Hope for the Starving (and Broke) Student

 

Two minutes till Chem. class and there I was… racing out of the food court parking lot. Half hazardly, I choked down veggie stir-fry while simultaneously avoiding both whiplash and chopstick puncture wounds. Ahh…college, a time when both schedules and budgets are tight; but what does this mean for your dining arrangements? There’s a reason for the phrase “starving college student”. Who hasn’t experienced exasperation in gazing into a fridge adorned solely by old ketchup packets and curdling dairy? In the next few weeks the Corsair will aim to lessen your woes with affordable and relatively healthy dining suggestions. In this article I’ll highlight a few lunch spots around PJC that won’t consume your gas fund. My challenge? -lunch for under five dollars.
My first stop was Panera Bread where I found several possibilities. Soup and a baguette is around $3.50 +tax. Available soups rotate daily but usually include at least five options or so (My favorites are the broccoli-cheddar and the tomato-basil). If something more portable is in order, the 99 cent bagels are an excellent option (you can get an apple, peanut-butter, or cheese for an about a dollar more).
The next stop was only a short walk away. Moe’s grille also offers several affordable items. One of my favorites is the Overachiever hard taco with tofu. The kid’s meals are around $3.75+tax and include a cookie, a drink and chips. I have a friend who practically lived off the Mr. moo-moo burrito. Another perk is their tantalizing salsa bar which includes several delicious varieties.
A quick jaunt into the mall brought me to my favorite spot in the newly renovated food court-Wraps and More. They have a delicious Monster Veggie Wrap for around $4.50+tax. I like it on the wheat tortilla with provolone.
Speaking of renovations, there’s a new Cuban walk-up joint, called Havana’s cafe that just opened up right around the corner from PJC. It’s actually connected to Verona’s, but their prices are considerably lower. They have pitas, wraps and sandwiches (served with chips) for $4.50+tax.  Havana’s also offers several unique sides. I like the sweet plantains ($2 an order).
Another authentically ethnic option is Siam Thai (located on ninth ave). The food is fresh and the atmosphere is very unique (the restaurant is actually connected to a car wash and they have their own gift shop!).They’re plenty of options for the vegetarian and carnivore alike. Both the veggie rolls and the spring rolls are $3.50 an order (3 rolls) and come with a plum sauce, Steamed rice is an additional $1. The ice Thai coffee or tea is $1.50 and a great pick-me-up.
So next time your sanity is failing by reason of starvation (and the thought of yet another cheeseburger has become rather sickening) , consider one of these suggestions. Who said variety has to break your budget?

The Genius of Stupidity

 

There we stood…much like we had for the past hour and a half. The buzz of fluorescent lights and the suppressed smell of acetone hung thickly in the air. I’d fallen victim yet again to one of femininity’s many painfully lengthy beauty rituals- the cosmetic run.
 My own cosmetic habits are admittedly quite minimalistic; I’d merely been dragged along as an accomplice by my well-intentioned, albeit excruciatingly slow, friend.  I never realized how much deliberation goes into the seemingly simple process of purchasing a tube of lip gloss. After agonizing for what seemed like hours, my friend neurotically held up two beige colored tubes to request my opinion. “What’s the difference?” was my apparently ignorant response. After a look of shock and slight disgust, she informed me that one was Fizzy ocean sunset and the other was a “completely different” Lively Autumn Meadows .Even after artful examination, they both still looked brown to me. I always wondered who got the job of coming up with those outrageous product names though. I’m convinced all the name games are simply an effective use of marketing to collect more money out of fewer products. A store could probably carry two identical products and by merely giving them different titles, convince the consumer to buy both.
Many marketing strategies focus on touting an increased quality of life made possible by their product. Well, perhaps “quality of life” is a bit too noble; it seems modern campaigns appeal to widespread vanity more than anything else. I think one of the most amusing such product claims I’ve seen is for lotion. The label actually reads “firming” lotion.  I’ve heard of softening lotion, but firming? Wouldn’t that be interesting…forget the gym and the Botox injections- let’s just slather ourselves in lotion! Another appeal to vanity?-it seems like everything now a days has to include some slightly provocative   prefix (“sexed-up” shampoo, “shady lady” eye shadow etc…).  I glanced at my shaving crème the other day and noticed it was labeled “flirtatious mango”. What, I ask, is flirtatious about this delicious member of the citrus family??? Is a mango somehow sexier than say, an apple? It’s a sad day when even our fruit is segregated.
Food is a prime example of marketing strategies in action. Some of the slogans we except are rather absurd upon contemplation. For instance, I simply can’t understand a certain drive-thru’s slogan “You gotta eat”. I mean, is the food just so bad that their only angel was to point out food as a necessary part of survival? What about “Wake up with the King”? What the heck does that mean? On second thought, I don’t think I wanna know.  How about Budweiser’s highly intellectual catch phrase, “Wassup??!”…I wonder what executive lined their pockets with that stroke of brilliance. My personal favorite would have to be Oscar Meyer Weiner’s campaign “I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner”. You know, no matter how lonely I got, I feel fairly certain nothing could possibly possess me to want to be a processed meat product.
From cosmetics to packaged meat, marketing is the face of a product, and in the end, whether that face wears Amber tidal wave or just plain ole orange can make all the difference. Some marketing, no matter how idiotic, seems fated to turn into success. Perhaps that’s the point: more outrageous = more memorable. This, in short, is the genius of stupidity.

