Cutting financial corners in difficult times

When you listen to news reports today it is clear that the United States is still feeling the effects of the recent economic recession. Students are not exempt from these aftershocks. A query about student savings with an internet search engine yields many results most of which are common sense. Saving can also be found in unexpected places for students who take the time to set goals, plan ahead, research options and budget their finances.  Here are some useful money saving tips.

Academic pricing on software and computers

The technology industry is very generous to students. Most computer firms like Hewlett Packard and Dell offer student discounts and bundles. Software companies often have academic pricing which saves students up to 80 percent on popular software packages. For example, Microsoft offers a single license for its 2010 Office Professional Suite, which retails for $499.99, to students for just $79.99. These discounts can be found at the supplier websites or online at the campus bookstore.

Saving on Energy and Water Resources                                                    

Everyone must contend with the high cost of energy in Florida but Pensacola State College Professor Michael Johnston (pictured right) offers some excellent energy saving tips. He advises students looking for apartments to choose one on the ground floor to reduce cooling costs.  This alone can save you about $60 a year on your energy bill.

Gulf Power offers power evaluations to customers to help them save energy as well as many different rate and billing plans. Many students are still paying premium rates but there are plans such as Residential Variable Rate Pricing which bases its prices on what time of day the energy is used. This can result in savings of up to 40 percent. There is also Budget Billing which averages the customer’s energy bills and guarantees a set amount every month. This is perfect for students who have not perfected the art of budgeting their finances.

Another high cost which Professor Johnston estimates accounts for about 20 percent of students’ energy bills is home lighting. He suggests replacing incandescent bulbs with comparable compact florescent light bulbs which are 40 percent more energy-efficient.  Though there is an initial investment of about $15 - $20, depending on how many bulbs are needed, you save about $900 over the life of those bulbs. Just starting with the most commonly used rooms in your house can offer significant savings.

He suggests placing a plastic liter bottle, filled with water and a layer of pebbles, in the tank of the toilet. It displaces about ½ gallon of water so you waste less water. He advises, however, against putting a brick in the tank as it diffuses over time and can cause problems.

Wise use of banks and financial institutions

Students are offered a wide variety of accounts which are advertised as being “free” but they often come with stipulations. It is important to ask the right questions about monthly minimum requirements and transaction fees.

 Jennifer Newman, Branch Manager for Sun Trust Bank said, “There are so many people who really do not know anything about keeping a register or how to save or budget their money.  People fall short or get in trouble when going with all of the electronic routes and never actually sitting down and writing down everything that they do in a check register.”

She reiterates how important it is for students to talk to financial advisors and educate themselves about how to achieve their short-term and long-term goals.

Medical savings tips

Though there is no easy way to the address the need for affordable healthcare, there are options for students.

“There are health care professionals who have dedicated their lives to helping college students. They know the best ways to make it cost effective.”  

The college clinic offers services at no charge to students as well as a wealth of free information and referral services as needed. According to Johnston.

Before visiting a physician, visit local pharmacies like those at Publix and Wal-Mart to get pamphlets listing their free or discounted prescriptions. A doctor can often find alternatives on those lists for a fraction of the cost.

Buying in bulk

Students who are sharing a household might find it beneficial to obtain a membership card from a store which sells in bulk. A Collegiate Membership at Sam’s Club costs 40$. There is a special offer at this time for a 15$ gift card for signing up. Buying in bulk requires some household planning in advance but offers many benefits.

Discounts on-campus

Students training for careers under the oversight of licensed professionals can offer significant savings for services on campus. The cosmetology department offers a full range of services from haircuts to manicures for low rates Mondays through Fridays by appointment.  For an appointment, call 484-2567. The dental clinic at Pensacola State offers students X-rays, teeth cleaning and fluoride treatment for 20$. You can make an appointment by calling 484-2236.

Students are faced with more financial concerns in these difficult economic times than in years past but small changes can add up to big savings over the course of a year. If students learn to develop intelligent savings strategies they will gain knowledge which will serve them beyond their college years.

