The Crier Thursday, March 26, 2009 Issue 22 Spring 2009 The Radio Station is.. .Actually a Radio Station By Daniel Gustina I now know many words to several Evanescence songs. I hate Evanescence. I don’t listen to that music willingly. I’m sure many students are in the same boat as I am with this problem, but the campus radio station, the Impact, has reasoning behind that (and it's a secret). Station Secretary Drew Wolverton, Music Director Courtney Copp, and Treasurer Dan Crimmins assured me that there will be a change in this musical monstrosity, not only in musical programming but literally everything about the Impact. For starters, there are licensing problems with the Federal Communications Commission- yes, the government tyrant of music and media, FCC. The license lapsed in 2006, and the FCC decided to finally step in in February, sending a letter to the CCC radio station. However, the three vinyl shakers assured that an appeal was made as requested in the letter stating the radio station had 30 days to renew their licensing. Had they not renewed their license, the radio waves secured by the license would have been auctioned off for money the college doesn’t have. The whole fiasco is complicated, but Coming's indie radio is in charge. All of the aforementioned is what caused the “Dark Period,” with little focus on how the station could collect a good audience, and nil attention paid to what was playing, and it is completely fair to blame the FCC. Now, after much struggle, the Impact is ready for action. The station will be acquiring a transmitter that will put out 10 watts, reaching realistically to East Corning, or potentially Big Flats (not so realistic). The new license allows for an even greater broadcasting distance with up to a 100 watt transmitter. A 100 watt transmitter would cost insane amounts of money, though. The radio station really has room to evolve into something now; Crimmins confidently said that this will become something "more than kids pushing buttons.” So what exactly is in store for Corning and the campus? The list includes D}s having their own shows or segments (DG's Disco Hour anyone?), promotional events such as popcorn stands, trivia shows, 24 hour playing, talk shows, potentially sponsoring local music store Crunge Records, and teaming up with local bands. Most importantly, the radio station needs a new antenna, which requires funding. Wolverton assures me, “We’re reforming ourselves this semester.” Hopefully these words are true, and next semester I’ll be able to listen to something entertaining whilst driving around Corning. The radio station could prove to be an awesome venture for students. What better way to propel one’s musical talents into the community? Furthermore, indie stations are hard to find outside of satellite radio service, and within the Corning area, that’s pretty cool. What’s Happening in Student Government? By Anthony Pop kin Student Trustee Each week your Student Association Government Assembly (SAGA) meets to discuss issues and concerns that affect students, college wide. You may be asking, what is SAGA? As any other governing body, it is comprised of several different levels of government in order to keep a form of checks and balances. It consists of the Executive Board, the Student Senate, and the House of Representatives, each of which each plays a significant role in allowing communication between students, staff, faculty, and administration. Your SAGA began meeting the second week of the semester; below are some of the areas that have been going on and are being discussed. Your feedback is important; if you have any questions, concerns, or comments please see members of your SAGA, located in the lower level of the Commons building. Student Association Elections The elections will take place on March 30 and 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Lobby of the Commons Building. If you are unable to stop during these times, you can logon to MyCCC and vote online. There is also an announcement up in MyCCC that has the pictures of each candidate, the position they are running for, and a highlight from their speech. Athletes Code of Conduct SAGA was given a preliminary draft of the Athletic Code of Conduct to review and give suggestions for additions and changes. This code of conduct is a document that all athletes must follow. It is currently being updated. House of Reps Project Committee The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mickey Lawrence, is continuing to push forward with the House of Reps 5-year plan. This plan entails planting trees, creating a brick pathway, putting up a sign, and installing benches in the area behind the Science Building parking lot. The trees are currently planted and the recognition sign is near completion. The next phase is to start selling bricks to place a pathway. For inquiries on the 5-year plan see Mickey Lawrence in the House of Representatives office. Web Cam Tutoring There have been some requests from students located at other facilities, such as the Elmira campus, to have tutoring through a webcam. Currently there are not always tutors at the Elmira Center and that has been an issue as some students are unable to access a tutor for various reasons. Some of the topics discussed regarding this issue include: ♦ Will there be people manning the webcams at times when Elmira