12th Annual multicultural job fair set for February

Leilani Alim

Published: January 24, 2006

As a student, trying to find a job can quickly turn into an arduous task.  Trying to fit in the time to travel from employer to employer in between classes can become extremely hectic. Finding employment should not be that difficult. There is an easier way for students to look at prospective employers.

From 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 3, PJC will conduct the 12th annual multicultural job fair in the student center, Building 5.  There will be various employers taking part in the fair, including banks, healthcare facilities, sheriff’s offices and many more.

Wondering what the chances of finding employment are?  People are rarely offered jobs at a job fair, but the candidates that an employer is interested in will be contacted later or referred to the company’s website to apply there, said Ken Shugart, director of student job services.

About three out of four employers that participated in the job fair over the last few years said that they anticipated hiring people that they spoke with, Shugart said.  By attending the job fair you get the chance to make a good impression with potential employers, he said.

“We offer entry level positions in the news department that do not require any particular job skills,” said Valerie Dunsford, who works in the human resources department at WEAR TV.  “We will be willing to train any college student with a good job history and that can show up to work on time.” 

Take advantage of this opportunity by coming prepared.  Shugart said that you should dress as you would for an interview.  Bring resumes and questions that you would ask an employer, as well as be prepared to answer questions as you would in an interview.

Competition for your brain: PJC hosts regional math tournament

Lindsey Chavers

Published: January 24, 2006

Having to do math on a weekend, with no calculators, would not even be an option for most people.

But for the 400 high school and middle school students who attended the Region 1 Mu Alpha Theta math tournament at the PJC Milton Campus on Jan. 13, it was a different story.

“I think it is a great way for students to get together as a community and celebrate the true spirit of mathematics,” said Milton High School student Michael Hamel.

It was PJC’s first year hosting the tournament, which consists of an individual test and a team competition. 

“For a first year tournament, it is much more prepared than many others I have been to,” said Julie Soyars of Rickards High School Tallahassee.

“We’re [hosting] it to encourage students to continue studying math,” Dr. Vicki Schell, department head of mathematics, said. “And to make more students aware of PJC and our nice facilities and programs here.”

Students competed in subjects varying in difficulty from Algebra 1 to Calculus. 

“The individual Calculus test was pretty easy, and you can’t get much easier than team competitions,” said Rickards student Weiping Zhang, who placed third overall in Calculus.  “It’s the first competition of the year and it’s about getting people into it.”

Lincoln High School, from Tallahassee, placed first overall, and Rickards was a close second.

“It takes a lot of personnel and preparation,” Schell said.  “You need a lot of volunteers because there is a lot going on at the same time, but I really hope we get to do it again next year.”

Overdue renovations made to PJC Health Center

Katie Coseo

Published: January 24, 2006

There are boxes stacked up against the wall that have yet to be unpacked in the lobby of the Pensacola campus clinic.  But the news is that there is a lobby at all. 

“This used to be all outside,” RN Judy Harrington said.    

The clinic, run by Harrington, has been long overdue for a makeover.  In fact the whole building has been under renovation since March of 2006. 

“My area desperately needed it because it wasn’t exactly up to handicap codes,” Harrington said.  The hallways were too small for a wheel chair or gurney should EMS been called.  “It was embarrassing.”

Now, not only is the clinic up to code, but it also sports a treatment room and rest area that has a brand new hospital bed from Sacred Heart, replacing the 30-year-old bed that once occupied it. 

After moving in just last week, Harrington is finding the renovations a big improvement to the clinic and hopes for news to reach students about the clinic services.   

Harrington has been at the Pensacola campus Health Clinic since 1992 and offers students, faculty, and staff free medical services.  As a nurse she can help anything from the common headache to emergencies.  She also helps with the athletic department and visits other PJC campuses.  But she wants to point out that she “is really here for the students.”

The clinic is free and offers free over the counter medications.  Harrington is also available for any medical questions and can offer information on health insurance for students as well. 

Clinic hours are weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the fall and spring semesters.  During the summer courses the hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

With only a few more boxes to be unpacked, the clinic is up and ready to accept patients .

New Board of Trustees members possible

Ricky Di Williams

Published: January 24, 2006

Governor Charlie Crist withdrew 283 gubernatorial appointments when he took office a couple of weeks ago.  Four of the names on the withdrawal docket are members of PJC’s Board of Trustees; Chairwoman Dona Usry, Celeste Norris, Deidre Young, and Harry Miller Caldwell.

The other five members, Vincent R. Andry, Carol Carlan, Gerald McKenzie, Denis McKinnon, Jr. and John O’Connor were not affected.

When the governor appoints someone to a specific office, that appointment must be reviewed and accepted by the Florida Committee on Ethics and Elections.  Because the Committee only meets once per term, appointments made after that meeting will remain pending until the next year.

