College students need more education support

Let the voices be heard from the enlightening generation of hope and inspiration.

Due to the lack of productive communication between the students and the career success center at LBCC, students are worried that they won’t be marketed to the right prospective employers for achievement.

Students who attend LBCC are completing degrees in potential careers to only be met with unemployment. So the question is, is LBCC meeting the criteria, expectations and needs? No.

LBCC should find ways to accelerate their degree programs in a proactive way instead of cutting the necessity classes that help students likely to graduate and find an establish job.

I believe that there are ways to professionally fulfill the expansion by taking a big leap in the right direction.

The workforce at LBCC should start coordinating seasonal job fairs that give students opportunities to network with a variety of likely employers. The development should also collaborate with other community colleges throughout California and construct a job convention that has a range of promising companies that tie in with the students’ major. As well as, using informative advertisement, job leads and class presentations. By doing this it will hopefully bridge the gap between educational trained graduates and ascending into the reality of the work atmosphere.

The coordinator of the career success development, Debra Garcia told me “the center environment looks like the economy”. She even addressed the reason why students are not receiving the right opportunities. Even though the center welcomes 25 to 60 students daily there is still the “lack of visibility” due to location from recent budget cuts.
However, even though the development at LBCC mostly services award-winning programs in culinary, nursing and fire science, I have come to realize that the career success center has limited boundaries to branch out to other degree programs and “lend a hand” for students who want to be successful.

Why aren’t the other prestigious degree programs receiving more attention for their structure and possibilities?
Us students actually need stabled assistance so we can, in reality reach our professional and educational goals and not assume.

Especially in our generation, a job is want makes us, to push us forward in life to be successful. So in order to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves therefore students unquestionably need supplementary attention.
We need the professional treatment that a 4-year university receives and the degree programs that can put us on the top of the list.

It doesn’t matter if LBCC is a community college; we demand respect.

Male Depression at LBCC

Michael Medina, an LBCC student, expresses that depression is a solitary state of being an orphan to life.

Medina, 21, a philosophy major was taken hostage to the mental dejection. He illustrates depression as a room with a locked door in which, the darkness holds the keys. He said it is desperation, a choking hope, and it is the need to breathe but not being able to use oxygen.

He said he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder at 16. “I used to cry, sob and weep. Tears would fall down slower than my hopes along with dreams and aspirations. Sorrow consumed me, filled me up in stored crates and storage rooms of lonely-misunderstood solitude,” he said. He said to overcome he believes love will compel him to move toward the light, a light, a small ray of optimism, an optimistic perspective; a chance, a small chance at that, but a small chance nonetheless, that there will be better times. In addition, they’re will be happier times that will allow to flower and bloom, the bloom that resides right under his heart, in the pit of his stomach. The truth and its utmost value is what will depression evaporate under.

Dr. Edwardo Tellez from family and general practice of the Pioneer Medical Group said, male depression is exceedingly severe because the mental illness can be” ignored due to overlooking the disease, suppressing or masking the depression with unhealthy behavior such as, abusing alcohol and drugs, controlling violent or abusive actions, embracing inappropriate anger and risky manners and accepting infidelity or unhealthy sexual relationships.”

Jorge Hernandez, 19, a criminal justice major, was an outcast to society and living in a home with continuous arguments, sleepless nights and problems at school made him think about suicide often. He said, “who I had become was not very easy because a smile was always hard to front, to avoid problems, and being bottled up inside for so long. Therefore, I turned to drugs and alcohol to fill in the empty gaps that were inside of me.” “There’s always a first time for everything,” he muttered.

George Hernandez said he had lost his girlfriend, his hours at work were cut and his family was unsupportivetowards his feelings. “So I tried to commit suicide by bingeing on drugs and alcohol because I couldn’t take the pain anymore.” He said his reckless attempt had put him into a mental hospital. “Being withdrawn from life and society was hard to find a remedy for. I was surrounded by four white walls and distant from the ones who I loved,” he said.

Drowned by reality. Suffocating from existence.

Hernandez said that depression is not only an illness but also an adaptation that becomes part of someone’s life after a break up, job lost, or family crisis. “Living a life with depression seems vague and bitter with leaching emotions; a feeling of being bottled up with no one to understand you. From this I knew that this was the end to my old lifestyle and ready for the road to recovery,” he said.

Fashion shoots for greater funds

LBCC students Davon Hollie, left, a fashion merchandise and design major, and
Jallen Harris, right, a fashion design major, choose the next outfit for Cirque de la mode photo shoot.

The Speakeasy Art Gallery emerged with tall skinny models, tailored designers, teachers from the LBCC fashion program and guests who joined together for a stylized night Friday, March 2.

The owner, (who didn’t want his name disclosed), of Speakeasy, said the venue had sectioned-off rooms that opened up to a large gallery and stage. The gray walls were covered with fine art and the center of the gallery had a red velvet pool table with black trimming that completed the hipster atmosphere. He said that bands performed live from Anson, DJ Bella Fiasco to SISU and The Vivids from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

President of the fashion network club, Krystle Anaya, hosted the cirque de la mode-themed fundraiser and press shoot. Anaya, 25, a fashion design and merchandise major is serving in the position for her third semester. “I’m very passionate about the club as well as the fashion program,” she said.