Nicholas Alford - The Corsair

Marty Donovan and his associates with the Park Yes Stadium No succeeded in collecting 3,916 signatures for their petition to put the Community Maritime Park decision back to a referendum.

However, city officials refused to take the petitions, saying that they cannot accept them after close of business.

“It was always clear to me that there was no time specified in the city charter,” Donovan said, “It’s like saying your tax return has to be in April 15th: people are going to the post office at 11:59 to get their tax returns stamped as having been delivered.”

Donovan, Jack Nobles, and several other citizens supporting the cause would not accept that answer, and drove to Mayor Mike Wiggins home and knocked on his door. Wiggins answered the door to find about 12 supporters on his lawn, and told them he will have to make some phone calls before he decides whether or not to accept the petitions. After five minutes, he came back out to his front porch, told everyone that he refuses to take the petitions, and asked them to leave his property.

“It is my understanding that the clerk is supposed to take these petitions,” Wiggins said, “As I am not the city clerk, I refuse to take responsibility for them.”

But the group had visited the city clerk’s home before that as well, and she wasn’t home.

The crew then drove to the city police station to see if they could hold the petitions in the evidence locker, but the police were already ordered ahead of time by City Manager Alvin Coby not to accept the petitions.

After a long night of being refused by several city judges and county sheriffs, the group took the petitions to a local attorney named Dave Jester who accepted the petitions which were sealed, signed by all four members of the committee and dated. According to him, the city clerk has a legal obligation to to take them no matter the circumstances.

The petitions will be delivered to city hall Monday morning, Aug 23.

As many a student will attest, financial excess and attending college seldom co-exist.  There is no doubt that a college education is expensive, but this point is only exacerbated by our current textbook system.

I considered taking a Pre-Calculus course this fall as an elective, but eventually passed on the notion.  What I found interesting was the cost of the textbook at $171.  This semester finds students needing to buy a new book, which has been introduced into the Pensacola State College (PSC) curriculum.  My first thought is, “what new discovery have they found in this branch of Mathematics, or in any math course offered at PSC?”  I would be inclined to believe there is none. 

Why must Literature courses, which have textbooks with hundreds of literary works, change the course required books in favor of new books containing the same stories and authors.  Why not utilize all the works in one book before considering a new textbook.  Has Faulkner or Hemingway or Shakespeare written something new since their death?  I hope not.

And then there are history books on eras prior to the 21^st century that must be changed periodically.  Have historical figures such as George Washington, Julius Caesar or Henry VIII been resurrected to add to their historical biographies?  Have the events changed in centuries gone by? 

There are many other courses, which I have not taken, that are subject to this same criticism. 

While there changes that occur daily, are they so dire to higher education that we need to continually change our textbooks?  Why not supplement textbooks with addendums?  I’ve had courses where the textbook was seldom used, because the instructors lectured or taught the course through their presentations.

In fairness to everyone involved, I have encountered instructors who allow their students to use outdated books as long as the student doesn’t mind the possible drawbacks or inconveniences.  I’ve also heard instructors express their sympathy for a student’s plight in the politics of textbooks.

Most people believe our current system of textbook requirements is simply in place for the revenue it generates.  Who is paying?  Those who can very often least afford to pay.  Typical of a political system, there needs to be change.

Most students are more than willing to pay for what is required of them to attain their education goals, but don’t needlessly take our limited resources to feed the greedy beast.

John Curtis - The Corsair

Creative writing courses have been reinstated at Pensacola State College, but with restrictions to ensure cost-effectiveness.

Creative Writing-Fiction (CRW 2100, section 0430) is being offered at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall, and Creative Writing-Poetry (CRW 2300) may be offered in the spring term, said Thom Botsford, head of the Department of English and Communications.

Last year no creative writing courses were offered because of budget cuts. In an effort to hold down costs, the college suspended or inactivated some 140 courses.  Among those cut were “enrichment” courses such as creative writing and electives not required for any particular degree. 

