Tutoring centers lend a helping hand

By Arielle Tipa

When students seek assistance in multiple areas of learning, specialized centers at Ammerman are there to tutor those in need.

Across campus, thousands of students are taking various courses, one or more of which may be encountered with some degree of difficulty. Fortunately, there are facilities at Ammerman that cater to these student needs. Whether it be writing, reading, or language skills, these tutoring centers offer free, valuable assistance from the campus’s qualified staff and means of technology.

In room 101 of the Islip Arts building, the Writing Center focuses on the student’s potential in all levels of writing.

 ”We offer free tutoring to any Suffolk student, and because the professors are available during office hours only, they don’t have time to tutor. So, that is why we’re here,” said Adrienne Lojeck, an adjunct and tutor for the Writing Center.

Lojeck, a 2007 Suffolk graduate, is dedicated to fostering the needs of every student who visits the center.

Computers are readily available in the room, where occupied students spend valuable time to work on class assignments.

To benefit the progress of the Writing Center and its staff, a short survey concerning the first tutoring experience there is taken by the student. “The form tells us what they (the students) liked and didn’t like about the session. Ninety-nine percent of the feedback we get is positive,” said Lojeck.

“Intros are available for classes in the Writing Center, where we tell them our hours and hand out bookmarks with our information on them in order to get more people to come here. We really need more students to sign up,” said Dominick Quartuccio, another Writing Center tutor.

“We explain that we don’t edit or do papers for students, we simply help to correct them. This makes them better writers and editors for future assignments. Students are enthusiastic about getting better grades when they come here,” said Quartuccio. “They really respond well.”

Adjacent to the Writing Center is the Reading Lab in Islip Arts room 116. This is where the majority of students, mainly freshmen, come to attend the Reading Lab classes, as well as their tutoring sessions.

“The purpose of the Lab is to get students who failed the entrance exam up to a college reading level. We reinforce what they do in the classroom by using computer-based programs that go at their own pace,” according to its coordinator, Gregg V. Gudelinis.

For those students taking a foreign language class, as well as those taking ESL courses, the Foreign Language Lab’s mission is to, “Provide you with an opportunity to develop your language skills through individualized practice in listening and reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, oral communication, and culture,” according to the Lab’s pamphlet.

The Rosetta Stone program is frequently used to aid students in their ESL and foreign language skills. The Lab is located in room 114 of Islip Arts.

FIDM at Ammerman

By Arielle Tipa

The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising sketches out a new perspective for the art-savvy student.

FIDM will be paying a visit to the Babylon Student Center on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Having a renowned reputation in the fields of art, fashion, and design, FIDM hopes to gain potential transfer students at the Ammerman campus.

According to its website, FIDM is, “A specialized, private college dedicated to educating students for the Fashion, Graphics, Interior Design, and Entertainment Industries.”

 With campuses located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, FIDM offers a busy, urban atmosphere in the Golden State of California.

Their mission: to create a vision for success. “FIDM’s focused curriculum integrates creative and leadership skills…..Combined with these skills, FIDM graduates value ethical choices, demonstrate an awareness of cultural diversity, communicate effectively, think critically, and possess the knowledge of technology essential to their professions.”

The ninth season of Bravo’s hit series Project Runway was filmed on location at FIDM. The institution is also the alma mater of some of the show’s former contestants, including graduates Serena de Conceicao and Joshua Christensen.

Representatives for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising will be at the Babylon Student Center from 10am to 1pm, and again from 4pm to 6pm.

For more information on FIDM, visit http://www.fidm.edu

Video games: Distracting or simply leisure?

Students playing "Super Smash Brothers Melee" in the gaming area

By Joe Moyles

Video gaming in college is considerd to be a serious distraction to student work ethic.

Video games are ubiquitous, and nearly all students at some point are subject to them, the fact that they are fun and addicting at some times are not the reason for there controversy. The game changer is if there is a high amount of video game usage, what time is being put aside to do schoolwork and study?

At the Ammerman campus, a great place to figure this out is the gaming area, an area devoted for students to relax and play video games while meeting new friends with the same interest.

Despite the positive vibe from the area, the area itself is a debatable topic in that in feeds directly into the topic of whether or not video games distract students from there work, especially since it is at such an ease of access for any student.

The gaming area is open all week from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. The area includes multiple video gaming sytems which students are allowed to use by signing in. All video game sytems were donated by students. Only registerd students are allwowed to sign in.

Multiple students who enjoy relaxing in the gaming area were asked various question about there views on gaming and the gaming area.

“Considering I do my homework here, I spend most of my time here” said Alex Leonardi, a Suffolk student and frequent gamer. “Depending on the amount of work I have, and the time that I have, I will base my gaming and working on that” said Leonardi.

“The gaming area is a great social place for a lot of people” said Leonardi. When asked about video games affecting his life in general, Leonardi had similar answers; “Sometimes I’ll consider gaming instead, but I always wait until I finish my work.”

For others, the gaming area can be mildly distracting at time. Kevin Alfieri, a freshmen student in his first semester at Suffolk, is also a frequent gamer and common gaming area attendee.

“In a situation where I have a long break, I would be playing games in the gaming area” said Alfieri. “Sometimes, I am tempted to go to the gaming area when I do have schoolwork to do, and sometimes I am tempted to finish a game which makes me a few minutes late.”

“Gaming can be a distraction to school work at times” said Alfieri. “But the gaming area is a great place, it gives kids a break from their stressful day to relax, see friends, and play games.”

As for who are the usual people in the gaming area, one must only go down and see; “We usually have the same 15 or so people here every day” said Jessica V, a deskworker for the gaming area.

Other students, who aren’t involved in the gaming room or so much games at all, also have opinions on the gaming controversy.

“For someone who plays casually, it is no problem” said Sophomore Frank Hayward.
“Videogames are only distracting to people with little or no self control.”

“I believe that time is not the issue, students will get there work done. It’s the quality of the work they hand in that could be a problem, they could have squeezed there work in a small time because they were too busy gaming, or they could be worn down from gaming” said Hayward.

Hayward’s answer for the gaming issue is simple, “it’s a distraction like any other distraction; its personal, so figure it out on a personal level if its really that much of a problem.”

One student, Derek Forman, comments “it’s video games versus homework, if you have enough time you usually want to play rather then work.”

Sophomore Christina Opinski studies at the Grant campus. Although she is not much of a gamer, she compares the distraction of video games to usage of phones at school and while studying.

“In a lecture setting, portable video games are just like phones, for me my phone distracts me to the point of texting just to do something rather then paying attention to the lesson.” said Opinksi. “The professor will call on me and I will be clueless” says Opinksi chuckling.

“The same applies when im at home, the phones just sitting there waiting, I can assume the same thing happens when there’s an xbox 360 or wii five feet away from a person” Opinski states.

The video game debate is one that many will argue about, but never truly solve. The real question comes down to whether or not games distract students enough to affect their work in a serious way, or if they are simply just a mode of having fun with occasional bumps along the way.