What are your odds of winning March Madness? page 5
Rochester Community and Technical College
Volume 91 - Issue 5 - April 2021
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Learning Center open online and in person By Faith Boyum Managing Editor RCTC’s Learning Center remains open for tutoring. In response to the pandemic, the Learning Center has added online tutoring options. The staff also have added precautions such as masking, plexiglass shields for the tutors and frequent sanitization of hightouch surfaces to the in-person tutoring experience. It has been an adjustment for both tutors and students. “It’s been a different way of communicating,” said math tutor Cathy Ellstrom. For example, the online tutoring is a new service, but she said that it is nice for students to have the option to come in person or get help through the online services. It is also different trying to hear through masks and plexiglass shields. She has been surprised that more students choose to come in person for help with their math than using the online option. However, not all students take advantage of the services offered. “I wish we had more students taking advantage of this resource” said writing tutor Jean Johnson. In the writing area of the Learning Center, students can receive help at any stage of the writing process. It doesn’t matter if they want help brainstorming ideas or want
someone to review and provide feedback on their paper based on teacher criteria. Johnson said that the pandemic has affected how many students visit, and she wants students to know it is OK to ask for help. Some students such as ZamZam Mudei like to visit the Learning Center as often as possible, even though COVID-19 has affected student turnout for tutoring. Mudei says she likes to study there for her science class because the Learning Center has models of the different Photo by Faith Boyum structures in the human RCTC student Maria Kramer visits the Learning Center regularly to study for class and get body like bones and help from tutors. organs. These hands-on materiCenter as often as she can to study for her some students may be deterred from coming als make it easier to learn chemistry class. She finds the environment because they feel that only struggling or anatomy than just using pictures would. and tutors helpful. weak students come. “If I have a lab exam, I come in two “I just like that we can work and ask However, she said that this may not be weeks before,” Mudei said. questions,” said Kramer, “and the way they the case at all. She said that good or strong This allows her to get in the study time explain things so they make sense.” students are often regular users of the Learnshe needs before all the other students deSome students do take advantage of the ing Center. cide to come in and study for the lab exam, tutoring services, but Nikka Vrieze, who is “I think students need to see us more as too. the coordinator of the writing area, said that allies,” said Johnson. Maria Kramer also comes to the Learning
RCTC cafeteria adapts to new normal, remains open By Ilwad Salex General Reporter With COVID taking a toll on almost every aspect of people’s lives, it’s not surprising that RCTC’s cafeteria has also had to make some changes to accommodate for the new normal. Before the pandemic, it was quite common for the cafeteria to be packed with hungry students, excited to meet with their friends for lunch. Nowadays, however, the cafeteria, much like other places, remains a bit emptier due to the social distancing that takes place across campus. One change they have made is that upon the entrance to the cafeteria, the oneperson-only signs on each table are very prominent. Before, it didn’t really matter how many people sat at one table (to a certain degree of course). Employees have noted some of the differences as well. “With COVID, our hours have been
Photo by Ilwad Salex
RCTC's campus cafeteria has made some changes to ensure safety of staff and students while remaining open. reduced. We don’t take cash, and no one is allowed inside our café (except for employees) but only outside of it on the tables. "It’s good that they are still providing
hot food,” said Diane Whiting, who works as a cashier at the cafeteria. All the precautions RCTC has taken show that they care to help ensure the
safety of the staff and students. Many other institutions in similar positions have decided to not provide their students with hot food in their buildings. Some instead have the food be picked up and eaten somewhere outside of the institution, disregarding how this might affect the students. The staff at the cafeteria also had to undergo some changes of their own. “With the café hours being reduced, our pay has also been reduced,” said Whiting. Despite the reduced pay, the staff continues to work hard. The people of RCTC’s commitment towards making sure their students have necessary food supplies and different food options have been shown through their various efforts with their cafeteria precautions, Hive supply and food pickup deliveries. The staff hope that some of these changes don’t become permanent, and they are doing their best to ensure safety and food security for the students at RCTC.
