Campus electronic committees work to upgrade campus technology

By Eric Santucci

Despite economic struggles and budget cuts from the state, the Campus Computing Council and the Educational Tech Unit (ETU) work to bring up-to-date computers and technology across Suffolk campuses.

The computing council convenes every few years to assess current computer technology across campus and determines the best ways to go about replacing them in order to meet certain demands. The ETU is the workforce that installs and upgrades the computers and other technology into the classrooms for educational use.

According to a college contract, the college computing council explicitly adheres to an annual replacement cycle that determines when computers are to be improved and replaced with new technology. Paul Basileo, the coordinator or instructional technology on the Ammerman campus, stated that current economic trends shape how and when computer systems are improved and upgraded by the ETU.   

“Computers, projectors and printers have a targeted lifespan of five years.  Sometimes a printer may go a little longer, but we try to stick to the 5-year cycle, as it provides best compromise of performance and fiscal responsibility,” Basileo said.

In recent years, the ETU has also worked to install other technology into classrooms to improve the quality of education across the college. Foremost amongst these are the new overheard Epson data projectors found in almost every campus classroom. Steve Ortiz-Rios, the ETU specialist of the Islip Arts building stated that every classroom in the Islip Art building, for example, had been upgraded with the new projector units.  

“We were very disappointed with the quality of the Infocus product and decided to look elsewhere.  We have realized a huge improvement in color, clarity and durability with the Epson projectors,” Basileo added.  

Although computer hardware is generally kept up to par pending each of the five year turnaround periods, some students have expressed distaste in some software inefficiencies.

“In my editing and design class we don’t even have the design program,” said Nicole Brems, a journalism major.

The ETU states that, aside from the basic Microsoft Office programs, software purchases are usually only done in large quantities at specific points in order to adhere to economic demands.

“Software updates are done when necessary.  Most of the discipline-specific upgrades are done at the request of the academic departments.  We would like to perform those twice a year, asking departments to make the required purchases and have requests ready by May for the following Fall semester and November for the following Spring semester.  However, it doesn’t always work according to plan, because software needs can change rapidly.  This is largely a function of software that may be packaged with textbooks,” said Basileo.

The individual needs of certain programs and courses on campus are taken into consideration when making upgrades as well. Nina Leonhardt, Associate Dean of Continuing Education and one of the member of the computing council stated that specialized courses such as computer science and others are upgraded when required in order for the educational experience to be optimal.

“Usually after the five year turnaround, computer labs and more important classes are updated first,” said Steve Ortiz-Rios.

The computing council and campus ETU are still in the process of switching over the general computer hardware from Gateways to Dells. Macs are also purchases for special courses.

 “We had been a Gateway-heavy institution until the professional end of the company ceased to exist.  We have been purchasing Dell computers since that time.  At this juncture, I would say we have roughly the same number of each.  As I had mentioned in a prior question, we do review our technology purchases periodically and will make changes if doing so is in the best interest of the college,” Basileo said.

The College Computing Council for Suffolk is currently run by chairman and Associate Dean Gary Ris. He can reached at (631)-451-4205.

DeStress Express

By Amanda Bernocco

Are you stressed from school? Are you freaking out about your upcoming midterms? If so, DeStress Express is the event for you. Massage therapists are coming to the Ammerman campus of Suffolk County Community College to give free relaxation massages to enrolled students. All you have to do is go down to the Orient Point room in the Babylon Student Center and sign up on a sheet of paper the day of DeStress Express. In November DeStress Express will take place on Wednesday the 9th and Thursday the 17th. The therapist will take you in to a private room and give you a massage in 5- minute intervals. If you’re stressed, come and get DeStressed for free by a trained massage therapist this month!

Michael Cooper’s Masked Marvels & Wondertales

By Rob Rodriguez

Michael Cooper will be performing his Masked Marvels and Wondertales play at the Grant Campus in the Van Nostrand Theatre on Sat., Nov. 5 at 11 a.m.

According to themaskedmarvel.com, Cooper is a “poet of the stage–an eye-popping visual artist and a virtuoso mime whose exquisite performances of humor and poignancy, nimble speech and eloquent gesture have dazzled audiences of all ages for almost thirty years.”

The college’s website describes the show by explaining that this is a show that is able to make people imagine “a world where dogs wear hats, wild stallions are tamed, giant noses sneeze and fish use candy to bait children in a pond. Cooper spins tales and weaves stories using an unusual cast of characters, captivating his audience with tales of thrilling adventure, silly antics and outlandish possibilities. A show for all ages, it is sure to capture the heart and stimulate the imagination.”

