RADIO ADVISORS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE RADIO STATION

OPINIONS HOW I SEE IT... THE COLLEGE’S NEWSPAPER

Emma Tavener

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

When I enrolled myself into Telcom 204 I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I walked into what I would soon learn was the Collegian office and Mary Merritt asked me to be the Editor-In-chief for the Cayuga Collegian. I was a little terrified at first because I’d never written in any sort of Journalism style before. I was also the only one in the room and I wondered if I would have any staff; and if so, who?

But more than anything else my mind was telling me this was a great opportunity. I graciously accepted and started my journey. In the first few weeks, I learned a lot about the new writing style and every article I turned in was sent back with constructive criticism. It was a fantastic learning style for me and each week I could see my writing improve.

As for the people I met along the way, they were fantastic human beings who were dedicated to getting it done. People who had so many extracurriculars on top of classes and their jobs outside of school, who still met with us at least twice a week. We would meet for a few hours sometimes filming Cayuga Bytes and brainstorming stories.

Some staff members could work a camera that I would have trouble even turning on and our photographer was beyond talented at what she did. I’ve been so thankful for the people I’ve met and the education the class provided me with overall, it was one of my greatest experiences at Cayuga Community College.

Almost halfway through the semester, we were obviously faced with the challenge of communicating, writing the paper, and filming Cayuga Bytes all digitally.

This was an incredibly difficult task for me to tackle while trying to get all my school work completed and making time for my essential job during the pandemic. I’m so proud of every student that had to endure the distance learning this semester including my staff that stuck it out and got the newspaper out along the way. It was more important than ever to keep students informed and try to get their voices heard through the newspaper.

I’ve very thankful for my experiences with The Collegian. I may be back to submit a few articles but my time as Editor-in-chief has come to an end. I’m proud to have been a part of this wonderful staff this semester and to have kept The Collegian alive for another year.

I highly recommend getting involved in this newspaper if you have the chance, you’ll have fun and meet some great people. Thanks for reading this semester and thanks to Mary Merritt for the great opportunity.

NEW EPISODE OF CAYUGA BYTES NOW ON YOUTUBE!

The Cayuga Collegian

welcomes letters from its readers. Submissions must be emailed to cayugacollegian@gmail.com.

Submissions must include your name, address and daytime phone number. All letters to the editor do not reflect the viewpoint of the Collegian office, its staff or advisor. All letters are simply the opinions of the writers themselves. All letters may be edited for content or length. Emma Tavener

Jenna Fields Benjamin Winne

Emily Lane Mary G. Merritt

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHER FACULTY ADVISOR

COLLEGIAN REMOTE STAFF JOIN US IN THE FALL 2020!!! FROM OUR READERS:

Well, Mary, this edition, (April 21, 2020) shows me what your students can do. If this edition isn’t the best I’ve seen, it’s close. Congratulations to you and your students. —David Connelly, CCC professor TO THE EDITOR:

In my opinion, the Houston Astros didn’t receive a harsh enough punishment when their cheating scandal occurred in the 2017-2018 MLB season. The Astros were accused and convicted of stealing signs from opposing teams.

The Astros received a fine of 5 million dollars and manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired from the team and banned from the MLB for a year. They also had to forfeit the first and second round draft picks for the next two years. In my opinion the fine should have been higher. It was only a slap on the wrist for a major league baseball team. I feel the owner knew what was going on the entire time they were cheating. Cheating is a disgrace to the game, and they took away the integrity of the game of baseball. Baseball is a battle between the pitcher and the batter. I also feel like the players who were cheated should have TO THE EDITOR:

Most people agree that it is easy to become stressed at work. According to Forbes, employee stress is a problem at every company. Stress has been associated with physical problems like a weakened immune system, stomach aches, high blood pressure, hair loss and headaches. All of which sound unpleasant so I’m going to tell you about some easy ways to handle stress.

A pleasant workplace environment is not always easy to maintain. Employers are now implementing stress reduction programs in order to handle stress better. I am going to share some easy ways to do that which you may find beneficial.

It is important that every employee gets a lunch break. If you work during the day the best time to take a meal break is mid-morning around 10 or 11 o’clock. By this time of the day the caffeine you had TO THE EDITOR:

When you go to the beach or go to the park what do you see? I see trash everywhere! From McDonalds soda cups to food wrappers. Another thing I see is empty trash cans and recycling bins! These cans and bins are located throughout these places and there are many of them. Yet there is trash everywhere making our favorite places polluted. People who are leaving trash everywhere are not only hurting the Earth, but animals too. Litterers do not see their actions as a problem which is the main cause of there being trash everywhere.

This problem has increased rapidly all over the world. An example of a place where this is happening is Henderson Island, a small island in the Pacific. This island has 38 million pieces of plastic trash litter on it. According to National Geographic, scientists believe that this island has more trash on it than anywhere in the world. I think it is heartbreaking that the island is covered in 38 million pieces of plastic trash. I don’t understand why people throw their trash in the ocean because what do they think is going to happen to it? That it’s just going to disappear? Trash has to end up somewhere. Even though the island is hidden, there are sea creatures that live around it and are being harmed by the litter.