PJC BOARD APPROVES MOVE TO ADD BACCALAUREATE DEGREES

From Staff Reports

November 14, 2008

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Pensacola Junior College Board of Trustees has unanimously voted to pursue the offering of baccalaureate degrees.

“This is an expansion of our mission that will allow us to serve our community better, especially in some areas of critical workforce shortage,” said Board of Trustee Chair Vincent Andry.

PJC is a member of the new Florida College System, which now has nine former Florida community colleges granting baccalaureate degrees and at least five others currently pursuing authority to grant baccalaureate degrees.

PJC President Ed Meadows said, “The PJC Board felt that this change was necessary to help provide qualified professionals in a number of areas, particularly in high demand areas such as health care where critical shortages are predicted to continue through the next decade.”

The Board will seek approval from the State Board of Education for authority to offer the baccalaureate degree based on documented need in critical workforce professions. In addition, it will petition the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to move from Level I to Level II, which is required for offering baccalaureate degrees.

“This will not happen immediately, as we have several processes to go through, but we are hopeful that our requests will be well received,” Meadows said.
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The great majority of PJC’s programs will continue to be associate degrees and the college will continue its long “Two-Plus-Two” relationship with the University of West Florida and other Florida universities.

“The majority of our associate degree students transfer to the University of West Florida,” Meadows said. “We will work very closely with the University of West Florida to establish a seamless articulation agreement for all levels of degrees offered.”

For more information, call 484-1700.

Michelle Obama encourages early voting in Pensacola

Kristin Martin

Published: Monday, October 27, 2008

Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, spoke at an “Early Vote for Change” rally around noon on Oct. 11 at the Pensacola Civic Center, and encouraged a crowd of about 6,500 people to vote early and for Barack Obama.

“We want you to march over, vote early today, put your sticker on and then commit to getting at least five or ten people to the polls on Election Day,” she said.

During her 30-minute speech, Michelle Obama said it’s important that people vote early, because they might be unable to vote on Election Day. She said if people vote early, they also will be able to volunteer to help others vote on Nov. 4.

Michelle Obama also said that people should take advantage of their right to vote, because they don’t have to rely on another person to decide which issues to correct. She said it doesn’t matter which candidate someone chooses to vote for, but they need to vote.

She said the election will be close, regardless of what polls portray, and that she and her husband act as if they are always 20 points down.

“Barack Obama is the underdog until he is sitting in the Oval Office,” Michelle Obama said. “We have to get into the White House.”

Early voting is the next step to get Barack Obama elected president, she said. Michelle Obama said he has made it 85 percent of the way, but supporters’ votes are needed to get him the rest of the way.

“He needs you now, not just to win, but he’s going to need you to lead; because Barack says that change doesn’t happen from the top down,” she said. “The change that we need happens from the bottom up.”

