Contents

Students Speaking Out November 2012

Continued on page 2

What Do You Want To Be? by: Amber Keene

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Pg 1 What Do You Want To Be? Why 2+2 is For You

Pg 2 What Do You Want To Be con-tinued

Pg 3 Why 2+2 is For You continued The Digital World of a Library

Pg 4 Letter From the Editor The Luxury of Web Classes

Pg 5 You Are Not Alone

Pg 6 Rocking Microeconomics

Pg 7 Stark Graphic Design Students Tour Timken

Pg 8 Cultural Diversity in Club Form C3

Why 2+2 is For You by: Josi Heinz

When you are in elementary school and someone asks you what you want to be, normal responses are firefighter, racecar driver, or veterinarian. When you reach high school, those answers may change to teacher, actor, singer, doctor. Does anyone actually know? When you start college, you are sup-posed to know—you have to declare a major as soon as possible—but what more can you do besides close your eyes and point?

Some students in high school takean aptitude test to assess what career would best suit them. This is based on criteria usually consisting of questions regarding personality, goals, likes, dislikes, and job satisfaction. However, the free assessments taken in high school and many of those that can be found online do not offer a lot of in-sight into the jobs they place you with. But now, Stark State students have the option to use a new comprehensive developmental career guidance tool called MyPlan for free.

MyPlan offers four assessments: Personality Test, Interest Inventory, Skills Profiler, and Values Assessment to analyze your CareerMatch™. Career-Match™ uses a series of various algo-rithms to assess your personality, val-ues, interests, and skills and matches you with the job that best suits you by comparing your test responses to their database of career profiles. You can view your personalized CareerMatch™ with one of the four assessments or a combination of them all.

When you hear 2+2, do you think four? If you do, you need to rethink! A 2+2 program is a unique opportu-nity to get an associate’s degree at a two-year college and then move on to a four-year college to obtain a bach-elor’s degree based off of the classes in your associate’s degree.

There are many benefits to a 2+2 program. The most obvious are time and money. Two year schools are often cheaper than four year school. Only paying tuition to a four year school for two years is a signifi-cant savings. In addition, planning accordingly will allow you to take fewer classes, also saving money. Many of requirements at a four-year college can be taken as electives

during your associate’s program at a two-year college. As long as those classes are TAG approved (see you advisor for a list of TAG approved classes, which are classes guaranteed to transfer), you can save time and money by taking them during your first two years.

By carefully scheduling your classes during your associate’s degree, you may only need an additional 40 credits to complete a bachelor’s degree at a four-year university. For example, look at the required classes needed at the four year institution, and take them as electives at the two year college.

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What Do You Want To Be? Continued

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The Personality Test measures the following characteristics: emotional (extroverted or introverted), informa-tion gathering (sensory or intuitive), decision-making (thinking or feeling), and structural orientation (judging or perceiving).

The Interest Inventory uses a series of “I would rather…” questions to assess your interests in six different cluster categories—realistic, investigative, conventional, artistic, enterprising, and social—and gives you your primary and secondary interest areas.

The Skills Profiler looks at your self-assessment in 35 skill areas and scores the 22 career categories according to how well they match your current skill level.

Finally, the Values Assessment gives you 20 cards and asks you to sort them on their level of importance in your work life. It then gives you a score on a scale of one to five in the categories of achievement, working conditions, relationships, recognition, support, and independence.

I took the assessment to determine how my answers compared to what I know about myself. My answers both confirmed what I already knew and gave me more insight into myself.

My answers were as followed: For my Personality Test, my score was ISTJ: Introverted—shy, bookish; Sen-sor—precise, careful; Thinker—logi-cal, objective; and Judger—decisive, organized. My Interest Inventory told me I was Investigative—smart, curious, ratio-nal; and Conventional—team player, dependable, organized.