Recycling plays an important part in order to solve this problem. If you think about it, almost all daily living products are made out of plastic such as water gallons, food wrappers, and more. I think it is crucial to recycle these household items because this litter damages the Earth. It harms the Earth by water and land becoming polluted with trash. Another reason why it is important to recycle is because fish, sea turtles, birds and other animals are eating plastic and garbage. This harms the animals which can cause death. Every day tons of plastic go into the ocean and on land. We need to stop it. I believe that a lot of people do not recycle because they are not educated on the effects of not recycling. If more people are educated on this topic we can motivate more people to recycle. Ideally we want there to be 100 percent of the world’s plastic recycled, but we need to take one step at a time.

Efforts have been made to clean the ocean, but there have been reports that as soon as they clean it more and more trash is being put into the ocean and land. If we don’t act fast it will be too late. People need to stop throwing trash in the oceans and on land and recycle their trash correctly. Hopefully I have impacted your thoughts and made you rethink how you dispose of your trash. Please recycle! — Mike Westove , CCC student on the way into work has now worn off and you’re beginning to slow down.

I think it is just as important that employees get a short afternoon break with the option of a healthy snack offered by the employer. Some good choices are a trail mix, granola bar, or popcorn. If you’re not a fan of drinking water, a better option would be Crystal Light or decaf tea. This will help fight off the afternoon fatigue and will help you focus on finishing your work for the day.

We all know that exercise is important and provides many benefits to your health. Exercise can help control your weight, help maintain blood sugar and insulin levels and improve mood and mental health. Allowing employees to take a walk whether it be at lunch time or in the afternoon is a great way to break up the day and get some exercise that we all need.

Playing games, such as trivia, in small groups is a great way to have fun and to get coworkers interacting. Having contests and giving the employee or department the opportunity to leave early and still get paid for the entire day is an excellent way to get employees excited and focused on doing a good job. Art is a stress reliever and adult coloring books may be a fun option to consider.

If these techniques were used, I think employers would see a difference in their employees’ attitudes and performance. Employers may also see an increase in their number of long-term employees. Employees would be happier knowing that the company cares about their well-being just as much as the work they do. — Jessica Wicks , CCC student OCEAN CLEAN-UP SPORTS: DID THE CHEATERS WIN? their stats revised. Who is to say that the Astros didn’t cheat in another season, like in 2019 when they went to the World Series?

The ban for the general manger and manager was for only one year. Due to the recent pandemic baseball has been put on a temporary stop, meaning they might get a pass since baseball is not going to happen this year. Also, what are the chances of the owner rehiring him for the Astros?

I believe the punishment should have been a higher fine like 20 million dollars seeing how the Astros during 2018 were worth 1.45 billion dollars. A complete loss of drafts picks for 2 years would have been more of a significant punishment. Strong punishments and fines would hopefully deter others in the future from cheating and keep the integrity of baseball clean. —Shane Stokes , CCC student TO THE EDITOR:

I think it’s safe to say that everyone has had a tough semester in general, but I find this pandemic a blessing. I find this a blessing because for me online classes have always been better, I feel it’s something I can check every day and keep up with and this keeps me in a routine. Although school may be going well the social life is what’s really hurting right now. Right now, it’s almost impossible to see your friends simply because we have to reduce the spread by staying in. This might suck but I definitely OVERCOMING COVID-19 SEMESTER agree with what’s being done so we can slow the spread and get back to doing the things we enjoy doing. I feel by this happening it’s made days feel repetitive and this is tough because trying to stay entertained has now gotten a lot harder. The one thing I can say that I’m grateful for this semester is realizing how much more there is to appreciate in our world. I think that’s what I’ve learned the most this semester inside and outside the classroom. —Ethan Blaisdell , CCC student

It was on the drive home with my roommate from visiting his mother after being offered a lucrative deal to clean up her lawn; landscaping is something both of us have been doing for quite some time; and for quite some time have we wanted to find a different path, a passion, a meaningful job.

I remember reading about Kentucky Fried Chicken and its founder Colonel Sanders. Telling my roommate in the car how at an old age Colonel Sanders had the vision and the passion to serve chicken. It wasn’t smooth sailing, but he went for it because he knew he made fantastic pieces of fried bird. We both looked at each other and said — “Well, what are we good at?”

Pondering for a moment, my roommate finally releases words that led my arm hairs to stand up which brought me a feeling of excitement. He said “We are good at lifting the spirits of others.”

Immediately we were flooded with passion, ideas, and enthusiasm. For us, it has never been about the amount of money we wanted to make, or looking good, and keeping up with the Joneses. It has been about finding a career substantial enough to find joy, help others, and pay the essential bills.

Today with his business background, my charming personality, and our enthusiasm to bring joy to others, we have started to do random acts of kindness, well, premeditated acts of kindness. The kind of acts, along with the creation of our clothing company, SpiritLifters, we have been able to bring flowers to nurses, apples to teachers, gift cards to first responders such as police, and even help pay for meals of the people in the car behind us in the fast food drive-thru line.

We take the majority of proceeds from selling our clothing and take that percentage toward the growth of our company SpiritLifters. PREMEDITATED ACTS OF KINDNESS

Our most recent act of kindness comes in this assignment, while we were fortunate to be engaged in the classroom before the Big Q, I noticed many characteristics about our professor Mary Merritt. Her passion for teaching, being a critical thinking teacher and keeping us students engaged and hearing how she works multiple jobs and still cares for her family, all were examples of how my admiration for this teacher grew. She made coming to class fun, and I’m here to tell her that nothing can mean as much as she has done for her students throughout her career. Thank you. —Anthony Coriale, CCC student