students need them? ♦ Is it possible to send Math Learning Center tutors to Elmira? ♦ Elmira does have Learning Center hours, but they are not long hours and there are not enough workers. ♦ Webcam tutoring would likely have to be one on one. ♦ How many students would be able to access tutoring online? ♦ May save money to use webcam tutoring in Elmira instead of hiring a new position in Elmira. Instructional Resources Committee Senators Margaret Brown and Vanessa Blye sit on the Instructional Resources Committee and gave highlights to their committee meeting. ♦ Constructions of smart classrooms were approved with monies available to continue the project. It is planned to start the project this summer and the rooms to be converted include C106, C203, B104, and T105. There are also plans to put new projectors in R212 and N206. ♦ There was also discussion on WebCT security regarding the requirement for a prompt to change password every so often which does not happen as it once did. Thursday. March 26. 2009 Page 2 Tip of the Week from Student Administrative Services Renew your FAFSA for the 2009- 2010 Aid Year You can renew your FAFSA by going to www. fafsa.ed.gov. You will need your federal pin number to access your application. If you need additional information or any assistance, please contact Student Administrative Services by calling (607) 962-9222. Important Financial Aid Dates: January 31, 2009: Enrollment status for the spring semester is official as of this date. State and federal aid will be adjusted to reflect this status. In most cases, adding courses after this date will not increase financial aid awards. Dropping courses after this date may reduce financial aid awards. March 22, 2009: Last day to change your primary program of study for financial aid purposes. March 30, 2009: 100% of federal aid eligibility earned if student has attendance on or after this date. Verification of attendance may be required. May 1, 2009: HESC must receive Express TAP application by this date, either by mail or electron! cally, to be considered for a TAP award for the 2008-09 academic year. May 1, 2009: Last day to accept your Federal Direct Loan for this semester. Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling for new borrowers must also be completed by this date. May 4, 2009: Last day that Federal Direct Loans will be processed for the spring semester. May 13, 2009: Student Administrative Services Financial Aid Office must receive results of your FAFSA by this date to be considered for federal aid for the spring semester. Only Pell Grant eligibility will be determined for late applicants. Scholarships We also have information and applications for a few scholarships that are not available through CCC. These scholarships include: ♦ The Ann Marie Rossi Memorial Award Fund — available to CCC students graduating with Human Services or Chemical Dependency degrees and either transferring to a four year school to pursue a field in Human Services or choosing to begin work in the Human Service field. Deadline is March 27, 2009 ♦ The American Association of University Women (AAUW), Elmira-Corning Branch, scholarship is available to women at least 24 years old who are continuing their education after a significant interruption. Deadline is March 14, 2009. ♦ The American Association of University Women (AAUW), Yates County Branch, scholarship is available to women living in Yates County whose studies have been interrupted at some point for a period of at least six months. Deadline is April 30, 2009. ♦ Tire Rotary Club of Corning is offering several scholarships to graduating high school and college students who are furthering their education. Deadline is March 31, 2009. I PHiiir SaunderS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS The Saunders Experience. RIT's Saunders College, where students learn to innovate and connect m order to succeed. > Eight undergraduate programs, taught by faculty with global business experience ► m MBA progr ins, with more than 20 concentration areas tom allow you to customize year degree ► "nice MS programs For n depth study ► Full and pan van- study avu> Six months of paid cooperative education with top employers to develop real business connections ► Ranked among the top 5% of business schools by BusinessWeek and U.S News and World Report Innovate. Connect. Succeed. Learn more by visiting saunders.rit.edy or call us at (585) 475-7935. R I The Crier Staff Editor Lindsay Woodruff Treasurer Michael Coates Secretary Caitlin Woodruff Student Association Representative Daniel Gustina Advisor Paul McNaney Reporters Daniel Gustina Bradley Lee Anthony Popkin Connor Sullivan Lindsay Woodruff Photographers Anthony Popkin Thursday. March 26, 2009 Page 3 Commons Invaded by Reptile Mania! By Anthony Popkin This past Saturday, from 10:00 a.m.