Bill Fisher, who has taught Creative Writing-Fiction for more than 20 years, usually attracts a full class of students. As of Aug. 13, his reinstated class had 17 students. Enrollment is capped at 24, “but maybe we can accept a couple extra,” Botsford said.

To be cost-effective, the class must enroll 20 students and be taught as a faculty overload (voluntarily chosen by a professor) or by a part-time professor.

Dr. Martin Gonzalez, vice president of instructional affairs, said a slightly better budgetary picture was a factor in reinstating courses like this: “We were able to allow a few courses to continue to be offered provided they maintain a minimum of 20 students.”  

Some English faculty members were disappointed when the course was suspended in 2009, including Marian Wernicke, a recently retired Pensacola State professor who taught the poetry class for 20 years.  She said the decision to suspend the class was “short-sighted.”

“We had quite a few students over the past 25 years go on to four-year universities to pursue a degree in creative writing and English based on positive experiences here,” she added.

Botsford said that “the value of a creative writing can’t be measured solely by dollars or by FTE count. The kind of learning that can take place-deep active learning involving the imagination-makes the course an especially valuable elective.” 

At the heart of the decision to include or exclude courses from the college’s curriculum are the State of Florida’s budgetary woes.

Given the sluggish economy and catastrophes like the oil spill, the outlook for more state funding is grim, according to Larry Bracken, director of government affairs at Pensacola State.

“Money from the Florida Legislature will be short for the next decade,” Bracken said. “They [the lawmakers] simply do not have it.”

Marty Donovan has been tirelessly walking the neighborhoods of rural Pensacola for almost three months now. He knocks on doors, makes phone calls and visits local businesses, rain or shine, to circulate his petition among the people of Pensacola. If he doesn’t  get 3,805 voters to sign his petition by Aug. 20, the stadium that he describes to be a “terribly egregious abuse of the taxpayers,” will continue construction uninterrupted.

Donovan is one of the founding members of the Park Yes Stadium No petitioning committee which he, along with former City Councilman Jack Nobles, filed an affidavit for with the city on June 18, 2010. According to the new Pensacola charter, any citizen has a right to petition against any city council decision and have it overturned by way of referendum vote. All they have to do is submit a formal affidavit, and wait for the city to supply the petition.

When Donovan’s affidavit was returned to his committee by the city attorney two days later with the petition, they would now have 60 days to acquire signatures of ten percent of voters registered within the city limits. And with only a few days left, Donovan says they still have a long way to go.

Donovan himself was also a member of the city council from 2001 - 2009, and stood apart from the rest of the council in supporting the Maritime Park contract which was approved by majority vote in 2006. This isn’t the first time Donovan has tried to stop construction of the park. After the initial approval for the park, Donovan formed a committee called Save Our City in opposition of the project. During that time the city charter mandated that 15 percent of the voter’s signatures were needed and gave him 90 days to get them. Donovan and his associates were able to get the required signatures in time and bring the decision back to a referendum vote, but public opinion was still bent toward keeping the park the way it is and voted in favor of continuing the project.

So, what is the position of committee? To put it simply: Donovan and his associates believe that the people of Pensacola were tricked into backing a large loan to build a private baseball stadium and an extravagant commercial plaza on what is supposed to be public land. According to Donovan, not only was Community Maritime Park Associates deceitful in the way that the park was planned, it is also a huge waste of money and could potentially turn into a huge liability for the taxpayers of Pensacola.

“The citizens of the City of Pensacola have been victimized by a vicious ‘bait and switch’ scheme,” said Donovan, “they were sold on something four years ago, voted on that, and what is actually going to be built is very different.”

According to Donovan, the original plans showed a much larger area for a public park, while the new plans show the majority of the land being allocated for commercial development and the stadium complex. The park has been pushed down to a small corner of the 32 acre lot which Donovan says is not adequate to serve the public.

