Vol 19 Issue 19

INSIDER 17.03.17 | VOL. 19 | ISSUE 19

STUDENT MAGAZINE

PEER TUTORING 2017

BY SETAREH NOURZAD

Features & Recipe  Spring, where are you?  Profile: Richard McGrath  PeaBalls

Reviews  Top gaming apps for IOS & Android  Ed Sheeran: ÷  Kong: Skull Island

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Insider Student Magazine South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola Editor in chief: Hugh Clack INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587

PHONE +358 44 702 8758 WEBSITE insider.xamk.fi EMAIL insider@xamk.fi WRITERS first.last@edu.xamk.fi

 /INSIDERSTUDENTMAGAZINE

EDITORIAL LITTLE SPOTS OF GREEN It’s happening. Finally, after weeks of darkness and snow storms, we had the first days of plus degrees. The snow, which can be more considered as a greyish, frozen pile of dirt on the side of the roads, has been melting and the first grassy spots emerge, fuelling our hopes for spring. While I noticed a certain increase of bicycle movement in the basement of Kuusihaankatu, my friends in Central Europe start sharing photos of the first spring flowers on social networks.

And on top of that, we will celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day this week.

In Dublin, citizens and tourists will have a festival of four days, including a festival parade, concerts, treasure hunting, eating prawns and illuminating the city with green lights. If you cannot afford a short trip to Dublin, you can enjoy the Saint Patrick’s Day’s events in the bars and pubs of Kouvola. So, raise your Guinness glasses and have fun with this week’s issue. Sláinte!

h c u a r y e W s a t i z i l e F Julia

SPRING, WHERE ARE YOU?!

As I am writing this article, I remember my first article in Insider, about autumn, and how much we were excited about it (or at least I was), and now the time has gone so fast, it is almost Spring! Or some people consider this weather as spring already! Wow! But the best part about spring is the fact that we are one step closer to summer! And if someone is looking for summer job, now is the last chance to apply for it! Be fast!

Previous week was the StartUp Passion Hackathon in Riga, Latvia, and as I spoke with a few participants after the hackathon, they were very excited, and now they are more motivated to take their ideas further and make it happen for real. And mostly, the participants were happy that they got to meet new people from different nationalities and gain different kind of knowledge and experience. The next StartUp Passion part will be on April 5th and this time it will be held in Kouvola, and it is also going to be a 3-day program. More information about this program can be found on their official Facebook page (StartUp Passion) or on their website: www.startuppassion.eu.

Since this whole year, we haven’t had any kind of polls, now we decided to create a few polls, to get to know our readers better, to see what their hobbies are, how they spend their free time etc. Also, one thing that was very interesting for myself, was to know where our readers are from originally.

We have a box outside our office, where you can answer all these questions, and you can also answer them online.

We would be more than happy to get some kind of response and see what kind of readers we have.

We will publish the results on our next issue, and you can all answer anonymously See you next week!

Setareh Nourzad

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QUESTIONS: 1. What Continent are you from originally? a) Africa b) Antarctica c) Asia d) Europe e) North America f) Australia g) South America h) Other (Space?)

2. What are your hobbies? a) Netflix and Chill b) Cooking c) Sports d) Finding GIF’s online e) Tinder f) Scrolling on Social Media g) Other 3. What device do you prefer to play games on? a) PC/Mac b) Console c) Mobile d) Online e) Other 4. Which video streaming service do you prefer? a) Netflix b) Viaplay c) CMore d) HBONordic e) Youtube f) Legally downloading ;) g) Other 5. Which music streaming service do you prefer? a) Spotify b) Deezer c) Apple Music d) Google Play Music e) YouTube f) Other

RICHARD MCGRATH Richard is an outspoken gent who has a moustache. He is who he is and if you don't like him (derogatory whistle sound). He is a geek, nerd, and a tech freak rolled all into one. A "Wars", "Trek", and Marvel fan – DC fans stay away from him! #MadIrishMan Are you a student or a teacher? I am a student but people often confuse me as a staff member due to my age.

How important is networking?

Very important! It can make things easier if you are in a business world. And as a business student all business students should know how to network – it can help their career.

Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

ARE YOU STUPID Grayson?!

How many dreams do you have about Trump? You mean nightmares?! No comment. I'll plead the 5th on that. God help us! How is he that stupid, honestly? All he knows is how to evade taxes.

The best tool for networking?

Meet and greet. Using social tools such as LinkedIn, not Facebook.

Facebook is personal and LinkedIn is business. I don't like using Facebook for business because it is a waste of time. The network pisses me off.

Are you familiar with Popeye?

You introduce yourself in a similar way and even end the sentence with a whistle. Yeah I know Popeye. He is old, like me.

A classic cartoon which everybody should watch.

People often use the words "geek" and "nerd" interchangeably. Does this ring true with you or do you divide the two into separate categories? They are the same thing to me. ME! What would you say if all Marvel movies were suddenly removed from history? All that remained were DC movies. Initial response was not publishable. You would find a very unhappy person who would not be watching them. I would cry!

What is your current favourite tech gadget? Which category?

Phones? Which generation?

Now? Any iPhone running iOS 10.1.3, but my all-time favourite is Nokia 3310 or 3330 or 7210 or 9510 but then the I was better with the colour screen...falls back in his chair with drool on cheek.

I like smartbands and smartwatches at the moment because they are good fun. No favourite computer but I really like using Mac. Tablets, first gen Android be-

cause it was more hackable and then the iOS devices because the "just work". I've given up on Windows, but wearables are good fun.

I'm really looking into the smarthome stuff. Controlling everything with a mobile device really interests me.

Kirk or Picard?

Picard! Cpt. John Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise! NCC1701D GET IT RIGHT! But then you've got Riker. Rikers is number 1, make it so!

Leonard Nemoy IS SPOCK! New Scotty is better.

How has the sell-out of Lucasfilms Inc. affected your enjoyment of the Star Wars universe?

They've commercialised it too much. The original 3 were brilliant!

Abrams did a good job but they should have spun them off into something else instead of trying to stick to the main one.

Do you think it will work without Carrie Fischer? She did have a big role but she also didn't have a big role. Now they have to rewrite so much because she is gone.

Who will replace her?

Should they use CG? No! No...If they do it then they will lose many fans. I will be finished with it if they do that!

Richard left the room shrouded in language which is NSFW.

Grayson Leif Heflin

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PEER TUTORING 2017 Setareh Nourzad

When arriving into a new university, especially when it is in a new city or a new country, knowing who are your tutors will help you a lot. When I started my studies in 2015, our tutors were Khue Do and Meri Ketonen, and they were great help, without them we would be totally lost.

This year, I got the honour to take part in a tutor training, as an observer, to see how it is done, and what they teach and who will be the new tutors for the next semester.

I also got the chance to ask a few questions to the tutors.

The training started with explaining the main point of this training, which was to offer enough knowledge and skills to the tutors.

The whole tutoring programme is worth 5 credits, which means that if you become a tutor, participate in all the activities and do the work as a tutor, you will have 5 credits for your optional studies. Taking part in these trainings are compulsory, and training lessons are worth 1 credit. Also, the tutors must plan lessons, as a part of the training.

Peer tutoring consist of two main parts, which are participating in the trainings, which include active days, lectures and online working. And another important part is working as a tutor, where the main tasks are to take part in organizing and planning of the orientation week and guidance before and at the beginning of the studies. Each tutor must do an ePortfolio about tutoring, and everyone should keep a diary, where they collect all the hours they have worked.

I asked one of this year’s tutors how was her experience as a tutor and what were her tasks. Her main responsibility was to answer all the questions the new students asked and to give advice to them through emails. She also mentioned the trainings, and that she

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learned a lot while organizing all different kind of activities. In her opinion the meetings and trainings where she participated helped her to develop her leadership skills, and she became more sociable.

“During the year, I participated in all tutoring activities, including tutor meetings, and did the usual daily tutoring job. I really enjoyed doing so, because through this experience I met a lot of interesting people, and I also made some really good friends, so I recommend this to everyone, and these are the reasons why I decided to continue as a tutor for next year also.”