— 11:00 a.m., turtles, lizards, crocodilians, and snakes invaded the Commons Buildings as an overwhelming group of the community came for a peek. Sponsored by the CCC’s Activities Programming Committee and Cool Kids, a record was set as there were nearly 1,000 attendees crammed into the Commons Building to watch the World of Wildlife Education Encounters (WOWEE) present various forms of wildlife. The show jumped to a start as numerous turtles and tortoises were brought on stage to the delight of the children sitting arm to arm on the floor of the Main Dining Room. The first to be brought out was a matamata turtle. This strange looking turtle has a long spiked neck with floating devices on it to lure fish to eat. It also, interestingly enough, uses its nose like a snorkel immersing its entire body except for the tip of its nose. A few more turtles and tortoises were brought out and it was explained that the difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that turtles are aquatic and tortoises are land-based. Next the lizards made an appearance. The first was an Australian Bearded Dragon. This reptile is called a bearded dragon because of the spikes near its head. When aggravated or attempting to get a mates attention, it puffs its beard out and it turns black, making him look much bigger. After the lizards got their shining moments, the "fear factor” part of the show began. Three adult volunteers were chosen from the crowd and there were three mystery boxes awaiting each of them. As they seemed a little nervous of their fate, the attending kids wildly chose their fates one at a time. Linda, the first volunteer, got box three and a handful of Madagascar hissing cockroaches. The second volunteer was a little more fortunate with box two as he got stuck with legless lizards. Leroy, the third volunteer, was a little less fortunate as his doom was sealed in box one. One at a time, snakes were put on Leroy, first a small gardener snake, then a baby boa, and then a king snake. Just when everyone thought it was over, loud screams filled the room as "Julius Squeezer,” a large albino python, was brought out and put on Leroys shoulders. Goodbye Ice-Skates, Hello Garden Flowers By Bradley Lee Contributing Writer from Mansfield University The City of Corning community members attended the Nasser Civic Center Ice Rink for its last day of skating of the season Monday. Patrons are invited to attend ice skating throughout the winter months each year. Adults paid $3.50 to get in, and children paid $2.00 to get in. The next guest was Abercrombie the alligator. It was explained that the biggest difference between and alligator and a crocodile is attitude. Alligators are lower key and have an easy temperament while crocodiles are always miserable. It was also explained that if they lose a tooth they always have a back up so they are never without teeth. The show finished with amphibians. One of the highlights was the Spiderman frogs that can cling to any surface with the pads on their feet. These guys continued to jump away from the handler to the floor. If you missed this Cool Kids event, there’s one more this semester on April 18th Eco-Fest. This one will be at the gym and will have activities going on inside and outside. Look for details on the bulletin boards. Coming’s annual skating season began one week before Thanksgiving and ran until March 2o of this year. People were offered rental ice skates if they didn’t have any skates of their own. People bought food and beverages from the skating rinks concession stand. The event is a daily activity that all community members are invited to attend during the skating season, which runs from the end of November each year through the better half of March. Claire Berleue from the City of Corning Recreation Department said, The event is daily from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and the turnout is usually between twenty to one-hundred people.” “I bring my kids to skate at least two times a week for an hour or so each time. It gets them out of the house and gives them something to do right after school,” Arlene Mays said. Mays is the mother of two twelve year old boys. ”1 usually have more people with me, but this time I only brought my girlfriend because I wanted to impress her,” Chris Konklin said. Konklin was one of the teenagers who attended the skating evenc today, the last day of the skating season. Thursday. March 26, 2009 Page 4 Hie Reality of Reality TV By Connor Sullivan In the theory of free market enterprise, competition provides us the opportunity to select among a plethora of similar goods, each varying enough to appease the diverse preferences of the consumer base. Thus competition is an essential element in the market place to promote successful business models reflective of the broad spectrum of human interests. Concern arises when a particular organization becomes particularly successful and no longer must develop quality products and can instead direct consumer preferences according to its decided availability of selection. This is especially evident in the realm of television entertainment, where cost effectiveness has guided the selection of available visual stimulation into a state of mind-numbing redundancy. In the past worthwhile television programming was defined by adequate funding, skilled writers, and actors with screen chemistry that was engaging to watch. Presently networks have replaced well-scripted dramas and comedies with an excess of low budget "reality television.” The majority of these programs use a method of competition that leaves the losers unduly screwed and the winner disproportionately rewarded for their luck. This captures the audience like a train wreck. Sometimes they include the audience in the judgment of these puppets, creating an illusion of personal investment in the show. I say “illusion" because part of the brainwashing technique