OCT 24-28, 2012: Open online registration to sophomores with 32+ credits completed
Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2012: Open online registration to advanced freshman with 16+ credits completed
Nov 5-9, 2012*: Open online and in-person registration to all currently enrolled students
*Advisement Week, November 5-9, is an opportunity to meet with an advisor for academic planning. Advisors will be available during Advisement Week by appointment. Payment for Winter classes is due at time of registration.
By NATHANAEL VEGA
Staff Writer
Nothing can take away from the fact that the evolution of technology of all sorts, from computers to handheld devices, are making it easier to transfer and read information. The Internet makes it possible for people to be kept up to date with the happenings around their area, as well as the happenings all around the world, virtually free of charge. This very fact presents as one of the biggest challenges for publishing companies, forcing the reduction of all job positions. And, considering the recent economic crisis, whether through week-long furloughs or by eliminating positions entirely, it appears that the publishing companies are doing whatever it takes to keep their businesses alive and running.
Graphic design positions, in this particular case, have been slowly declining for the past few years. Graphics have been an essential addition to support the information being expressed in hard copy publications, like newspapers and magazines, for many years. Photos, charts, and illustrations, for example, help to add flavor to the reading and they are also used to capture the interest of the readers. The visual layout on business cards, flyers and letterheads are also created by graphic artists. Outside of the print realm, other than the use of design on web pages over the Internet, graphic design is also on the television. The business aspect of marketing, more commonly over commercial advertisements, are reinforced with motion graphics that are intended to catch the eye and cause the audience to remember the product(s) being presented.
The importance of graphic design is immense and technology has evolved to the point where just about anybody, no matter how experienced they are in art, can create their own designs using computer software. For years, it’s been possible for people to express themselves by posting their designs online and make it available for anybody, all over the world, to see and even critique. From animated avatars to digital portfolios, people have the option to create their own personalized identities online through design. Schools have also continued to teach it’s students art and design up to this day. All-in-all, there appears to be no limit with the usage of design.
So, with the current economic crisis and evolution of technology, could there still be a possible future with graphic design? Ms. Shapiro, Assistant Professor of Art and Coordinator of Fine Arts & Graphic Design at Cumberland County College, stated that “there will always be a future in graphic design. We will always need information, signs and advertising. It will become more and more digital though in many ways. There are many positions open for graphic designers. In private companies, corporations, schools, hospitals and freelance.” Visual communication will always be necessary and, no matter what, there will always be a place for graphic designers throughout the world.
By ERIC MARIN
Staff Writer
Ever wonder who your classmates will be after you register for a course? The Datatel MOX application, from DubMeNow Inc., provides that and more. The free application is a great way to find out what is going on around your campus and in your classrooms. After the application is downloaded, the steps to register are easy for even the most technologically challenged users. You must be a student, professor, or staff member to create an account.
Once the application is downloaded and opened, a list of colleges and universities will appear on the screen in alphabetical order. Then scroll down to the institution you attend and click it’s name. From there, almost a dozen options come across the screen. However, all lead to a login page. For a CCC student to login, just type in the MyPortal information given to you by the college. All those options from the home page are now at your disposal.
The first two options, “Friends” and “My Card”, require you to make a DUB card. This is also free, however it is not necessary to enjoy the other features the MOX app provides. Next to those options are the “Important #’s” feature, which lists every number a student or staff member would need in case of an emergency. It also lists the numbers to different groups or offices within the college, including the bookstore and alumni. Another useful feature is the “Maps” option. Instead of stopping a random person and asking for directions, the application gives a detailed layout of the college’s campus. It includes a bird’s eye view and names of all the campus’ buildings.
The “News” feature is filled with reminders to students and staff and even public news that may affect you. With the “Events” option, you can find out what days the school is closed and what’s on the college’s website right from your phone.
The best thing about the MOX app is the “Courses” feature. It allows the user to get an inside look at every class they’re taking. It gives an overview of the course by listing the professor, session, and a detailed description of the class. It also informs the user of any events going on for that particular course and gives a full roster of the class. If a classmate is registered, users can click on a name and find out a little about each person. For instance, where they work and other social networks that a classmate uses.
The last two features on the home page are “Directory” and “Info”. The “Directory” is just a quick way to get contact information. The “Info” option gives vital information of the college, such as the address and website.
The MOX app creators did a great job organizing every MOX detail you need to know.
By BRITTANY KILPATRICK
Staff Writer
Over the past few years, Facebook has become an ever-present facet in our daily lives. For some, going on Facebook is just part of a daily routine. It can be all consuming and at times very distracting. As Facebook continues to become a bigger feature in our lives, it begins to be questioned. Mostly, Facebook and other social networking sites have been questioned for how they affect our communication with other people, but what is it doing to us psychologically? How is it affecting our perceptions of others and ourselves? Can Facebook be compared to reality television? How are the two similar in what they portray?