Another topic mentioned in the training was the tasks that tutors have, and the fact that they work as a “business card” for our university. Tutors should create free time activities for the new students, help with studies, and tutors should help new students to get to know each other and the university, and also the city.

One very interesting list that I had to copy during the training was the things tutor’s shouldn’t do, and here it is: Tutor don’t do!

1. Tease or favour 2. Don’t gossip – professional secrecy 3. Know everything 4. Don’t share own opinion to everyone 5. Don’t mock the university – let the new students create their own opinions 6. Don’t encourage to drink 7. You don’t have to help new students with moving 8. “Don’t eat from the load” My favourite rule was number 6; don’t encourage to drink. It was very funny!

I also interviewed a new tutor; her name is Thao Hoang, but her nickname is Gabby, she is originally from Vietnam, and currently she is studying International Business. She started her studies in August 2016. Here are some questions I asked her.

What made you become one tutor? When I first came here, everything was new to me. Luckily, my tutors helped me a lot to fit in and to get used to everything in here so I want to help new students as much as I can because I have experienced the feelings of being a newcomer.

What do you think about the tutor training programme? Do you think it gives enough preparation?

Is there other tutor training, or was it only once? The training programme is very helpful to me. It gives us a lot of useful information like explaining the roles and the tasks of a tutor, what we should and shouldn’t do and what we can benefit from being a tutor. Until now, there has been 2 training sessions and I really enjoyed both. I had a chance to know other tutors and we had a lot of fun during each session.

What are the requirements to be accepted as a tutor?

If there is none, do you think there should be? Can anyone apply to become a tutor? I think anyone can apply to become a tutor if they can take the responsibility and willingness to help the new students. I think a tutor should be friendly, punctual and they should know the university well so they can answer the new students’ questions.

How would you describe a perfect tutor? And tutor training programme? In my opinion, a perfect tutor is the one who is helpful and willing to help not only the new students but also willing to help other tutors as well. They should be able to take full responsibility for their actions.

Why should one become a tutor? For credits or experience? The reason why I become a tutor is that I want to gain more experience for myself. It’s a good chance for you to make friends with new students from different countries. Also, being a tutor can help you improve your team building skills since you must work with other tutors to organize different activities for newcomers and you must stick together as a team in order to get the best results.

Would you recommend this to other students? I would recommend other students to sign up for becoming a tutor.

As a tutor, it is very important to understand what is the position of peer tutoring related to student guidance in Xamk, develop social and performing skills, to understand the importance of group forming, to recognise the need of peer support, and finally, to gain more experience for life.

For more information about tutoring and how to become a tutor, you can contact Anu Tervaniemi (anu.tervaniemi@xamk.fi), who was also in charge of this training session that I participated in.

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PEABALLS

PUT THEM IN YOUR MOUTH AND EAT THEM For the base:

Spring is just around the corner, or some even say that it is spring already. As on ode to the spring let's this week have something perky!

There is not too much green and fresh in the nature just yet (except the fresh scent of all the dog poop that is now starting to reveal under the melting snow) so we should have some (not the poop) in our plates.

These peaballs that we are preparing are very cheep and you can alternate the recipe easily: though in this version we have halloum and mint, you can leave them out and just use parsley or then replace halloumi wiht feta, what ever to your taste. Ok, let's go ahead and get started!

What you do: 1. Peel and crush the glove of garlic. Crush the fresh mint as well, but be careful not to smash it, the less you need to destroy it the better.

The taste goes bitter if crushed too much (the same applies by the way when making mojitos: first crush the lime well and just slightly press the mint in there. Now however, we are not making mojitos but peaballs, isn't that depressing).

2. Combine the crushed peas, oat flour, garlic,mint, black pepper, cumin and crushed halloumi cheese.

3. Add water and once mixed, add egg or two.

4. Carefully, with your tiny, precious hands, mold some tiny little balls (about 20 balls) straight into the frying pan. There can be quite a lot of oil in there and as you might guess, not all balls fit in there at the same time.

5. Fry for 10-12 minutes, remember to turn balls every once in a while.

6. These delicious peaballs are best with dip sauce so make that one as well and enjoy dipping balls!Next day make the chocolate ganache.