My Skills Profiler scores were: 83% for Healthcare Support and Management, 82% for Counseling, 80% for Educa-tion/Library and Business/Financial, and 79% for Life/Social Sciences and Healthcare Practioners/Technical. My Values Assessment gave me the fol-lowing answers: 4.0 for Achievement, 3.2 for Working Condition, 3.0 for Relationships, 3.0 for Recognition, 2.7 for Support and 2.3 for Independence.

My answers to these assessments did not shock me as much as I assumed they would. I have always known I was dependable, organized, bookish, care-ful, logical, etc. However, the Interest Inventory score that told me I was a team player definitely shocked me.

My CareerMatch™ composite score told me that my matching jobs for a four-year degree was a Traffic Techni-cian at 81%. I was genuinely shocked, because that career does not interest me in any way, shape or form. How-ever, the two majors I am planning on continuing—chemistry and edit-ing—sat at 71% and 63% respectively. So even though the degree and career I plan on is not in the top position, I am still planning on continuing them. This assessment just gave me a new perspective on myself.

Do not be discouraged if the job you are heading for is not on the list; this site does more than place you in a job—it helps on the path to your fu-ture. It can tell you what major you will need to get that job, and what colleges offer that major.

To use MyPlan, go to starkstate.myplan.com, make sure to copy the license code offered in bold, red letters

because this ensures the assessments are free to Stark State students. If the page shows a price, reregister and make sure to input the code—then just finish creating your account and begin taking the assessments!

Lastly, make sure when you register to check the box title “Share results with career advisor?” This will allow the Career Development Office—Room S100—to view your results and help you better assess your options.

After creating a MyPlan account you can:• Takethecareerassessmenttests• Chatwithotherswhoareinvari-

ous careers• Explorecareeroptions• Explorecolleges• Exploremajors• Readthroughcareerprofiles—each

profile includes: job descriptions, job requirements, salary data, em-ployment data, articles and forums

• Watchcareervideos• Exploreindustries• Researchsalaries

If you need help with anything on the site—understanding the results of the assessments, wondering where to go from there—just click onto the dis-cussion forums and chat with other members or people in the career you are considering.

To find MyPlan on the Stark State web-site, visit http://www.starkstate.edu/career-development/myplan or click on Career Development from the Stark State homepage.

Why 2 + 2 is For You Continued

The Digital World of a Libraryby: Eric Frank

2+2 programs are also good for stu-dents who need a job now, but want to continue their education. After acquiring your associate’s degree, you may find yourself in a position to take a job and continue to work on your bachelor’s degree. Some business will hire you for a position with the agree-ment that you will finish your bache-lor’s degree. Others, like First Energy, will pay for part of your tuition, based on your grades, if you continue to work towards your bachelor’s degree.

Erin Hollenbaugh, the head of the communications department at the Stark Campus of Kent State, points out a unique benefit of a 2+2 educa-tion: Diversity. Getting your degrees from two different schools will expose you to two different sets of faculty, staff and students. Learning to work with a variety of people is an invalu-able experience. It fosters adaptability and flexibility. The more practice you receive working in new environ-ments, the easier it will be to adapt to

the new circumstances in a business environment.

To find out if a 2+2 program is avail-able for your degree, see your adviser. Make an appointment now because the sooner you organize your classes to follow a 2+2, the sooner you can start saving time and money, and making yourself a more marketable potential employee.

Remember the days when you had to research something in your grand-parents’ encyclopedias? With today’s technology, those days are long gone, and here at Stark State we have the Digital Library to help take all that stress away.

The Digital Library is located on cam-pus in the G building next to the Atri-um. Before opening in January 2010, SSC students had to depend on Kent State Stark’s library, and the faculty had to pull together to create assign-ments that incorporated that library’s holdings. Since opening, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with students saying they are thankful to have the research assistance and reas-surance for their projects.

If you plan on researching your as-signment on site, the Digital Library is a calm and quiet place to work. However, the convenience of the

Digital Library means you have ac-cess anywhere you have the internet. Another great advantage is if you do not have time during the week, the librarians offer online hours on Sun-day. They also use modern technology such as texting a librarian and online chat for when you are at home.