The admission for the show varies depending on whether the person is a student. The general admission fee is $6.00, but is free for a student of the college so long as the student has his or her current i.d. with him or her. Parking for this event is also free.

For more information on Cooper, his website is http://www.themaskedmarvel.com. For more information on the event, the contact number for the Box Office is 631-851-6589.

Is Baseball The Real American Pastime?

Football is the True American Sport.

By Alexander Corrigan

Baseball is considered to be the national game, the national pastime, as American as apple pie and the Fourth of July. I whole heartedly disagree.

I contend that baseball is not the most American sport; it is really not that American, with two notable exceptions. The first being the overt marketing by huge corporations, as evidenced by the beer sponsors, the huge advertisements on billboards, and the fact the stadium is named after something corporate (like CitiField for instance). The second being the large number of players from humble foreign backgrounds coming to play in the big leagues, the show, the MLB, to make millions and live the American Dream.

Beyond the fairytale aspect of the American Dream and the corporate imperialism perpetrated by the various sponsors vying for millions, if not billions, of dollars, what is really American about baseball? Who decided that baseball was America’s sport? Why would baseball be our national sport? It is another sport we do not dominate in, we may have the best players in the world playing in the MLB, but how many of them are American?

Baseball does not exemplify what America, as a nation, is all about. It is not the most clear-cut choice to be our national sport. And frankly it is boring. Any true to the core red-blooded American will agree with me that Football should be America’s sport, game, and official pastime. And I’m not talking that silly foreign game Soccer or its mutant hybrid blood-sport cousin Rugby or Aussie Rules or Gaelic Rules.

One might actually contend that Basketball should be the national sport because it was the only one that was actually invented in America, well let me just say that is ridiculous. Maybe Lacrosse should become the national sport too. No, let me stop that argument right there, even though basketball is decidedly more American that baseball. How does that American national team not dominate every game like the Harlem Globetrotters? We’ve won more Olympic medals in basketball than any other country but how does the 2004 Athens squad win a damn bronze medal? Lebron, Iverson, Carmelo, Amar’e, D. Wade, I mean it was the second coming of the dream team and they placed third behind Argentina and Italy. Furthermore there are literally tons of excellent international players.

Getting that out of the way lets move back to baseball. Baseball is being played less and less by Americans, with incredible players being transplanted from Asia and Latin America. How many times have you seen a post game interview with a player that hardly had a grip on the English language? If your answer is somewhere around a million than you understand what I am saying. Furthermore have you noticed how every team in the league has a Spanish-language website, even going as far as to have Spanish jerseys (Los Mets I’m pointing my empanada at you). Now truthfully I have no problem with the Spanish websites and advertisements at all, but how can you call yourself America’s game? Seems like false advertising to me.

And when was the last time the American team did well in international competition? Well the World Cup of Baseball has been won by the American team only four times, while the Cuban team has won an astonishing 25 times. That is why this game is their national sport, it’s what Cubans play and what they’re good at. The Japanese team has won the World Baseball Classic every time it has been played, also names baseball as their national sport, the American team came in fourth only once. My point is baseball is simply not a sport that Americans can dominate in, and will not dominate in.

Plus when you really think about it baseball doesn’t really have enough action. It can be very long and very boring. Honestly who wants to see a three-hour game that ends with a one-to-zero score at the end of the game? I think taking steroids out of baseball took out the one thing American players were still good at, hitting the long ball.

Finally to the point Football is a sport that only Americans play well, for instance the Canadian Football League is comprised mostly of American players that didn’t make it in the NFL. It goes for the NFL Europe too. It’s a brutal sport where there is constant action, concussions and big hits. This is a sport that is dominated by the bigger, stronger and faster. It so perfectly echoes American sentiments and overall disposition. The game is played like Chess rather than Checkers, meaning there is a very complex strategy that goes into the construction of elaborate defenses and calling offensive plays. Football is also the biggest money making sport in the Unites States. It is the most watched and most profitable of the big four sports. It’s aggressive, violent, and strategic and only has 16 games a season, not 162 like baseball, making every game count.

Plus its so much bigger on the college level, have any of you ever watched a college baseball game? But everybody knows the Notre Dame Fighting Irish because of Rudy. Or have you ever been in the state of Florida during the yearly Gators v. Seminoles game? There are more businesses closed during the Florida (Gators) v. Florida State (Seminoles) game than on Christmas day. College football is a huge moneymaker for the university, and is the easiest way to solicit alumni donations. It is also what attracts those lucrative endorsement and equipment deals, like Penn State only using Nike products.