Edward Spears, Interim Director of Community Maritime Park Associates (CMPA), disagrees, saying that nothing is different from the original plans except a few minor details.

“Show me what I switched,” said Spears, as he compared the initial site plans to the final site plans. “Let’s go down the list of amenities and you show me what’s different: very large public park, multi-use athletic facility, maritime museum complex. ”

According to Spears, this is exactly what the city voted on, and he insists that little has changed from the original site artwork.

“Artists are conceptual,” Spears said. “Architects are literal; the original plans weren’t drawn exactly to scale, but the difference is minor.”

When asked what will happen if Park Yes Stadium No succeeds in their goal of attaining the required signatures for the referendum vote, Spears said, “in my opinion, nothing will happen. In short: The city council has a right to approve or not to approve of the contract, but they don’t have the right to change it afterwards. The CMPA entered into an agreement with a private contractor and the city is not a party to that contract; they didn’t sign it. The government cannot make a law retroactive that would impact a legally entered into contract. So you can’t send in a petition and retroactively say no to something you’ve already in good faith approved. The city used their rights, and their rights ended when the contract was made.”

“It’s like ringing a bell,” Spears continued, “you can’t ‘unring’ it”

According to Spears, any revenue made outside of operational costs of the park will be put into operational reserves which will cover things like storm damage and normal wear and tear. Any profits made outside of that will go to charity.

But Marty Donovan is convinced that this park will be a drain on the city, saying that the Pensacola Pelicans is a “sub-minor hobby team owned by a millionaire.”

“It’s been a trend for sports teams to get cities and counties to build them stadiums on the false argument that it will be an economic stimulus,” Donovan said. “The day that stadium is finished, it becomes a financial liability on the backs of the taxpayers until the day it is demolished.”

But Spears adds that this is not just a baseball stadium for the Pensacola Pelicans, but a multi-use facility able to host concert performances as well as football and soccer games.

“The revenue from the stadium will go back into operation of the stadium and park itself.” said Spears. “By agreement, the park has to be maintained by the CMPA, not by the city.”

Marty Donovan only sees this park as a gamble with the city’s money to fill the pockets of a few rich people.

“We want a park,” says Donovan, “that’s what we were promised, that’s what we put up our land for, that’s why we borrowed the $45.6 million. And now we find out, between the baseball promoters and commercial developers, our park is being denied us.”

Marty Donovan can be contacted through his website, parksyesstadiumno.com. You can also visit communitymaritimepark.com for more information about the project itself.

If you’re an old school gamer like me, you’ve no doubt heard of Castlevania, the storied vampire and monster slaying game series. That’s an odd title, no doubt, but those who have enjoyed video games since the beginning know what it means: solid action, great music and (even since the beginning, to a much lesser degree) a good story.

Story, you ask? In an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) title? Well, yes; but in those early days it was mostly an excuse plot: Dracula’s castle, its ominous form rising from the Romanian countryside, beckons the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan to brave its dangers and slay its dark master: Count Dracula. Its form changes at the whim of its lord, but always has at least an entrance, clock tower, outer walls, galleries and myriad corridors, a chapel (even evil needs religion once in a while), coliseum, and the keep where Dracula himself resides waiting for our heroes are playable in each of the games.

There have been at least 15 entries in the series over as many platforms, from the classic computer MSX, to the first great American console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, on to the Super NES and the Genesis. But it was on Sony’s PlayStation console that the series really hit its stride, in my opinion. Most of the first games on the 8 and 16-bit consoles and handhelds utilized a linear side-scrolling formula; walk to the right or the left, killing various atrocities and a boss at the end of each level. But Symphony of the Night, the PlayStation installment, introduced myriad item-gathering, exploration, backtracking and a massive castle to do it all in. (Previously, Simon’s Quest on the NES had done it too, but less successfully.)