The Director of the Campus Library Marcia Addison and Assistant Direc-tor Sara Klink both agreed the best features are the Research Guides by Subject. These guides give students a starting point for their research as-signments. They also expressed that various EBSCO databases and Re-search Basics Online Lessons are not being used as much as they should be. These are two features classes are us-ing to introduce research in an online environment. Every librarian has his or her favorite resources, and Marcia Addison is no exception. Her favor-

ites include the “Learning Express Library” a collection of study aids and practice tests for a wide range of sub-jects and career testing and “MANGO Language Lab,” which allows users to download foreign language lessons and learn right on their smart phones. Sara Klink’s favorite resource not be-ing used, “Google Advanced Search,” which she says is a simple way to locate credible websites. This feature provides you with websites that are credible for your research, as opposed to Wikipedia.

For the fall semester, the Digital Library is open Monday - Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. The online hours are Sunday 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Library hours are subject to change, so check online at http://libguides.starkstate.edu/library for updates and further information.

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A Letter From the Editor

The Luxury of Web Classes by: Eric Frank

Josi Heinz

Tori Wendt

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Dear Stark State Community,

The staff of Stark Voices is ex-cited to be putting out its second edition. Be sure to look for edi-tion three in December.

Our goal as a staff has been to put out an innovative paper that touches the pulse of all the students in our community. To do so, we measured our goals against our collective talents and realized that we could not obtain our desire with our limited scope. So we requested the talents of Victoria Wendt to actualize the visual dreams we did not have the ability to reach on our own. We owe Tori a good deal of thanks for making Stark Voices visually appealing and

professional looking.

Tori is a graphic design major here at Stark State. She is five classes shy of her degree, with an additional three for her photography option. Tori was initially involved in the auto tech program at Timken Senior High, but she was inspired by her art teacher to further pursue her art skills. She was talented enough to be invited to take part in the pilot program at Stark State her junior year of high school. She strives for an invitation to Kent’s Visual Graphic Communication 3D Graphic Design combined program. No doubt her talent, proven here in the new Stark Voices layout, will provide her with many opportunities.

Tori lives with her two dogs, Toph and Azula, in Massillon. In her free time she still en-joys working on cars. She also paints, sculpts and draws. She keeps her hand-eye coordination keen by playing video games, and studies their design ele-ments and functionality. She aspires to work at Bethesda Game Studios.

From the interns at Stark Voices, thank you Tori, for blessing us with your many talents. It is a pleasure to work with you.

Sincerely,Josi Heinz

Editor

Stark State offers many Web1, Web2, Web3, and Web4 classes. To end the confusion, here is a simplified break-down of their differences.

Web 1: Web-enabled, class two days a week, meet twice a weekWeb 2: Web-enabled, class two days a week, meet once a week, and assigned class timeWeb 3: Web-delivered, fully onlineWeb 4: Web-blended / Web-essential, fully online, may have assigned class timeAll web classes require an orientation which is taken prior to opening your course in Angel.

Taking a web3 class is not always the best option because you miss out on the discussion with the other students and live broadcast of the class, but for certain classes it may help you. For example, in a math class you solve problems in the style the professor teaches. Almost all the math classes use My Math Lab for their homework. If you are someone who struggles in math, the homework on My Math Lab may be frustrating. This is where the problems start to occur. A professor may not teach the same method as the math lab and it could get really confusing. So to cut out the middle man, take a Web3 online course for math. This will eliminate two different versions to get the same answer.

Probably the greatest advantage of online courses is their

convenience. They can help ease scheduling conflicts with work, family, and other classes and also eliminate trans-portation problems. However, there are some drawbacks to taking online courses as well. It takes a lot of dedication to sit down at a scheduled time to take online classes. It can be time consuming finding out information that is needed at the time. You may have to email the professor or student and have to wait maybe a day for a reply. This can slow your process down, so always have a backup plan to work on in the meantime.