Which brings me to my conclusion, Suffolk Community College not having a football team wearing the Sharks logo is just about a step above terrorism. Not having a football team is basically like punching the American Flag in the face. And furthermore a good football team is all a school needs to have a “Good Athletic Program.” Plus think about all those public school kids with grades not strong enough to get into a division one school or didn’t have a chance to play for scouts, getting a second change to live their college ball dreams. In closing it is the opinion of this student that all Suffolk Community College is missing is a Football team, to play a true American Sport.

GLBT support in schools

By Jessica Radesco-Verdi

The Gay Straight Alliance is steadily becoming colleges’ prevalent social club around the nation. GSA’s are gaining strength and support from its members as well as the law, insisting on a safe haven for GLBT and its allies.

The definition of a social club is ‘the association of people with similar interests’. You often see multicultural, academic, and special interest clubs at schools therefore why would the GSA cause any conflict? This is the question on the table at hearings throughout the nation.

The Federal Equal Access Act was enacted in 1984 as a safeguard for students to assemble a non-curricula club on school grounds where other clubs already take place yet numerous schools are wavering on this issue. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas interceded for 17-year-old high school student Nikki Peet seeking to form a GSA, against the Flour Bluff Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas. The high school, which threatened to ban all other extra-curricular activities rather than grant permission for the GSA to meet, finally acknowledged Peet’s request on the cusp of the deadline before legal action would ensue.

A Tennessee school dealt with backlash just this month when the ACLU stepped in on behalf of a student wearing a t-shirt in support of forming a GSA. High school senior, Chris Sigler, allegedly, claims he was assaulted by his school principal who threatened suspension if he didn’t change or turn the shirt inside out.

Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center brought suit against a Missouri school district for not only failing to provide safety and support to GLBT but not acknowledging GLBT as a population at all in school with the shield of the districts own gag policy, the “Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy”. The students have been bullied and harassed for years with little to no assistance from staff.

There seems to be a wide separation from the high school to college level in means of GLBT recognition. But at a time when most teens are grappling with adolescence and emotions, GLBT teens are dually distressed which is why high schools offering a GSA could make a difference in the lives of these teens.

University of West Florida 2006-2007 GSA leader, Keith Quinones, explains the lack of a GSA at his Florida high school added extra weight at a difficult time, “If there had been a GSA, it would have definitely made coming out easier. At the high school level, GSA would help students become knowledgeable about the community,” he said. “It being a Gay-Straight organization, I believe integrating both parties would not be so reluctant to the unknown, and in turn be more accepting of their fellow peers.”

According to an analysis done by the SPLC, with FBI hate crime data, California, Florida and New Jersey have the most active hate organizations in the U.S. as of 2010 with NY not too far behind. The analysis also reveals GLBT are at most risk of being victims of a hate crime than any other minority.

GSA’s around the nation have been able to provide something that at times some families aren’t even able to give. It invites members to an open forum, nonjudgmental atmosphere, and sympathetic peers.

Quinones acknowledges the benefit of having a GSA to turn to, “I attended my first GSA meeting at my university, I didn’t have any knowledge of the community prior, so I knew the meetings would help me meet others, who may have been going through similar struggles of acceptance and being accepted.”

Having not only tremendous support from his university but also from fellow student organizations they were able to organize diversity workshops to educate others of the clubs’ purpose. “These events helped build our membership, which encompassed an equal representation of straight and gay members,” Keith added. College cooperation can be very valuable to a club such as the GSA, setting a prime example of acceptance to other students.

Here on Long Island there are a plentitude of organizations to support and advocate GLBT rights. Long Island GLBT Services Network in Bay shore, NY works to end homophobia on LI. This umbrella organization works with three affiliates that offer a multitude of resources.

These are some of the many cases where the law has had to intervene. Many school districts around the country have left students to fend for themselves against anti-GLBT bullying even violence despite civil rights ensuring their safety, privacy, and freedom of speech in school. These schools are now forced to either modify or adopt no tolerance policies or face legal consequence.

Drugs, Alcohol, weapons are all on the list of violations of student safety. Bullying, anti-gay or other needs to be considered just as deplorable to guarantee students everywhere will have access to an education free of bias, discrimination, and danger.

Bruce Barton, Professor of Computer Science and advisor of the GSA Ammerman Campus failed to respond to request for comment.