To make a point that Barack Obama “gets it,” Michelle Obama shared the struggles that the couple faced in the past, by telling stories about their sick parents who didn’t have adequate health care and were grateful just to have jobs that allowed them to care for their
families.

“I come here as a wife who has watched her husband grow and flourish in this role, and watching him, I know in my heart and soul that he will be an extraordinary president,” Michelle Obama said. “He is the only candidate in this race who understands the challenges that Americans are facing right now.”

Barack Obama believes the economic plan must be based on the middle class, according to Michelle Obama, that there should be a health care plan that covers every American, dependence on foreign oil should be reduced and every child should get a quality education. She said her husband would bring the troops home safely, and that the money spent on the war in Iraq each month should be invested “right here at home.”

“These issues, for me, are not political issues,” she said. “This is personal.”

Lumon May, Democratic candidate for state representative for District 3, spoke before Michelle Obama, and said even though the country is hurting, “we got hope, and hope is in Barack Obama.”

Shirley Henderson, 54, home ownership director for Community Enterprise Investments, attended the rally and said she thought Michelle Obama’s speech was “awesome.”

“It’s time for change,” Henderson said, explaining that she works with people who are going through the foreclosure process, and would like the economy to be in better shape for first-time home buyers.  “For the economy to be able to rise up and have people be able to afford homes, but keep them, is very important to me.”

John Robinson drove an hour-and-a-half from Irvington, Ala., to attend the rally.

“It was excellent,” he said.

“I support Michelle, and her husband, Barack, because they’re really two people who are very caring about the American people. They’re also very in tune to what the public needs and what they want,” Robinson said. “I think Barack is going to be one of the best presidents to hold the office in some decades. He’s an advocate for change, and he’s not with the status-quo type of politics.”

Phil Hall, legal counsel to the Obama campaign in Escambia County, also spoke at the rally. He explained that early voting is easy; a picture ID and something with a signature on it are the only things needed to vote.

Hall also said if people have any problems while voting, a person with a blue button or hat will be available at the polls to help protect votes, and any problems can be taken to that person. If people have questions before voting, he said they can call: 1-866-2FL-OBAMA.

“When you leave here today, go vote, and vote for Barack Obama,” Hall said.

After the rally, people gathered outside the civic center to march to the polls to vote early.

For information about early voting locations, go to: www.escambiavotes.com or www.santarosa.fl.gov/elections.

Walking tour this Saturday

From Staff Reports

 

PJC students and employees attend the American Heart Association walk

Katie Coseo

PJC employees and students from all three campuses attended the American Heart Association Heart Walk hosted in downtown Pensacola on Nov. 1. The team captains Butch Branch, from Milton, Dr. Marilyn Coseo, from Warrington, Sheran Noles and Sharon Richards, from Pensacola, gathered co-workers, friends and students to participate. Donations were accepted for the AHA from dozens of participants. The team members walked over three miles along with over a hundred other members and enjoyed free bagels, protein bars and sandwiches from Subway. By the end of the walk, team members were cheered on by local cheerleaders and treated to a much needed break.

Student activities coordinator departs from PJC

Wynonia Barrows

 

Downtown walking tour with Professor Broxton

Joshua Encinias

Published: Monday, September 22, 2008

As smoky twilight gave way to dawn, captive Francis Scott Key penned “The Defense of Fort McHenry” offshore the port city of Baltimore in 1814.

That September morning found the flag and fort tattered but standing.  Key’s poem about the “banner [that] yet wave” became the United States national anthem and Ft. McHenry became a place of citation for Pensacola history.

Randall Broxton, sponsor of the Jared Sparks Historical Society of Pensacola Junior College, commemorated the 194th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore at the first walking tour of the 08/09 season.

Multiple Pensacola brick companies were given contracts to supply brick for the building of Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas and Fort Jefferson all because Fort McHenry’s brick structure proved durable in battle.

Pensacola became the leading exporter of brick in the 1800s because of these military contracts. 

Historians say that understanding the achievements of any former culture takes a series of slow and minor discoveries, adding to the foundation of our knowledge.