Chop the chocolate and parboil it with butter. Then add the cream in it, mix until smooth. Let it cool down for a while and then poor it on top of the cake.

Suvi Karell

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• ½ dl crushed (dried) peas

(in store ask for hernerouhe) 1 ¼ dl water 1 glove of garlic ¼ teaspoons salt ¾ teaspoon cumin 1 dl fresh mint 200g halloumi cheese ¾ dl gluten-free oat flour 1-2 eggs ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice • black pepper • oil

• • • • • • • • •

TOP GAMING APPS FOR IOS AND ANDROID

1. Pokemon duel from The Pokemon Company a. “Pokémon Duel is a strategy board game that uses Pokémon figures. Build a deck with your favorite figures and then leap into a League Match!” b. 85 000+ reviews with average of 3,9/5 score.

2. Geometry Dash World from RobTop Games a. “Flex your clicky finger as you jump, fly and flip your way through dark caves and spiky obstacles. Discover the lands, play online levels and find the secrets hidden within the World of Geometry Dash!” b. 300 000+ reviews with average of 4,6/5 score.

3. Raft Survival Simulator from Raft Survival Simulator a. “Survive the harsh life of being stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean! You’re are no longer stranded on a lonely island, yet worse you’re lost in the middle of the ocean! No civilization! Only cold salt water and wild, hungry sea creatures!” b. 25 000+ reviews with average of 4,5/5 score.

4. Bubble Witch 3 Saga from King a. “Bubble Witch 3 Saga - The brand-new game in the popular Bubble Witch series.

Stella the Witch is back and she needs your help to defeat the evil Wilbur in this exciting adventure! He may look cute, but he's full of magical mischief! Travel the realm bursting as many bubbles as you can in this bubble shooting puzzle game.” b. 350 000+ reviews with average of 4,7/5 score.

5. Tribal Mania from Lamba inc. a. “Tribal Mania is a real-time strategy game that allows you to challenge thousands and thousands of players in quick battles that require all of your wits and planning.” b. 25 000+ reviews with average of 3,6 score Roope Saukkonen

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ED SHEERAN ÷

Ed Sheeran, Benny Blanco Pop/Folk // March 1, 2017

E

d Sheeran is an English guitar-playing singer-songwriter whose early career consists of trite and whiny acoustic ballads. He paints himself a guitar-plucking troubadour, but appears as the geekier, more pathetic little brother of that douche who would always bring his acoustic guitar to the house party to inevitably break into uninspired rendition of “Wonderwall” nobody asked for. I think that at this point it’s rather evident I’m not a fan. Despite this, I’ve always had a certain appreciation for the fact that he has achieved success by making his own kind of music - especially something so far removed from the typical Top 40 fodder. As of writing this, his single “Shape of You” has spent six weeks as Billboard number one, and all of the 16 tracks off his new album Divide are currently occupying spots in the UK Top 20.

Sheeran’s third studio album ÷, or Divide, was preceded by two very different singles: the aforementioned “Shape of You” was a Sia-esque, danceable club track; and the guitar-driven “Castle on the Hill” veers somewhere into territory of U2, Kings of Leon and Mumford & Sons, and namedrops Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” in its lyrics.

Divide, while not as sexy an innuendo as the previous album’s Multiply, is fittingly named: the album seems to be divided in calculated portions, each of which is aimed at specific target demographic. While it should not be a surprise to anyone that a charting artist of Sheeran’s caliber would be an assembly line product of the corporate music industry treadmill, Divide seems particularly dubious in this regard. There are the usual, saccharine slow ballads Sheeran is known for, like “Perfect”, “Save Myself”, “Dive”, “How Would You Feel”, and roughly ten thousand other similar tracks; the semi-spiritual “Supermarket Flowers” aiming probably to climb charts on the bible belt Chris-

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tian stations; the aforementioned laser-guided classic rock station missile “Castle on the Hill”; every track on the album seems to be artificially constructed to fill a certain quota. Best example of this is the track “Galway Girl”, one of the album’s many half-acoustic rap-pop songs, this time spiced with an honest-to-god Irish fiddle. The song is admirable in its sheer audacity, but at the same time it comes off as a calculated, tailor-made attempt to pander to the potential Irish and (Irish-American) audiences, something Sheeran has openly admitted in an interview.