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Editorial
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Staff editorial: The after-burnout burnout By Mark Fantonial General Reporter
April 2021 Volume 91, Issue 5 AH-402 507-438-6932 RCTCecho@gmail.com www.rctc.edu/echo Managing Editor Faith Boyum Editorial Assistant Tim Galvin
Reporters
Ilwad Salex Mark Fantonial Connor Vlasity
Graphic Artist Mark Fantonial Faculty Adviser Marissa Gentling We want to hear from our readers. Send your comments, story ideas or upcoming events to: rctcecho@gmail.com
It all started with a bit of joy when students like me weren’t heading back to campus and were switching to online or distance learning. The beauty of having school in the comfort of your own home is such a great relief because you get to be in your own space and don’t even need to socialize with the people around you to get by. The whole transition was a bit tedious, and the particular reason for this circumstance is that the whole economy and system was not at all prepared. But we eventually got the hang of it. At this point, I think you get the whole memo of where we stand. In a nutshell, there was a major burnout, but I feel like there is that “after-burnout burnout” that feels like you’ve already dealt with this negative situation in the past. Now, you’re hitting rock bottom once more and still don’t have a clue how to resolve the problem. Like for instance, I get frustrated for not being able to accomplish something big throughout the day, which leads me to fatigue even though I haven’t done
anything productive. At times, it feels like another wave of stress that gets stacked on the amount of stress I already have in me; therefore, it gets in my head and feeds on my undiagnosed anxiety, which could lead to a mental breakdown. After months of isolation and loneliness, I feel immune to it, but every time I’m in a crowd, I still crave for attention and comfort. Does anyone feel this way? Feeling happy and sad at the same time? It’s great that most places are back to normal now. Most restaurants are available for dine in, and most entertainment places are open to the public. But the happiness feels temporary because we’re still going to be facing the same white wall. Moreover, every memory we create does not seem memorable at all because of the worry feeling and that anxiety of limiting ourselves from having fun. There’s nothing wrong with having fun, but we’re in a pandemic. So, it’s our responsibility as well not to expose ourselves in these trying times. I hate to say this, but I miss the old
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times and am fully aware that we won’t get to the way it was and might just have to live in this new normal. The past 12 months was a year of reflection and realization. There were a few things we learned that made us rewrite history. The people of color (such as myself) finally got their voice and echoed it throughout the world. People are more aware to stay clean and respect other’s own space. The younger generation is getting more appreciative of their life, etc. The year 2020 may be painful, but I got time to fix myself and see things on a better note. If you have been feeling down since the start of the pandemic, just remember to keep the wheel rolling because we will get through this one day. After every storm, there’s always a rainbow. I’ll be your umbrella in the meantime and accompany you on this stormy night until we see the light of day. You are appreciated. Always remember that.
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Needs of the homeless person with mental health issues By Hilary Nett Guest Essay
Homeless population have an increased rate of mental health and substance abuse, they are more likely to feel isolated, develop a medical condition, be sexually assaulted, attempt suicide, and die younger. Access to services, humane treatment, positive relationships with personnel, a comfortable environment, and contentment to services provided are all needs of the homeless person. Major barriers to care include inaccessibility, lack of coverage, and high costs. Other barriers are impaired abilities to navigate, discrimination, and availability of social services. Other considerations are wait times for shelters. Housing support can take years to achieve. As well, a lot of homeless experience drug or alcohol dependency, and may not be able to comply with strict regulations. Incidence with theft is not uncommon. There is an increase number of sexual assaults in this population as well. A lack of security is often felt. First one must know of and be orchestrated to certain services, they
must qualify, and allowed volume of participants cannot be exceeded. Proximity, and cost must also be met for services to start. One may desire to receive services, but the ability to do so is not as easy. Once care is established, feeling welcomed, fairly treated and like their time was well-spent with each visit is crucial to obtain continued care. Likelihood of exiting homelessness increases with receiving health and social services. Creating a support network with help groups and community programs enhances a sense of belonging and positively effects for long term outcomes. References Gram-Ruaz, Kerman, Lawrence, Sylvestre. (July 2019). Perceptions of service use among currently and formerly homeless adults with mental health problems. Community Mental Health Journal, 55 (5), 777-783. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10597-019-00382-z/Jul2019.
RCTC students spend spring break differently By Connor Vlasaty General Reporter
Spring break in past years may have been a time of much warmer scenery. Typically, with beaches, salt water and lots of sun. But in a world full of COVID, many families have bypassed traveling to these warmer places to stay safe from the coronavirus. RCTC student Gabe Langer said he did nothing for spring break. Well, obviously, you can’t just do nothing, but that is how it felt this spring break for a lot of people like Langer. “I mostly played video games with friends, went for walks, delivered for DoorDash and did some in-home workouts to stay active during this spring break,” said Langer. He also added that he and his family usually would do activities in the Rochester area, but his parents had to work. His younger sister also still had classes that week due to her spring break being later this year. “I enjoyed one of the warmer spring
breaks we have ever had, but I wish this spring break could have felt more normal. But I do understand this is how it has to be for the safety of everyone,” said Langer. Ben Ellefson also mirrored the same statement Langer had. Ben did workouts during his spring break at the Rochester Athletic Club, worked at Madonna Towers for his job and played plenty of video games. His family is taking a trip the first week of April to New Jersey to see their family, though. Although it was not during spring break, this is basically his spring break trip. He also added that it is easier to take a trip whenever due to classes being online. For the most part, many students stayed home and relaxed on this very different looking spring break this year. They hope the world gets back some normalcy soon, and spring break activities can take place as they would in a normal year.