When I first started school I was very skeptical of online classes, but the past two semesters have been great. I have been able to work and take care of my daily needs without having to stop in the middle of the day, or not work at all because I had to go to class. With the online classes I re-ally like the fact that almost all the assignments are ready for you to do. This helped me get ahead in the classes that came easy to me, so I was able to spend more time on the subjects that needed more of my attention. If you are a younger student that has not yet worked full time, taking classes online could self-discipline you. Since you take the classes online and do the work on your time, you can set your daily schedule as though you are working at a 40 hour a week, full time job. That can be easily done for a full time student. At the end of the day, taking classes on campus or online, takes discipline. However you decide to take your classes, just know what to expect.

You Are Not Alone by: Amber Keene

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“Frustrated? Anxious? Life’s chal-lenges getting you down… don’t know where to turn? Help is available (free for Stark State students).” Maybe you’ve seen these postcard-sized handouts for “free, confidential one-on-one counseling” around campus and wondered what this was all about.

Private, individual counseling sessions are available to help students through a variety of problems they may be facing, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, relationship problems, eating disor-ders, domestic violence, physical and emotional abuse, family conflict, loss and grief issues and adjusting to life’s changes. These are just some of the problems Student Support Counselor Elizabeth Inkinen-Juergensen sees every week.

The counseling program at Stark State was started two summers ago. Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen likes to keep the Stark State website and the handout as open as possible to let students know that they can talk to her about any life

situation they are cur-rently going through, and if she does not have the answer you are looking for, she will help you find it. Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen has a range of resources to help students, including community relationships that give students more than counseling—hous-ing, more intense counsel-ing, and more.

Sometimes learning issues at school arise because of life issues, but there is help available. While Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen deals with day-to-day life issues, Melanie Carr, Stark State’s Retention Counselor/Facilitator, deals with learning issues.

Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen spends counseling appointments talking to students about whatever life is throw-ing their way that is getting in the way of their learning, and Ms. Carr deals with academic issues—test anxiety,

note taking, test taking, handling problems with teachers, etc. She offers mapping classes that show students how to take notes, and teaches various workshops and activities sponsored by Connection Central (G106).

Sometimes high levels of stress get in the way of proper learning. When Ms. Carr has helped a student through learning issues, she sometimes refers them to Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen to help them through life issues they are facing. Between Ms. Carr and Ms. Inkinen-Juergensen they can find a way to help you through a variety of problems that college students face. No matter what problem you are up against, their job is to get you through your classes successfully.

To schedule an appointment with Elizabeth Inkinen-Juergensen, con-tact her at extension 4219, email at ejuergensen@starkstate.edu or stop by room S311G. To schedule an appointment with Melanie Carr, contact her at extension 4242 or stop by the TRIO—Together Realizing Individual Opportunities—office in room B230.

Rocking Microeconomics by: Paul Barans

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If you are a business major, sooner or later you have to take BUS 221, Microeconomics. Maybe you have to enroll in an online version of this course because of your work sched-ule, and you are not excited about facing another Web-based course. Perhaps you would rather be in a

classroom where you can raise your hand to ask the instructor questions and get an immediate answer.Stark State has a solution for you – the Second Life version of BUS 221 (BUS 221/SL). According to Mike Zerbe, the course’s instructor, “Second Life is an on-line, virtual, 3-D world.” Within this virtual world, Stark State provides Mi-croeconomics classes where students interact with the instructor and other students in real time, receiving lec-tures, asking questions, and discuss-ing the topics with other students, just like in a physical classroom.Second Life allows you to choose your own avatar (the online image that other students see when you are in the virtual classroom). And the classroom setting is changed from time to time, so you do not have to stare at the same boring classroom all the time. In past semesters, the virtual classes have been held in a tree house,

a coffee shop, a yacht, and a bog, to name just a few settings.