Withdrawing so many appointments isn’t too unorthodox, said Larry Bracken, PJC’s executive director of government affairs.  When a new governor takes office, he has the prerogative to withdraw the previous governor’s pending appointees.

Once withdrawn, the former appointee has the option to reapply for the same position or one on a different board.

In the case of PJC’s Board of Trustees, it’s possible that up to three of the withdrawn members will either be reinstated by Crist or have the option of reapplying.

Usry and Young, both on their second four-year term, and Norris, on her first, may very well be reappointed by Crist.  Caldwell had already resigned from his post but still appears on the list of pending appointees withdrawn.

Crist’s actions could bring about great change concerning Florida’s education system, namely the FCAT.

But what does a change like this mean?  “For our students, not much,” Bracken said.

The Board of Trustees is mainly in charge of setting policies and hiring or firing the school’s president.  As such, a change in membership shouldn’t affect the day-to-day happenings of PJC’s students.

“A change in the school’s Board of Trustees won’t change the school’s course of action much,” PJC President Tom Delaino said.

According to Bracken, there’s a common course of action the board tends to follow, despite who’s on it. So getting a few new appointments shouldn’t change the overall flow.

“It’s still important to know about,” Bracken said.

Relay auction set by Warrington SGA

Katie Coseo

Published: January 8, 2006

Not many are a stranger to cancer.

It is a disease that takes away loved ones and leaves husbands, wives, and children behind in its wake.  Though cancer is now a condition patients can sometimes live with and even survive, there is still no cure.

Relay for Life is once again asking for help in donations and walkers to raise money to find the cure for cancer. 

The Warrington Campus SGA is participating in the annual Relay for Life in Perdido.

The team has asked local companies to donate to Relay for Life on behalf of their team and has also come up with a silent auction that will be held on Jan. 31. 

Items have been donated to the SGA from local businesses including a gift card to The Melting Pot and gift baskets.  The general public can also donate items to the auction from their own homes.

Bidding will start at 8 a.m. and will close at 2 p.m.  “We’ll also have online bidding,” said Kamala Garrison, SGA secretary.  “When the biding closes, whoever has the highest bid will win the item and all of the money goes toward Relay for Life.”

The auction will be held at the Warrington campus.  Emails and flyers will be sent out with more information on the auction and online bidding.

The silent auction is planned to be fun for everyone who participates and would greatly help the SGA reach their goal for Relay for Life. 

Relay for Life is a 24 hour event where walkers represent their team throughout the day.

At night there is a beautiful luminary ceremony with bags filled with sand and candles to represent those who died from or survived cancer.

Fortunately anyone can participate in Relay for Life by logging onto their website at www.acsevents.org.  There, one can make a personal donation or sign up to create a team.  The SGA is looking for more members to their team. If you’re interested you can contact the SGA office at 484-2235.

The Warrington Campus SGA is looking forward to participating in Relay for Life in Perdido May 4th and 5th and would gladly like more support.  You can find their site on www.acsevents.org/relay/fl/perdido.

Student activity fees: What’s it to you?

Heather Madden

Published: January 8, 2006

What goes in must come out - that is, out of the student activity money pot. Do you care?  You should, it’s your money.

“The general rule of thumb is that the total amount money that’s available for the student activity fees is dependent on the enrollment,” Dr. Martin, vice-president of student affairs, said.

Each and every semester, students are charged with a student activity fee per credit hour.  This semester students were charged $5.38, per credit hour.  For a course with three credit hours, that is a fee of $16.14.

That charge was not meant to discourage you.  The money is actually divided every year and given back to the students - through the activities budget.

Last year the budget totaled out to $1,007,629.  However, $25,000 of this budget was not used.  So where did all of the extra money go? 

The money that is not spent from the previous year is circulated into the budget for the following year, according to Martin.

Another portion of the budget is the contingency capital.  Contingency funding is money set aside for student activities to fall back on.  This year’s contingency money is budgeted out to more than $30,000.

“Let’s say our brain bowl team wins the championship and they have to go to Orlando, but they didn’t budget for that,” Martin said.  “For that, what I do then is take money out of the contingency money to help them go to Orlando.”

Martin said that unexpected budgets are covered by the contingency funds.

This year’s activity budget equates to $1,154,942, so you should probably be curious as to what you are paying for.

According to Dennis Reynolds, PJC Student Affairs coordinator, “Nearly a million dollars is collected and broken down into three departments.”

These departments are athletics, humanities, and other student activities to include SGA. 

Athletics receives a greater cut of the student activity money, $483,618 while humanities receives $265,520, and the remaining $405,802 goes towards anything from leadership clubs to graduation, and even food.