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Philosophy in the modern age By Breanna Shen Guest Writer The names of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle strike fear into the hearts of many talented and skilled students. Not many of us seem eager to learn about an era of thought and education that flourished nearly two thousand years ago. Instead, we form our own unique philosophies and world-views based primarily on current digital influences and pop culture. Yet, as I’ve recently found, ancient philosophy has a lot to offer us. It’s not just antiquated names and dates to memorize; philosophy is actually the study of rational inquiry, which is a method of thinking that we use to arrive at logical conclusions to answer almost any question we would care to ask. Greek philosophy involves beautiful prose, intriguing ideas and timeless questions relevant to any age. Many STEM majors, myself included, might brush off ancient philosophy as an irrelevant subject. After all, the hard Shen facts in biology and physics are more serviceable to our careers. Interestingly, the first Greek philosophers were scientists in the modern sense. The philosopher Thales, also an astronomer, was mocked for stepping into a well as his eyes were trained to the sky, used science to predict a great olive crop, monopolized all the nearby lands when they were cheap and turned a handsome profit renting them out when it came time to plant olives. Besides this business gig, Thales used logic of philosophical methodology to ponder scientific questions in astronomy. In fact, regardless of their fields of study, the PhDs our professors hold are abbreviations for “Doctor of Philosophy.” The subjects we may study in philosophy are wide-ranging and timeless: justice and 2/21/2021 spring semester finalllll.jpg virtue, ethics and morality, politics and education, nature and reality. We can see the hand
of philosophy influencing culture and thought throughout the ages. Take, for example, the iconic painting by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, School of Athens, a portrait of the great thinkers. For another, our lexicon today contains words derived from the language of Greek philosophy. From the Greek word “logos,” meaning reason, we derive the terms psychology, biology, geology and all other -logy words of various fields of study. Studying philosophy can help cultivate greater understanding and appreciation of culture and history. The aesthetic beauty of ancient Greek philosophy is no less important than its concrete usefulness. The sentences in ancient writings flow wonderfully, wax poetic and inspire me as I write my own poetry. “Upon those who step into the same rivers, different and again different waters flow,” according to Heraclitus. Of course, we all know that the molecules of water we encounter at one moment in a river are replaced instantly by new ones flowing downstream, but Heraclitus illuminates and states this idea in a glorious and artful way. In fact, this quote inspired my poem on the eternal flux of all things. Though it sounds mysterious and intimidating, studying philosophy is accessible and rewarding, an intellectual journey that unlocks a new world. To me, rather than a challenge, it’s more of an adventure that I embarked on the past few months. Getting started can look like a free course online through Coursera.org or edX.org, a book at the library, etc. Perhaps we should all give ancient philosophy a try and let it expand our worldview. Breanna Shen is a guest writer and former Arts and Entertainment editor for The Echo.
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Odds of winning March Madness are rare By Connor Vlasaty General Reporter
It is March Madness season for men’s and women’s basketball right now. No matter if you know anything about college basketball or not, you may have filled out a bracket anyway to predict the winner of the NCAA basketball championship. People have also tried to get the perfect bracket, but it has never happened to this day. According to the Tennessean, there is a 1 in 9.2 quintillion chance that you can get a perfect bracket. That is a billion billions in other terms. Through ESPN alone, there were a total of 16.2 million brackets created, and approximately 20 million total online. If you made one this year, better luck next year on getting the perfect bracket because there are no perfect brackets as of this year's tournament.
To give an idea of some things that have better odds of happening than having a perfect bracket, here are some examples: You are more likely to win the Powerball jackpot, get struck by lightning or become a professional basketball player. For the teams competing, they are ranked based off of their regular season records. Now come March Madness time, the under dogs have to show what they have against the top dogs, and plenty of upsets happen every year. There are always betting odds for each team, and this year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are the runaway champion favorites after coming into the tournament undefeated and being named a number one seed. We will see how the rest of the tournament plays out from here, and better luck next year on your attempt for a perfect bracket.