This new formula, called ‘Metroidvania’ after both this series and the other to utilize it successfully, Metroid (starting with Super Metroid on the Super NES), has continues through to the present day, successfully surviving a few transitions to 3D on the more modern consoles starting with PlayStation 2 (Lament of Innocence, which explicates the ‘real’ story of how the series began). The series will continue in a slightly different direction with Lords of Shadow, which is a plot ‘reboot’ and not part of the original story.

However, the most recently released installment pays tribute to both the old school and the new: Harmony of Despair features, for the first time in the series, will be multiplayer; up to six players may be selected from (currently) five characters from previous games; the characters are rendered as they were in their games, with well-animated 2D sprites (flat animated pictures). There are currently six massive levels to battle through with bosses from the previous games at the ends of each one and the players are under a time limit of half an hour with each death subtracting five minutes.

All in all, the series is a great and memorable one; the new installment is a worthy addition, and I look forward to playing future offerings!

Maps. Signs. Stationary headings. Decals. Bumper stickers. Business cards. Diplomas. Bookmarks… The list goes on and on. There seems to be no end to the things that must be changed in PJC’s final transition to the Pensacola State College brand.

These changes affect every department, from marketing to the president’s office to facilities maintenance.

“It’s a monumental task,” says Alice Crann Good, Pensacola State’s public information specialist, “every day something new arises.”

And it does. PJC has been a household name in Pensacola for most of its 61 years as a junior college. The logo can be found everywhere; from freeway signs to security badges. Even pens and sticky notes bear the PJC logo on them.

But what must be done must be done. With the new name comes a new calling: to help Florida increase its number of baccalaureate graduates. Florida, with only 3.5 graduates per thousand people, is ranked 47th in the nation in bachelor degrees per capita.

The new Pensacola State College now allows students who have already earned an associate’s degree to continue their education onto a specific list of baccalaureate programs: programs like nursing or graphic design.

According to Pensacola State College President Ed Meadows, it was the Florida Legislature that first started talking about the education level of the state a few years ago, urging community colleges to answer the call in the hopes they will be more readily equipped to handle the extra load.

“The primary mission, besides university transfer, is workforce development,” Meadows said, “The issue of baccalaureate degrees has become a large part of the workforce equation, and traditionally, community colleges have been able to respond quicker to workforce needs than universities.”

As with all junior colleges, Pensacola Junior College was founded after the passing of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more commonly called the G. I. Bill. The primary mission at that time was to help fulfill the educational needs of veterans returning to the workforce after World War II. These uniquely American educational institutions later called “community colleges” evolved over time to meet the needs of 48.8 percent of the entire nation, according to a U. S. Census Bureau 2008 survey. While most junior colleges began changing into community colleges over the 1970’s, PJC kept its well known brand for two reasons: it was already such a popular name in Pensacola so there was no foreseeable need to change it, and Pensacola Christian College already claimed the acronym PCC.

Since it first opened its doors in 1947, the school has grown from a single building teaching 136 students, to one of the largest multimillion dollar educational institutions in the state, spanning three fully equipped campuses, with a fourth one on the way, that easily caters to the 38,000 students who enrolled in 2009.

According to Martin Gonzalez, Pensacola State’s vice president of instructional affairs, many of the 28 community colleges in the state of Florida have also answered the call in offering baccalaureate degrees, each school offering specific programs of education to the needs of the local area. PJC had considered making the transition back in 2004, but the administration at that time saw no immediate need.

“As the movement kept moving forward and Dr. Meadows came on board, an opportunity arose,” Gonzalez said, “We performed a survey of local business and industry and asked them what they felt was needed in the area.”

The survey was distributed through the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce and its feedback yielded an overwhelming need for baccalaureate degrees in two specific areas: nursing and business.

“What it would do is take someone with an associate’s degree in a technical area and build on top of it management and supervisory courses that would be needed for that person to move up within their organization.”

The proposal to offer these programs, according to Gonzalez, was submitted to the State Department of Education in March of 2009 and was approved for funding by March 2010. That left the administration only a month to prepare the final step.