We’ve all seen it on Facebook “Can’t wait for the party tonight,” “Just got back from Jamaica,” “Breakfast with my hubby ,” and similar statuses. With statuses like these, you may begin to think ‘I bet that person has the perfect life.’ As if words aren’t enough to jab at you, you look at pictures of the kinds of parties, events, or vacations you aren’t fortunate enough to be able to enjoy yourself. Some people are not affected by perceptions of others’ lives, but these perceptions can become a belittling cycle that brings down their self-confidence. Something as little as a relationship status can feel like a reason to criticize themselves.
The issue becomes more extreme, because of the lack of face-to-face communication in our society today. We often don’t get to know the full picture of someone’s life. We tend to only know random facts, interests, and thoughts that they post on Facebook. We are then deceived into thinking that their lives are so much more exciting, fulfilling, as well as happier than our own. You see, when you interact face-to-face, there is a chance that the person may tell you otherwise. In fact, our Facebook profiles are only an edited portrayal of our lives.
Much like reality shows, what you see isn’t always what you get, and you tend to only see a one-sided, limited view, into someone’s life. The side shown on Facebook and reality television tends to be sunnier than real life is. You don’t see that the party was a disaster, the vacation was ruined by storms, or that the “happy” couple’s relationship is on the rocks. With this in mind, why do we torture ourselves like this?
Why does the perception of others, based on what we view on Facebook, affect some of us on such a deep level? What can we do to not bombard ourselves with the perfection or faux-perfection that is the lives of others we know? Why do we care so much? Why do we belittle ourselves based on sometimes faux-reality?
My theory is that we are both too focused on others, and/or we are determined to focus on why our lives aren’t “perfect.” We are so convinced that our lives aren’t worthy of appreciation, because they aren’t filled with constant fun, exciting, and happy events. Instead of realizing, that the bad days help us to be appreciative of the good ones, we are focused almost completely on the bad. We feel the need to have others justify to us that our lives are “perfect.” The reality is that we need to stop taking everything at “Facebook” value. Empathize the good and realize that the bad is merely a temporary wall. Sooner or later things get better and this happens by looking at the brightside with a sense of humor. We also need to know when to back away from Facebook, and truly live our lives, because being on Facebook isn’t exactly living your life. Most of all, we need to realize and remind ourselves that no one’s life is “perfect.” Perfect, is in fact, overrated and boring therefore, perfect isn’t even perfect.
The Voice is the student newspaper of Cumberland County College and opinions expressed therein are not the opinions of Cumberland County College.
The Voice welcomes responses to our editorial pages and strives to present its readers with accurate and fair reporting. If you should wish to submit a letter to the editor, request a correction or contribute a story idea, please email the faculty advisor directly. All articles and letters submitted to The Voice may be edited for clarity, professionial standards, correctness and space restrictions.
Staff Writers:
Idris Caldwell
Brittany Kilpatrick
Dani Leach
Damon Leake
Hezekiyah Luster
Eric Marin
Devan Paleschic
Brandon Read
Nathanael Vega
Editors:
Thomas Arenz
Idris Caldwell
Dani Leach
Devan Paleschic
Candice Rivera
Don’a Smith
Faculty Advisor:
Renee Post
rpost@cccnj.edu
By Hezekiyah Luster
Financial aid is a program which helps students in need of funding for school. Through financial aid, students can buy their books, pay for their classes, and get a stipend check for the money they didn’t spend. There is one concern that CCC students still have: Why does financial aid not cover lunches?
Lunch is a major concern for students. Some students feel that being hungry in class is a distraction. At times, lunch can be costly, financial aid covering lunch would not only help the students, but would also help teachers. Teachers would be able to capture students’ attention easier and the students would have satisfied stomachs, and would gain more focus. According to Quanesha Harris, a CCC freshman, “Financial aid should cover lunch. It would help students become more financially free and would also allow the café to gain more revenue from students who can’t afford lunch”.
Even if financial aid posed a spending limit, students could spend less per semester, which would be a big help to them. Fellow student Christopher Adair said, “Financial aid should be able to help with lunch in some way. I feel as though, if they can divide money into the bookstore and other areas, then why not expand and divide some money for students in the café? I know they will figure it out and be able to help our stomachs and pockets in some way”.
Financial aid does a wonderful job covering our books, tuition, and stipend checks. CCC students are just hoping for a little bit more. Saydah Nyanankpe says, “I know we are not a Division I college but CCC can still help us. Most people are seriously being affected by this recession. If times weren’t as hard as they are, then I could see us being able to afford our own lunch. I hope Financial Aid helps us”. Many people have been fervently using the word ‘help’. This is a trying time when Financial Aid can come in and be a hero to many people. From experience, some days are harder than others. If we could all work together and help each other, life would come easier, learning would increase, and academic success would rise.