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Movie reviews: The Twighlight Saga
“Twilight” (2008) About: This movie centers around a young high school girl named Bella who moves to a small town in Washington to live with her father. At her new high school she meets new people, who each come with their own adventure. Rating: 10/10 Listen, whether or not this movie deserves a 10/10 is
“New Moon” (2009) not debatable. Some parts were so cringey that it made it good. Especially all the Edward and Bella scenes. The only thing that bugged me was how Bella acted to the rest of the world and her other friends. The only thing ever on her mind was Edward. You could tell that their relationship wasn’t going to be healthy from the very beginning.
“Eclipse” (2010)
About: During this film, we find Bella awaiting her 18th birthday. She also starts to get to know Edward’s family and the world of vampires better. Unfortunately, their happy relationship comes to a stop when they are forced to face reality after a bad encounter with another vampire. Rating: 10/10 Edward and Bella are the sole reason for their own relationship issues. The only reason I’m giving this the 10/10 it
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deserves is because of Jacob (except for when he tried to force that kiss with Bella). He was the only reasonable person in this movie. Bella became even more annoying as the movie went on. All the moping around she did for a man she knew less than a year? I was glad Edward left her with no warning. It was good for both of them. Every single issue that happened in this movie was Bella’s fault. Edward is no angel himself. I’m still not over the fact that he watches her in her sleep, and she wasn’t even fazed upon learning that.
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About: Bella and Edward face new issues when word gets out of new killings happening all over Seattle connected to an old foe. With tensions being high, Bella is also forced to face her feelings for both Edward and Jacob. Rating: 9/10 This movie lost a point because I expected the fight with that gingerhaired vampire chick to be more…. exciting. Also, once again, all the problems in this movie were caused by Bella. That ginger-haired vampire should’ve gotten her way with Bella and then maybe everyone in Forks, Washington could have lived in peace.
“Breaking Dawn, Part 1” (2011) and “Breaking Dawn, Part 2” (2012) About: Our happy couple finally got married. After their wedding, they decide to go on a joyful honeymoon, away from the world. However, unforeseeable events occur that result in a mystery. With Bella pregnant, her loved ones scatter to find an answer. Bella’s new state also causes the wolves to turn against her, fearing that her child will be the cause of their destruction. The Volturi have also caught wind of Bella and Edward’s new child and have vowed to get rid of them for creating a devil. Rating: 10/10 It was really interesting to see how they portrayed Bella’s pregnancy with Edward. Her body looked so frail. It’s amazing to think it’s all special effects and makeup. What I liked the most about the Breaking Dawn portion of the series was how Jacob was finally able to slowly pull away from Bella. At the end of the movie, vampire Bella showed Edward a memory of them on the first day that they met in high school. After that scene, I started to realize that maybe those two are cute together. Overall, I’m glad they got their happy ending. Photo courtesy of Netflix. com
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Student essay: Interviewing tips By Kailee Sanchez Guest Essay Are you ready for your job interview? In this essay, I will go over preparation for a nursing job interview. Preparing for an interview, no matter how confident a person is, can be intimidating. The first step to rocking an interview is planning. Students should not wait until the day of graduation to apply. Set up interviews as soon as possible, at least two months before graduation. Next, practice answering behavioral questions with a friend or co-worker. Common questions asked during a nursing job interview include: describe a time when you worked effectively under pressure, list your strengths and weaknesses, give an example of a time you used critical thinking skills to solve a problem, and how do you manage conflict between coworkers? Being prepared when answering the interviewer's questions shows composure and selfconfidence. According to Smallwood (2020), “behavioral interviewing for nurses is a skill, and like any skill, it takes training and practice to do so effectively”(para. 18). The night before, gather key items to take
to the interview such as pen, paper, resume, and a copy of the institution's values and mission (Walker, 2021). Arrive to the interview in business-appropriate clothing, with hair neatly combed, wearing minimal makeup, perfume, and jewelry. Start by greeting the interviewer with a firm, confident handshake. Maintain good eye contact, strong posture, and refrain from fidgeting or chewing gum. Think of yourself as a story teller and the interview as a conversation. Remain calm, confident, and friendly. Ask the interviewer for a copy of the job description, about shift rotations, staff development, parking, pre-employment physicals, overtime, or any other questions that come to mind (Cherry et al., 2019). Near the end of the interview, clarify the following steps in the interview process and ask the interviewer for a contact card. End the encounter with another firm handshake followed by a thank you. Finally, within 24 hours, send them a follow-up email expressing your gratitude for the time he or she spent interviewing you.
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