“It makes your life more meaningful and fulfilling the more you know about something,” said club member Dr. Bill Spain.

Professor Broxton pays close attention to details in the stories he shares.  And he did so for the Dorothy Walton house in Downtown Pensacola. 

Dorothy Walton, widow of Declaration of Independence signer Judge George Walton, housed President George Washington at her home in Augusta, Georgia. 

Her son, acting territorial governor, George Walton Jr. had a daughter named Octavia Walton. 

Octavia married Dr. Henry Levert, whose father came from France with Rochambeau and treated then General George Washington on the field during the American Revolution.

“Interesting, how history combines and becomes a tapestry for us to learn and appreciate,” Broxton said.

Going green at PJC

Kimberly Sweetman

Published: Monday, September 22, 2008

People across the world are crying for a greener society, but what does that mean to us? What does that mean to the PJC student? How can we help to make a greener world when some of us can’t even decide what major to select?

The faculty at PJC was asked the same question at the beginning of this school year, and their answer was to implement a program that could involve every PJC student in every major to help green the world. The name of the program is called, “60 Seeds: Environmental and Economic Sustainability.”

Some may wonder, “What is sustainability?” Is it the same as environmentalism? The answer is no. Sustainability is more than just environmentalism. Michael Will, the man chosen for the task of implementing the 60 Seeds program said, “The big difference between sustainability and environmentalism is that the goal is not just to save the environment but to save us, to save us as people and our way of life to some degree.”

So sustainability is not just about the animals and the plants It is about us. That is why this program appeals to the normal PJC student. Not every person in this world is a lover of plants and animals, but we are all humans. We all have a part in making this world better.

The faculty at PJC has made it easy for us. Will has started a Web page called 60 seeds.blogspot.com. This site includes the mission statement, definitions of sustainability, events, and the “60 Seeds: Low cost changes that we can do today.” The 60 seeds project gives 60 small things that we can do to preserve the environment that we live in. Whether it’s turning off the lights when we leave a room or throwing trash in the garbage, we all can do this. It is our responsibility. We are the future of this world, and we need to preserve that future. The 60 Seeds project is a great way to begin.

“The goal of the 60 Seeds project is to start locally and let people span that out to make a greener world,” Will said. PJC can be the start of a new wave of sustainability. Our future can be preserved, and all we must do is plant one seed. If each student plants one seed, the growth of change will be unstoppable. I am ready to plant my seed of change. Are you?

Paramedic and EMS programs receive ambulance donation

Katie Coseo

Santa Rosa County Lifeguard Ambulance Services donated an ambulance for the PJC Paramedic and EMS programs. 

The Lifeguard service is owned by Deborah and John Roche who service Santa Rosa County.

“John called and asked, ‘What can we do for your program?’” explained Sandy Hartley, the department chairman of Dental and Emergency Services. 

Although the EMS and Paramedic programs at PJC have recently acquired their ambulance simulator, which helps students video tape and critique each others performance, “This doesn’t move,” said Hartley.

The real ambulance will be driven on and off campus with students to get the feel of practicing in a moving vehicle and performing life saving measures, such as putting an IV in. 

This ambulance was repaired with new tires, fresh paint and new decals before PJC faculty excitedly received it.

The Lifeguard Ambulance Services will even continue to keep up with the ambulance maintenance for free. Hartley explained that ambulances, “They get a lot of abuse,” with sudden stops and running through traffic, keeping an ambulance in tip-top conditions. 

Dan Lee, the Program Director of the Paramedic program, and Joe Diamond, the Program Director of the EMS program, along with Sandy Hartley, all have had experience with their ambulances breaking down during a run.

“Unit 12 to rescue-‘Go ahead’-Unit 12 is on fire again,” is just an example of what can go wrong with an ambulance. 

The ambulance will also be servicing students off campus with Diamond who teaches a few courses away from PJC for EMT training. 

An ambulance usually costs over $100,000, “Oh easily,” said Don Lee, Program Director for the Paramedic program.

Excited for the possibilities the new ambulance will give to students, the faculty were grateful for the donation from the Lifeguard Ambulance Services.

“We get the wet bar in, everything will be good,” joked Lee.

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