BUS 221/SL began in January 2009. Mike Zerbe, the instructor, intro-duced this teaching method because, he says, “I thought that the typical on-line class was boring. . . . Second Life looked like it could be pretty cool, and an innovative way of restructur-ing the typical online format.”Students that have taken Microeco-nomics this way have been enthusias-tic about the Second Life approach to learning. Typical student comments are “It felt just like a face-to-face class when we would have our meetings,” and “It has been the most interesting and fun class I have taken in a year and a half ”.

BUS 221/SL is offered every fall and spring semester. Up to 25 students can enroll in the class. To enroll in BUS 221/SL for the spring 2013 semester, register for the CRN 40429 session of BUS 221.Before you sign up for BUS 221/SL, check that your own computer has a fast enough graphics processor and has wireless capability. You cannot use one of the college’s fixed terminals or a “loaner” laptop because those are not robust enough to run Second Life properly. To determine if your com-puter has sufficient capacity to run Second Life, visit the Can You Run It?

Web site (www.systemrequirement-slab.com), select Second Life from the drop down menu, and click the Can You Run It button. The site checks your computer and lets you know if it can run the Second Life application. The site also reports any upgrades that it recommends for your comput-er to run Second Life optimally.

Once you have registered for BUS 221/SL, there are two things you need to remember about the course:1. There is no physical class-room for this version of the course. The classroom is entirely virtual. Do not run around the campus looking for a Microeconomics classroom.2. You must attend the online class at the scheduled day and time; that is, you must be online and logged into Second Life, with your avatar in the virtual classroom at the scheduled time.

For questions about Second Life or the computer requirements for running the program, contact Stark State’s Second Life expert, Marcia Addison, by phone at 330-494-6170, ext. 5525, or by e-mail at MAddison@starkstate.edu.For information about the academic content of the BUS 221 course, con-tact the instructor, Michael Zerbe, by phone at 330-494-6170, ext. 4750, or by e-mail at MZerbe@starkstate.edu.

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Stark Graphic Design Students Tour Timken by: Josi Heinz

Students in the Stark State Graphic Design program were given the unique opportunity to tour the com-munication campus of Timken on October 31 and November 7. I was lucky to accompany them to learn a little bit about Timken history, job opportunities at Timken and some valuable lessons on applying for jobs—lessons that are applicable not only to graphic arts students interested in work-ing at Timken, but to everyone hunting for jobs.

The tour was led by Cindy Christen (of Graboswki & Com-pany, contracted by Timken), the Creative Services Manager at Timken. She began with an interesting brief history on the company, which has offices in 30 countries. Timken works in steel and bearings, for a multitude of purposes including aerospace and movement. A flourishing company, Timken is an in-ternational operation that runs around the clock.

The diversity of their products means diversity in projects at Timken. Em-ployees can work on projects for ex-ternal display for the public or internal presentation to be used throughout the company. The students toured the Creative Services department, where they got to see graphic designers in ac-tion. Current and past products were shown, proving the meticulous detail that is put into every graphic used, as well as the amount of work entailed

for every project. Students also got a glimpse of both TimkeNet (Timken’s content management server) and the project coordination programs used in the Creative Services Department.

Students were then shown a variety of uses for graphics in Timken, from internal training manuals and wall decorations with Timken branded

themes, to Timken products such as shirts, coffee mugs and pens. Graphic designers at Timken need to be flex-ible and fast paced to keep up with the demands for graphics from different avenues.

Cindy Christen then gave the students some very valuable advice for applying for jobs. Her advice included: WORK! Offer to do jobs within the community for free or in exchange for a service to bulk up a portfolio and get your work and name out there. When it comes to applying, do something unique. Employers literally look at hundreds

of resumes, so something needs to set yours apart. Include a tri-fold pamphlet, a CD, something that sells yourself and displays your talent and personality. Most importantly, know the organization that you are applying for. Understand what it is about. Can you see yourself working in such an environment, with these people? With so many job applicants flooding the

market, employers are often left to make de-cisions based on ab-stract concepts, like, “would this person fit in with our team?” The best way to know the answer to that question is take the time to research companies and take advantage of oppor-tunities such as the one afforded to the graphic art students. Network, make contacts and tour companies. It is just as important that you feel you would fit into an environment as it is for the employer to

think you would fit in. Employment opportunities are often about finding good matches.