By Hezekiyah Luster
Cumberland County College has been through many changes from years 2011 to 2012. One of these major changes implemented a new computer system called the Portal. The Portal was developed to have everything Cumberland County College students in a centralized web-based system. Bernie Castro, an administrator of the Portal, shared the reason why CCC changed systems. Castro said, “The Portal started off as a package deal with the whole ERP system. The ERP system connects everything we do at the college. The Portal is not only a program, but a website for students and faculty to connect on one main page”. Castro explains, “Basically, Web Advisor is what replaced IRIS. For students to get Web Advisor, they have to go through the Portal. The Portal is a doorway to other items. I think it is difficult now but it will get better.” Castro stated, “That the Portal is not just a problem for students, but is also a problem for faculty”.
With all of the information I was getting, I could not help but become overwhelmed. As a CCC student and Portal user, it seems that the Portal is complex compared to the old IRIS system. When asked why students weren’t gathered to setup for Portal training Castro replied, “The plan was, we have power users who are taught how to use the Portal which in return, taught their employees and in the end trickles down to the students. Students still aren’t the only ones struggling with it.”
Fellow CCC student Stephanie Mitchell wanted to know, “Can we still really learn how to use the Portal?” Castro answered, “The Portal developed sometime in January 2012 when the semester was well under way. We eventually began to get students testing the Portal in June, which by that time everyone couldn’t test it”. Castro continued, “Students can still learn how to use the Portal by simply logging into the Portal and clicking onto the Web Advisor tutorial which is right next to Web Advisor (self-service). In order to log onto the Portal, students need a username, which is their first initial and last name (if the name is common a digit may be necessary after the last name), and students also need a password, which could be their eight-digit or 6-digit birthdate. The Web Advisor tutorial has a wide variety of different videos describing how to use the Portal in its entirety. In the end, the Portal is still fairly new and has to be learned by not only students, but employees as well.
By Damon Leake
During the summer, it was a privilege to work at the CCC call center helping students with financial aid questions, showing students how to apply for a loan online, and answering any other questions they had. As time went on and more applications started coming in, I noticed that a lot of students did not have the information they needed to fill out their FAFSA and felt frustrated when the answer that was given was not the answer they wanted to hear.
The first and most important thing that every student should do is to apply early for financial aid. Applying early will ensure that you receive the aid on time. Some students this year applied past the deadline, making it difficult for the financial aid office to get their applications done.
We have a new system if you haven’t noticed called “The Portal” and every student should get to know this system well. The Portal has everything that students need as far as information on their profile, registering for classes, and also financial aid updates. Many students are not aware that they can check their financial aid statuses just like they used to do on Iris. To get to that information, first sign in to portal, the go to the WebAdvisor self service tab, once the tab opens, go to the financial aid tab, and finally go to the financial aid award letter tab. This will let you know if and when you received your financial aid award and how much you were rewarded.
It is also important to get to know your financial aid adviser. Your adviser can help you with any questions you may have and with filling out the FAFSA form. Be sure to have all the information needed before going to meet with your adviser. If you are uncertain what you need, give your adviser a call. Students are also able to check their financial aid status on The Portal just like they did on Iris.
Besides applying for financial aid, some students should consider applying for a student loan if necessary. When you make an appointment with your financial aid adviser, make sure that you ask him or her if it is necessary to apply for a student loan; if so, apply at the same time as you apply for financial aid. Please note to be eligible for a student loan the students have to be enrolled for at least six credits.
Tax transcripts were a big issue this year because the IRS has changed their policies for all colleges in America. In the past, students were able to use their W2 form from their tax preparer to enroll in college but due to the economy stresses in our country, the government now wants official documented proof of taxes. The fastest and easiest way to get your tax transcript is to have it faxed. Note that the IRS will make sure that the document that is being faxed is sent to a secure location and that the student is present at the fax machine, the agent will not send the transcript if he or she feels otherwise. You can also get your tax transcript by driving to the IRS tax office located in Mays Landing, New Jersey. Make sure you have proper ID which can be a valid driver’s license, or a New Jersey Picture ID.
Something that you must understand before calling or coming to the college is that yelling helps no one. It can be frustrating when things are not going as planned, but yelling over the phone or at the front window of the office is not going to make the process move any faster. There are only five people working in the financial aid office trying to process everything by themselves as fast as they can. This is why it is important to have everything handed in on or before the due date.