is manipulating the results of these contests to render inane controversy that attracts hordes of viewers. Consecutive seasons repeat themselves endlessly, emphasizing minute detail changes in exchange for plot development. The networks are capable of this transgression because the mediocrity is self-reinforcing. In between viewings of this mindlessness we are barraged with promotions for shamelessly identical programs. If these programs are the epitome of the television studios’ creative ability, then perhaps we are obliged to look elsewhere for our entertainment. With internet programming now becoming more available it is time to tune out of overpriced garbage and spend more time actively searching for quality productions. Blindly Saving the Planet By Lindsay Woodruff Saturday, March 28, marks the third annual Earth Hour. People all over the globe are being asked to turn off their lights from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. to combat global warming. Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, with 2.2 million people turning off their lights in the name of sustainability, and in 2008 the number grew to 50 million people sitting in darkness for one hour in an effort to save the planet. This year’s goal is to reach 1 billion people in about 1,000 cities worldwide. But this year, the objective is a slightly different. This year, if you turn off your lights for one hour, you are voting for Earth in the election between our planet and global warming. However, if you leave your lights on between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., that is considered a vote for global warming. The results of this election will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December of this year to encourage world leaders to take action against climate change. I sort of understand what they’re trying to do here. A pseudo-election between the ozone and what has been painted as the ultimate total destruction of the planet will make people feel even more involved in the destiny of the Earth, and don’t we all like to feel like we’re in control of something bigger than ourselves? However, this "election” does raise a few interesting questions, like what happens if global warming wins? Certainly there are enough people out there that are too lazy to recycle, too concerned with spending government money elsewhere, too stubborn to admit that there is a slight chance they could be wrong, and instead deny the contributions humans are making to climate change. Some of these people I’ve met really enjoy loud conversations about how the earth goes through its cycles and humans could not possibly be making that much of an impact, and I’ve even met a couple people who needlessly drive their cars, litter, leave their lights on, and leave the water running in an effort to make a "take that!” kind of point that our lifestyle habits are not affecting the earth in any way. If someone feels this way and does not participate in Earth Hour, their vote goes to global warming. However, I've also met many people who are gung-ho about stopping global warming and climate change to a point where it is almost obnoxious, so their vote goes to Earth. As my fingertips are touching the keyboard, 83 countries have already committed to Earth Hour, and more are joining the cause each day, so I’m sure chat enough votes will go to Earth with major cities alone so that this conference in Copenhagen will really get the ball moving on neutralizing the climate. But realistically, I don’t think that the results of this "election" are going to make much of a difference on the results of this meeting. According to several websites about the conference, making improvements to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions after 2012, strengthening funding to accomplish sustainable goals worldwide, and brainstorming ideas for implementing cleaner technology are already on the agenda for climate change meetings throughout 2009. They will not ignore these plans in the event that global warming "wins”. Don’t confuse this with me encouraging everyone to waste energy. Participate in Earth Hour if you want to, and if you really do care about the environment and not just the social benefits of claiming to care for the environment, try some other energy-conserving tactics in your daily life, not just when you’re told to do so. All I’m saying is that if you really think about it, it’s pathetic that we have to entice people into caring and helping out by saying,“Hey, you could make a difference! All you have to do is follow our plan, drive a Prius, and maybe buy a couple polyester t-shirts with a picture of the earth in the shape of a heart!” (While we’re on the subject, will someone please tell me what peace and love have to do with the environment?) This is something that people should have been thinking about long before new data and "An Inconvenient Truth” scared people into protecting the environment. But since we re already in the middle of this trend and March 28 is quickly approaching, you can show your support for Earth Hour 2009 by going to http://www.voteearth2009.org/support/ and downloading online banners, desktop wallpapers, posters, signs and stickers that you can put on places such as windows, plant stakes, and mailboxes. How this helps, I’m not exactly sure, but come on, everyone is doing it.