Electronics Disrupting the Classroom

By Rob Rodriguez

The Ipods, Ipads, Iphones, and other electronics have become a part of most everyday life and it has come to schools affecting students and leaving professor irate or at least irritated.

Electronics are not just used outside on the campus, it is easy to look around in the classroom and see students using their phones, MP3 players and other gadgets at inappropriate times. The classroom no longer is getting the full attention of teachers because of these devices that give students the opportunity to talk to their friends or whatever purpose they feel like is “necessary” to use at the moment.

“The purpose of class is to learn and you cannot learn with it on,” said Lars Hedstrom, Professor of Television, Radio and Film on the Ammerman campus. “The mission of the student is to learn, if anything gets in the way that takes away from them being a student, then they are insulting everyone.”

Hedstrom understands that technology has become a part of the fabric of today’s society and that there is no way to possibly force the students to throw away all of their electronics at the door.

“It has become a part of our ecology and it is impossible to tell a student to come into the classroom and put all of their electronics at the door,” Hedstrom said. “You could tell them to give the technology up or do whatever you want, but you cannot block it.

Hedstorm also explained how much of a distraction it is and how he hopes students who are using technology in class for inappropriate reason leave.

“The use of electronics is gray; it is not white or black, it is gray. It is a distraction like sleeping, that does not affect anyone else, but that person,” Hedstrom said. “They are grown ups, some of them have important situations, do it in a way the does not create a scene. Leave gracefully.”

Dr. William Burns, Associate Professor of English on the Ammerman campus, expressed his discontent with the use of electronics in the classroom today.

“The way that technology is being used today is a distraction,” Burns said. “Students are having a hard enough time concentrating on the work; they do not need anything else to take away from it.”

Burns also believes that there is a way possible for students to work with professors when they actually need to use their phone or whatever it maybe for an emergency.

“There is a level of respect given when a student tells you beforehand that there might be an issue,” Burns said.

Burns believes that there could be a way to incorporate technology in the classroom and that there are electronics that can help a student, but he is unsure of it.

“If there is a creative way to do it, then it is fine; however, right now it is just more of a novelty to use,” Burns said. “There are nooks, e-readers, kindles and others that are easier for students to have all of their textbooks which are a positive, but how can a student annotate? How can a student write?”

Burns, who happens to teach in a regular classroom with just desk and a room with computers, is more worried with students in the computer room than a student who brings a laptop to class.

“There is more of a temptation to surf the web or get distracted,” Burns said. “If someone brings a laptop to class, they are bringing it to help himself or herself write better notes.”

Students also admit to use of electronics in the classroom and how often they might use it. Ammerman student, Matt Campbell explained his use of technology and what it does to him.

“I use electronics whenever the professor is not looking,” Campbell said. “Sometimes I cannot really focus and it can distract me from note taking.”

While Campbell believes that it does distract him and that he would be a better off without it, he also believes that it does not really affect his grades.

“I would probably be a better student if I did not have my phone out the whole time,” Campbell said. “It does not really affect my grades because I tend to do more work home than I do in the class room because of it.”

Another student, Anthony Lucero, explained how often he uses electronics and how often he is around it.

“When I am not paying attention, I might be on my cell phone,” Lucero said. “Most of my classes have computers in the class room, so my classes are on electronics a good amount of time.”

Lucero also explained that while it is a distraction, there are many other things that can distract a student and whether it can affect his ability to work.

“It could be said about anything, anyone could be distracted by anything,” Lucero said. “It does help out at times, but it can also not. Sometimes you use electronics to help you in your studies, but other times it can distract you.”

Lucero also felt that if a student is seriously distracted to the point that the student cannot be productive, it is not the computer or school’s fault.

“At the end of the day, if you are being distracted by your computers you are not in school for the right reasons,” Lucero said. “You have to get your priorities; it isn’t the school’s fault if you are not paying attention. They are giving you the tools and stuff for your benefit, but you are abusing that.”

According to the Student Code of Conduct of the school, the use of electronics “other devices to make an audio, video or photographic record of any person or thing while in the classroom without the prior permission of the instructor and/or the use, in any locker room, changing room or restroom, of electronic or other devices, such as cameras or camera phones, to make a video or photographic record.” This means that a student is not allowed to record or tape something without permission and it is punishable by the school, but if a student is using it for something unrelated to the class it is not punishable by the school, just by the professor.

The issue of electronics in the classroom will only continue because of the constant developments that are going on with electronics and that these electronics are hard to put down, since they have many interesting features.