The people at the call center are there to make things easier for students and to make sure they have everything they need before hanging up the phone. If there is still a problem after all of your information is handed in, having a relationship with your adviser makes it easier to get to the root of the problem and resolve it. The financial aid office at CCC is here to help you and to make it easier for you to receive the funds that you need. This is Cumberland County College Financial Aid office and how can we help you?
By DAMON LEAKE
Staff Writer
Now I know when you first read the headline you probably thought that this would be another rant about men taking care of their responsibilities about being good fathers, stop being dead beats dads, and stop cheating on our wives which are all valid points. However, the area I would like to discuss with the male readers is the responsibility on the way we dress.
Now before you go on the defensive please note that I’m not talking about the brand that we wear or the over-fitted baseball hats on the top of our heads (if you over 35 years of age take the over-fitted hat off your too old for that) not even the nerd look that seems to be in nowadays.
I’m talking about that old battle with wearing sagging jeans! Yes, this topic will be talked about again because matters have gotten worse but let me first start explaining where this movement began and why it needs to end.
As I did my research, the time period this trend started was the late 1970’s to early 1980’s coming from the jail systems in America. First, the reason the inmate’s pants would sag down was because the inmates weren’t allowed to have belts as they could use them as weapons or sadly try to hang themselves to death wanting to get out of jail so badly. Later, sagging jeans was a jailhouse signal that if a man had his pants hanging down and his underwear was exposed, that inmate was available for intercourse. This behavior wasn’t tolerated in the jail system, as did many other things did within the jail culture.
Unfortunately, young males have now started modeling themselves after this lifestyle trying to prove that they are cool or tough. They adopt this dress code but are ignorant about what this dress style really represents. Not to mention, how funny it looks when you see one of these guys walking to class and trying to keep their pants up at the same time.
To get a better insight on this tasteless style of dress, I went on campus and asked a CCC student and a college professor what were their thoughts on this topic. Brandon, a communications major at CCC response was “when going to college everyone is here to better their education. In saying that, we should also be gearing our minds for a better career which means everything should change even the clothes we wear.”
When asking professor Author Horn about this same topic he responded “First impression is everything in today’s society and when you happen to see men of color with their pants hanging down, exposing their underwear, it sends the wrong signals to the media, society, and are looked at negatively.”
Bottom line; take pride in yourself when on and off the college grounds. First impressions are lastly impressions; leave a positive image at home, school, or anywhere when you’re in the public eye.
Photo Courtesy of Google
By Brandon Read
As usual, Cumberland County College has launched their latest One Book One College literary work for the fall semester. This collection of work is the book entitled, “Faithless: Tales of Transgression,” which is written by award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates. A Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978, she is also a recipient of the National Book Award and the FEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.
Amazon.com shares, “Faithless: Tales of Transgression” is a collection of twenty-one unforgettable stories. Oates dives into th mysterious private lives of men and women with vivid, unsparing precision and sympathy. By turns interlocutor and interpreter, magician and realist, she breaks down the psyches of ordinary people and their potential for good and evil with chilling understatement and lasting power.”
OBOC Committee Chair and CCC Professor, Sharon Kewish, shares the committee’s decision to invite Oates to campus and why they selected “Faithless” as the book for OBOC this year. Kewish states, “The OBOC committee decided to choose a collection of short stories this year instead of a novel or biography. It took many months, actually nearly a year, to narrow our choices. We kept seeing Joyce Carol Oates’ name in each collection of multiple authors and decided to review only collections of her stories, of which there are more than 25. She is part of the American literature canon, critically acclaimed internationally as well as nationally. Her stories are based on reality, many of which are ripped from the headlines. Her stories can be read on many different levels -psychological, philosophical.”
Other works Oates has written have become national bestsellers such as, “We Were the Mulvaneys” and “Blonde,” which also was nominated for the National Book Award. The New York Times Book Review raves, “Faithless: Tales of Transgression makes its brisk incisions into the themes of terror, female passion, collapsing male identity, loneliness, divorce, revenge and not a little gun ownership… Again and again (Oates) finds new language to describe the immensity of desire.. She twists back against our assumptions, seeking always the gristly pop of revelation.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune agrees, “Outstanding… Some of (Oates) best stories to date… Rarely have drama and philosophy been so compellingly married… This volume deserves to be part of your permanent collection.” The Boston Globe concludes, “Mesmerizing… illuminating…astonishing. Not only does it cut close to the bone, it cuts close to the headlines. The writing is so vivid it’s breathless.”
The entire campus community is invited to listen to Oates reflect on her writing in the Fine and Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. If you have never had a chance to meet a renowned author or well-known person in our society, this is a chance of a lifetime. With all the things going on at CCC, this is one of the events you do not want to miss.
The Voice Online 