The tour of Timken was an invaluable tool for the graphic art students as they being their job search. But many of the lessons they took away apply to all students. Know your potential employers; know yourself. Put out the best version of yourself in a creative manner to get people’s attention. Once you have their attention, you can dazzle them with the knowledge you gained at Stark State.

Layout by: Victoria Wendt

Graphic Arts Major

According to Stark State’s Web site, the Creative Culture Club (C3) pro-motes creativity and positive thinking through video gaming, animation, and other artistic media “in a structured, community setting.” It sounds a bit stiff, but Mike Geig, the club’s advisor, said that C3 is mostly a chance for stu-dents to socialize. “Come in and hang out,” said Geig. The meeting I dropped in on this week looked comfortable. Fun. I’m seriously thinking about join-ing.

C3 was started about a year and a half ago, but this semester has been the club’s first really good semester, ac-cording to Geig, with 17 or 18 mem-bers showing up for each meeting. The club recently merged with Stark State’s Video Game Club (see the October issue of Stark Voices), so that helped boost the C3 membership.

The principal activities of the club are creating and playing video games, and making and watching animation. And that seems to be what mostly goes on in the meetings. But there are some activities outside of meetings as well. At the meeting I attended, some members made plans to go as a group to see Wreck-It Ralph, an animated film about a video game villain, so the movie appeals to member interests in both animation and video games.

C3’s video gamers are looking forward to the world-wide Global Game Jam (GGJ) in January. According to the GGJ Web site, the jam is not a contest, but an opportunity for programmers, artists, story-tellers, and other creative persons to explore the process of video game development. At the start of the jam, a secret theme is announced, and participating teams have 48 hours to

create a new video game based on that theme. C3 also participated in last year’s jam, which comprised teams in 242 locations in 47 countries. The teams created more than 2,000 video games in one 48-hour period.Members of C3 recently voted to have membership dues of $5 dollars per year. The money will help buy more monitors for video games and more TVs for screening animated films. They are also looking for other ways to raise funds but have not planned anything definite yet.

For more information about the Cre-ative Culture Club, contact Mike Geig, by phone at 330-494-6170, ext. 5125, by e-mail at mgeig@starkstate.edu, or in person at room C100. Or just drop by during one of the club’s meetings (Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in room K112).

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Stark State students may find Cultural Diversity Club fliers on the bulletin boards around campus, but many do not know that there are actually three different sub groups within the Cultural Diversity Club. These three sub groups are the Women of Color Club (10 members), the Heads Up Club (12 members), and the Native American Indian Organization (six members). Each group does their own fundraisers and commu-nity service. They each concentrate on different issues and goals that related to their group, but they often plan programs together. The Women of Color and Heads Up Clubs recently went to Washington, D.C. together to visit museums as well as visit a Vietnamese area of the city. They also got together and did a back-to-school function called “Fun Day,” a free event for students and the public at a park with games and food for everyone. The Native American Indian Club will be planning the programing for the “Celebration of Na-tive American Indians” soon.

The three clubs hold their meetings twice a month, and there are times when they are in the lobby or audito-rium at the tables signing people up as well. Every club is run by the students and officers, but each club also has an adviser. “It’s really important for students to get involved and not just look at this as a place to come, take classes, and go home,” said Multicultural Affairs Officer Robin Tyler. “It really is a place where you can develop some other types of relationships and get some valuable lessons and skills from being involved in clubs and organizations, so I would encourage everybody to do it.”

All you have to do to join is email or see Robin Tyler in the Multicultural Affairs Club (B230k) or contact one of the officers of the organizations. Keep an eye out for their fliers around campus for further information.To learn more about these groups visit: http://www.starkstate.edu/content/student-organizations

Student Submission! Cultural Diversity in Club Form by: Eiaonge Vue

C3 by: Paul Barans