of students will be massive, but acquiring hotel packages is a great way to save money. Do not forget the passport, but do forget the winter coat and prepare for a wildly scenic week.

Photo courtesy of www.cancuntransportationfamar.com

The Front Page

OPINION

February 28, 2012

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OPINION:

Get fit without the expensive fees & wasted travel time Vina Sitthisay Staff Writer According to USA.gov, getting fit is a top-ten New Year’s resolution. However, by this time of year many people have fallen off the fitness wagon. Common excuses for not working out are that gyms are too expensive, or that people do not have time. Luckily, FRCC students have a healthy

alternative to a stagnant lifestyle.

At the bottom of the main stairs on the level B of the Westminster campus is the Fitness Center for students.

For students that are pressed for time, the Fitness Center is a convenient option. Students can work out between classes or before going home, cutting out the transit time to and from a gym.

Locker rooms with showers are located adjacent to the Fitness

Center, making for a quick and convenient use of the facility.

Most gyms have monthly fees that can add up to hundreds of dollars over a year. The only cost to access the Fitness Center is the fee for a Wolf Card priced at a one-time fee of five dollars and obtained at the Office of Student Life located on the C-Level of campus. The process is fast and takes five-to-ten minutes to complete. Once in possession of a Wolf Card, students are required to attend an orientation before having access to FRCC’s Fitness Center.

The center offers many amenities, such as cardio equipment and a weight room—both essential for anyone trying to get fit. The other side of the gym is set up for athletic activity, such as basketball or volleyball, or a small-scale climbing wall.

A quick work out can leave students feeling as accomplished physically as they do mentally.

The FRCC fitness center is a great way to fit in fitness on the go!

The Fitness Center at the Westminster campus offers modern exercising equipment for students to use. Photos by Lizz Mullis

The opinions reflected in The Front Page’s Opinion columns do not necessarily express the views of the newspaper staff or Front Range Community College’s administration.

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Editor-in-Chief Kathleen Timbol Associate Editor Curtis Halley Copy Editor Helen Satchwell Newspaper Advisors Amy Rosdil Jason Wright

Staff

Philip Pohlman, Writer Vina Sitthisay, Writer Rachel Bailey, Writer/Assistant Copy Editor

Lizz Mullis,

Photojournalist

The entire content of The Front Page is copyrighted by the FRCC Board of Publications. No part of the publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The staff of The Front Page is encouraged to subscribe to the principles of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.

Inquiries may be referred to the Office of Human Resources, 3645 W. 112th Avenue, Westminster CO 80031-2199, (303-466-8811); The Director of Affirmative Action for the Colorado College System, 9101 E. Lowry Blvd., Denver CO 802306011; or to the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Dept. of Education, 1961 Stout St., Denver CO 80204