This year’s budget for athletics is 42 percent of the student activity money.  Paul Swanson, the men’s basketball head coach said, “As a coach or a player, or any area for that matter, everybody needs more money.” 

For the 2005/2006 season, men’s basketball was budgeted to receive 14 percent of the athletics funding.  This year, men’s basketball is budgeted to receive 11 percent.  Although the percentage is lower, men’s basketball will obtain $4,000 more than last year. 

“We are grateful for everything we get and try to utilize it as best as we possibly can,” Swanson said.

The largest chunk of the athletics budget, 19 percent, or $94,358, will go towards the student bus-which is used for student travel.  Intramurals is the second largest at 14 percent, or $67,777.

Another substantial portion of the athletics money goes towards scholarships. Athletics scholarship funding is fixed at $116,060 this year. 

Other student activity money is allocated to the humanities department, which includes academic clubs, music, and drama.

This year three percent, or $7,600, of the humanities budget went towards the Brain Bowl.  That’s a 10 percent increase from last year when brain bowl received a $6,250 budget.

Other portions of the student activity money towards humanities were divided between Debate, the Literary Association, Corsair, Guitar Association, Drama, Chorale, the Wind and Jazz Ensembles, and the Lyceum.

This year, the PJC Corsair received 27 percent of the Humanities budget.  This funding covers everything from salaries to printing.

The drama department is apportioned $41,065, or 16 percent of the humanities budget for 2006/2007.  That’s a $1,000 increase from last year. 

The money assigned will go towards the cost of costumes, sets, and even the actors and music directors for the performances.

Don Snowden, Head of the Department of Music and Theatre said the cost of putting on a production is anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on the size of the production. 

“We try to use every bit,” Snowden said.

For the Music Department, the Wind Ensemble is budgeted to obtain $29,450, which is 11 percent of the humanities budget.  This aids student travel, and $22,000 of the Wind Ensemble money will aim towards scholarships. 

The Jazz ensemble will acquire $9,700.  $6,350 of the jazz ensemble will be given towards scholarships.   

The Lyceum is estimated to receive $53,260, which was stagnant from last year.  This capital is to be distributed between maintenance, equipment, Keegan, and honoria fees.

The remaining funding is divided through SGA and other student organizations; covering Pensacola, Milton, and Warrington Student Government Associations, and student clubs.

“The majority of our funds go to providing activities to students and provide funds to about 30 clubs and organizations,” Peter Wilkin, Director of Student Life, said.

“My role is to direct various student coordinators on each of the campuses to get together with their SGAs and come up with their operating budgets,” Wilkin. said

This process seems to work well, considering for the 2005/2006 year only one budget was broken within the SGA budgets, and that was the Milton campus.

Last year Milton campus SGA was allocated $6,625, and had expenses totaling out to $7,546.  This year the Milton campus SGA has a quantum of $9,650, which is a 46 percent increase from last year.

Warrington campus SGA has a planned disbursement of $5,812, and Pensacola campus’s SGA is budgeted out to $10,500.

Another expense you may not have been aware of is food.  When you are offered free food in the student center, you probably paid for it with your student activity fees.  The SGA organizes these events.

“This is the one budget where food can be bought,” Reynolds said.

Last year, more than $25,000 was spent on food alone.  This year, the food budget totals out to $24,646.

With all of these expenditures coming out of your student activity fees, you should probably consider participating in one of the many student programs, if you haven’t already.

Of course, the amount of money budgeted each year depends on student enrollment.  So the more our student population increases, the more money we will have towards student activities, and more options will be created.

“We just hope that the school continues to flourish and grow because then everyone gets more money,” Swanson said.

Hospitality class goes pro

Gina Nespoli

Published: December 6, 2006

“Has everyone signed the pineapple?” asked Dana Muck, hospitality management major, a student in Dr. Lyn Pickeral’s hospitality class. Frantic, the class prepared for the guest speaker to arrive.  At any given moment Fred Simmons, owner of Paradise Inn, was to waltz into the room.  To welcome Simmons, the class signed a pineapple, which, in the hospitality industry, means ‘welcome.’

Simmons had given Pickeral’s class an assignment - to develop a marketing strategy promoting Paradise Inn.  The students received hands on experience working with professionals such as Simmons on the project. 

The students did extensive research to create a power point presentation for the assignment.  Each of the students had a different section to work on; everything from hotel guest surveys to checking codes from the health department.

“It’s better to be hands on. This is wonderful for establishing relationships in the industry,” said Rachel Cottrell, hospitality management major. “It’s great for the future of PJC marketing.”

Others, like Cottrell, agreed that the hands on experience had benefited the future of their careers in marketing.

“It gave [us] an opportunity to work on a real life project, rather than just something in a book.  So you got a totally different aspect,” said Craig Carter, hospitality management major.