Combined with Sheeran’s way of constructing his lyrics from the most tired and overused cliches imaginable, one would think Divide is completely without redeeming qualities. However, there’s one slight saving grace: Sheeran’s genuine performance. No matter how trite or cliched the things he says are, he seems to fully believe in them himself. This disarming approach makes tracks like “What Do I Know” and “Shape of You” kind of cute and inoffensive, even if the former contains lines like “life is more than fitting in your jeans”, and the lyrics of the latter makes me want to take a cleansing shower after listening.

Appropriate for its name, Divide is a rather dualistic product: on one hand it is unquestionably calculated and cynical in its manufacturing; on the other hand Ed Sheeran really sells is with his performance, which in a way makes it all the more embarrassing. Then again, it obviously doesn’t matter how good or bad the album is. It has already become the third fastest-selling album in the history of UK; it has already fulfilled its purpose.

 Roope Sorvo

KONG

SKULL ISLAND

STUDIO 123 Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 05 3792082 www.studio123.fi

STUDIO 1 MATKA MERELLE (S) | 11€ | 1h18min Sat 15:30h Mon-Wed 17:15h

TOM HIDDLESTON SAMUEL L. JACKSON BRIE LARSON

SAATTOKEIKKA (S) | 11€ | 1h18min Fri-Sun, Thu 17:15h

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts // Writers Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly // Based on a story by John Gatins // Action, Adenture, Fantasy

LOGAN (16) | 12€ | 2h18min Every Evening 19:00h

A team of scientists explore an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong, and must fight to escape a primal Eden.

While most people go to the movies to be wow-ed by amazing cinematography, oustanding acting performances and stories that make you insides go all fuzzy etm, I'm the kind of person that enjoys the campy stuff and solid CG (something that surprisingly is not a standard in this day and age). Is it trying hard to be funny and entertaining? Yes, it does.

Does it work? For me, it sure did.

In this take of the Kong story John Goodman and Corey Hawkins hire Loki and Captain Marvel to come with them on an expedition to an uncharted island in the Pacific based on their favourite conspiracy theory: Hollow earth. On the island they find a marooned WW2 veteran played by John C. Reilly.

As the film takes place in 70s, right at the end of U.S.'s invasion of Vietnam, the soundtrack includes classics from that era like Jefferson Airplane and CCR. (I should clarify that this is not a con but big plus in my book.) A part from that the rest of it is really nothing special mixed with a bunch of well-timed but totally redundant jump-scares.

It's the kind of movie that is not out to win big during the next award season - not because the acting was bad or the production overall didn't hold up but rather because "Godzilla-Cabin in the Woods"-hybrids with a Marvel cast are usually scorned by high-brow audiences. That said there seems to be a high possibility that this movie was only the first in a series of conspiracy theory riddled CG adventures - at least when you consider the totally unexpected after-credit scene...

 Sarah Rosenthal

STUDIO 2 LA LA LAND (S) | 11€ | 2h08min Sat 14:30h Tue 19:15h TOM OF FINLAND (12) | 12€ | 1h55min Fri, Sun-Mon 17:00h VAIANA (7) | 11€ | 1h54min Sat, Tue-Thu 17:00h (dub) Sun 19:15h (S3, orig.)

KONG: PÄÄKALLIOSAARI (12) | 12€ | 1h59min Fri-Mon, Wed-Thu 19:15h

STUDIO 3 ONNELI, ANNELI JA SALAPERÄINEN MUUKALAINEN (S) | 10€ | 1h15min Sat 15:45h Sun, Tue-Wed 17:45h MOONLIGHT (12) | 11€ | 1h51min Fri-Sat, Mon, Thu 17:30h MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (12) | 12€ | 2h17min Fri, Mon, Wed 19:30h HIDDEN FIGURES (7) | 11€ | 2h07min Sat, Tue, Thu 19:30h

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