“We had to then submit an application for accreditation to SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) by the April 15th deadline,” Gonzalez said. “We had to move very fast; it was an intense time.”

SACS then reviewed the application and approved it by the last week of June. However, according to Gonzalez, one of the principles of SACS is that the name of the institution should reflect the mission of the school, so SACS would not approve PJC for baccalaureate accreditation unless its name was changed.

At that point, a committee that consisted of administration, faculty and students had already been appointed to explore potential names for the school. Pensacola State College was agreed upon after several months of deliberation.

It will be an ongoing process for the name change to be completely finished as the list of items that need to be altered continues to grow. The former PJC is now officially named Pensacola State College, but the remnants of the former PJC will still linger through the halls and the minds of faculty and staff for many years to come.

Recycling bin grant recipients were chosen by Keep America Beautiful based on a number of criteria. For example, if bins are likely to have the most impact on recovering beverage containers from the waste stream, the ability of recipients to sustain their program, and the intent to provide recycling education where some of the necessary criteria. 

This recycling initiative is not the first step that Pensacola State has taken in the green direction according to Shannon Keithly, PSC’s Energy Education Specialist.

“‘Green’ is a very large and evolving concept.” said Keithly, “I don’t think it is a state that an institution ever really achieves, but rather an aspiration with an ever-moving target. We can always do more to reduce our impact on the environment. In recent years, Pensacola State has taken some big, positive steps in the direction of being more green.”

Those steps include convening in an Environmental Sustainability Committee to take actions that promote sustainability throughout neighboring communities, and becoming a member of the US Green Building Council. PSC has also made commitments to measure and track energy use, develop plans for energy improvements,  and make efficiency upgrades.

Pensacola State’s move toward the green state of mind does not end there. There are several projects in the works to maintain our effort. For example, the lighting in building 15 will be replaced with LEDs this Fall. We are also anticipating a grant from the state so that we can purchase solar panels to heat our pool.

“Green is a community thing,” according to Shannon Kiethly. So, PSC could adopt all the green initiatives available and it wouldn’t matter unless we all, as students and members of a community, participate. Therefore, next time you think about throwing that plastic Coke bottle in the trash, make sure it gets tossed into one of our new recycling bins.

So with all this reading and musing on sexuality that I’ve been doing, I’ve decided that beautiful is a word I’d rather be called by, because sexy can come under the umbrella of beauty.  To me sexuality is very much a part of being beautiful.  If someone, be it a man or a woman, tells you that you are beautiful, they are obviously physically attracted to you, and that can lead to one being thought of as “sexy.”

“Beautiful” is also a more flattering compliment because the people that I have met don’t describe a person as beautiful unless they are really impressed by how that person acts/behaves/carries him or herself. Beauty is something that is an inside part of you and it shines so brightly that everyone within your friendship circle, and even people outside of it, will notice and pick up on, and be literally drawn to like bees to honey.

Beauty also factors in with maturity, because little, stuck-up teenage girls who go around running their mouths and saying rude things are probably not very often called beautiful.  I’m not saying that you can’t be a little bit tough and be beautiful, but it’s about respecting yourself.  I can go out with my guy friends, drink a beer and down a whole pizza, holler like an idiot at Tom Brady and his teammates and still be the very feminine presence while hanging out with the guys.  That’s the problem with most girls today.  They miss the difference between “hanging out with the guys” and “being one of the guys.”  Angelina Jolie kicked total ass in “Wanted,” but she was very much a woman, and was very separate and identifiable compared to her “fraternity brothers.” 

That’s what being a beautiful, sexy woman is all about.  That’s what I’m realizing, and it’s making me more and more content to be myself every day.  Yup, I can curse, drink and smoke any guy I meet under the table, but he’ll think “that was the baddest chick I’ve ever met” when he walks away.  That’s what beauty is: owning yourself and everything about you (even your faults), and using all of these aspects of your personality to add to your sexiness.