“I did really enjoy doing it.  It was a great learning experience, and I was able to step out of my comfort zone,” said Clair Brasseux, hospitality management major.  “That’s something I have trouble with.”

Pickeral said, “They did a great job, and I’m really proud of them. I’ve had other companies and places already contact me about this program.  This was wonderful for the students, and I am really thankful.”

Pickeral hopes that this experience with her class will spark an interest for other PJC students to work with the professionals in Pensacola to further benefit their careers.

“You couldn’t buy this,” one student said of the opportunity to work with professionals.

Suggestions the students made for changes to the website have already been implemented, with more to follow.  The students presented Simmons with constructive criticism and a realistic plan for the future of Paradise Inn.

“Y’all have really opened my eyes, I’m impressed,” said Simmons. “And amazed.  I give this class an A++.”

Possibilities posed for the gaming frosh

Ricky Di

Published: December 6, 2006

A new program may be on the horizon at PJC for students interested in getting into the gaming industry.ÿPlans for a new gaming degree to be implemented next year are in the works.ÿAlthough the degree has not yet been approved, the buzz surrounding the prospective program has students in high hopes for the future.

The degree, an AAS focusing on simulation and game design, goes before a committee this week.ÿIf approved, the program will include courses in art, multimedia production and programming.

Such a program is usually only available as a graduate degree, so implementation at the junior college level is a rare, but welcome, change.  Students will not be limited to just the gaming industry either, as the balance of required courses allows for fallback careers in the arts and programming fields, said Rich Cacace, computer science professor and gaming degree program initiator.

With the expanding popularity of the gaming industry, the availability of such a program in this area is already drawing approval from students.ÿ

“I would like it,” student Elizabeth Walters said.

The gaming industry is a rapidly growing field, and PJC offering students a chance to get in on the action would benefit all parties involved.

“Sign me up,” student Travonta Nance said.ÿ

If approved, the gaming degree will give incoming students a new option as far as degree programs to enter.ÿThe program could also benefit returning students who are searching for something new.

Student Duell Mathis, an avid gamer, was more than happy with the idea of a gaming program being offered on campus.ÿ

“I will slay all who oppose the formation of such a beautiful learning experience,” Mathis said.

Renovations abound on Pensacola campus

Leilani Alim

Published: December 6, 2006

When people purchase an older home, they often find much that needs to be repaired. Plumbing may not work as expected, paint may be faded, landscaping may need improvement.

The PJC administration faces many of the same challenges as they continually struggle to keep the aging Pensacola campus in good repair.

Especially since Hurricane Ivan, PJC has invested a lot of time, money and hard work into renovations that range from minor projects to the complete renovation of buildings.

“No buildings are perfect, and there is always room for improvements. Hopefully we are on top of everything needed right now,” said Michael Hayse, in facilities planning and construction.

Many minor projects have taken place recently on campus, according to Vice President of Planning and Administration Isaac Brigham. After the hurricanes, new roofs were put onto several of the buildings, and they are “constantly improving the heating and air conditioning systems,” Brigham said.

A few years ago, the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for the Visual Arts was renovated, which brought forth a new perspective for art presentations. The building is architecturally sound and modernized to best highlight the changing exhibits.

Recently, PJC completed renovation of the east end of the Baroco Center for Science and Technology, which was seriously damaged during Hurricane Ivan. The facility now accommodates the PJC foundation, instead of <a href=”http://www.wsre.org”>WSRE</a>, Hayse said.

The major renovation currently taking place is the Lou Ross Center. In addition to a new training room and an enhanced clinic, the center will feature “a state of the art gym floor to replace the wood floor that caused many sports injuries,” Hayse said.

The renovation of the Ross complex will improve sports performance as well as the function of the staff and coaches, Hayse said.

All of the above renovations are just the beginning. Next year begins a new renovation schedule, the biggest one being the Learning Resource Center. With a $7 million dollar budget for the project, PJC is currently in the process of selecting an architect, and construction should begin next year, Hayse said.

Murder suspect possibly on UWF campus

Kay Forrest - The Corsair

Police are trying to catch a murder suspect in the woods by the UWF campus.

The entire UWF campus is on lock down until further notice. Students are told not to leave their classrooms. All buildings are being locked, and vehicles searched as they leave campus. All night classes have been canceled.

The suspect, Bruce Day, 42, is at large after police tried to serve him an arrest warrant for an alleged murder in Nokomis, Ala., in 2001. Day was working at the Gulf Power Crist Plant near campus today when he escaped police.

Police and U.S. Marshalls are employing the use of K-9 units, helicopters, and a boat to find Day. He is described as a white male, 5′8″, 160 lbs., wearing a dark green shirt and blue jeans. If spotted, do not approach him, but call 911.

Next Page »