The fundraiser was held to promote LBCC designers in “sponsoring the next fashion show” and to create editorial pictures for the press release to promote the fashioned presentation in May Anaya said. Even though on March 2 the fashion network club didn’t make the expected profit, “Everyone had a great time,” Halley Davis said.

Halley Davis, vice president of the fashion network club, a fashion merchandise major, said all of the students in the design program will have the opportunity to submit their designs for consideration and a selection team will choose what makes it into the show, with about 120 garments.

Davis said the fashion network club has reached out to local high schools with fashion programs and participating students who will have the chance to showcase their designs on the runway. “We will be doing a high school segment in our fashion show,” she said.

They will also be creating a short segment on fair trade to raise awareness of all materials used in the garments will be organically produced under certified fair trade standards, Davis said.

The 35th annual spring fashion show, Cirque De La Mode will presented on Thursday May 17 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the LAC. The auditorium seats 900 people and sells out almost every year, Davis said. People may purchase VIP tickets for $25 or general admission for $15 and high school students can buy tickets for $8.

TO VIEW PDF APPEARANCE:Fashion Shots

Marijuana Creativity

On Sat., April 14,PCC student Karin Turley, 31, a human service major was a marijuana user. Everyone she knew smoked weed so it felt normal to her.

Turley said it made her feel more physical and creative at times, plus it gave her an emotional outlet during depressing moments.

In her 20’s, when she smoked weed, it not only affected her creativity, but her outlook and point in life. Turley said as a former dancer, it shaped her creative style and emotions through choreography. As a writer, it changed her issues and topics she had written about and as a ceramic artist. It enhanced her originality.

Even though weed wasn’t the only artistic enhancement, she experienced many moments of “clarity, euphoric feelings” and a more carefree attitude toward life when smoking weed.

Turley strongly believed that nothing changes a person’s perspective on life more than love, loss, understanding, tragedy and hope. However, marijuana will always slightly make a person perspective more intense on nature existence, places, feeling, relationships, making them more care free and depending on what’s going on in someone’s life, she said.

Dr. Pou Chi, a general practitioner from Pioneer Medical Group said, creativity is a subjective part of the human experience. However, many artists do smoke marijuana as part of their creativity process. Chi said some people take drugs, especially hallucinogens’ like LSD to change their perceptions or tap into parts of their mind that they cannot access easily, in addition to creating unusual perceptions.

Angelo Medina, a 21-year-old finance major, has experienced a similar epiphany with usage of marijuana. Medina used to smoke marijuana for three years recreationally and found himself more focused on everyday activities, he said.

Medina said his “determination was at optimum effect because of weed” and somehow it allowed him to find joy and a higher level of creative imagination. Unfortunately, in Medina’s opinion, the “positive side effects” had to come to a halt because it was impossible for him to sustain a job with weed in his system.

In spite of some students views, Marianne Palacios, family nurse of Health Services at LBCC, explained that marijuana has extreme side effects such as anxiety, concentration difficulty, confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, mood change, abnormal thinking, depression, disorientation, hallucinations, headaches, impaired judgment, memory lapse, numbness in extremities, psychological and physical dependence, increase in hunger and intake of food.

In contrast, Turley said that marijuana positively changed her life in a optimistic way. However, her life is better today “being weed free.”

The Unknown Hit Man

 

LBCC student Laura was robbed of a normal life and fell victim to anorexia nervosa.

Laura (did not want her last name disclosed), 22, personally believed that it was a combination of genetics, her type of personality and childhood. She grew up in a chaotic household. Her father had a severe mental illness and as a result her childhood was unpredictable.

At age 12 Laura was searching for some manner of control and knowing she couldn’t manage her father, she started to control the way she ate and her body image. The disorder gave her a false sense of power over her environment as well as safety.

Cindi Shaheen, registered nurse of Student Health Services at LBCC, said she agreed that anorexics have a penetrating drive to be thin. Therefore, they take extreme measures to avoid eating because their minds are tightly wrapped around their personal issues, identity, and image, “but it’s also prominent in males as well,” she added.

Due to it compromising Laura’s health, she wasn’t allowed to dance, which had been not only one of the things she loved but it had also been her career choice. In addition, Laura was deprived of a normal high school experience. She lived in a nightmare of self-hate for not only her body, but also her whole sense of self. Anorexia was beginning to destroy her life and it was extremely emotional and painful for her friends and family to witness.

Dr. Emerico Csepanyi, from family and general practice of the Pioneer Medical Group said, anorexia nervosa has its consequences such as thinning of hair, low blood pressure, slow heart rate, heart failure, troubled thinking, fear of gaining weight, sad, moody, irritable, bad memory, fainting, changes in brain chemistry, menstrual stops, stunted growth, post partum depression, bruises easily, dry skin, brittle nails and yellow skin.

However, Laura was hospitalized numerous times and was sent too many different treatment centers. Eventually she went to a treatment center that helped her realize she deserved to eat and live. Although recovery seemed impossible, Laura did meet strong powerful people who recovered.

Even though anorexia nervosa almost took her life, she has advice for people going through the illness.’ “I would tell them that it is a losing battle. The feeling of control that one perceives they are achieving from the disorder is a major falsehood. In fact the disordered person is out of control. An eating disorder will rob you of your opinions, your freedom, your friends, your family, your hobbies, your health and ultimately your life. Eating disorders are not just a diet taken to the extreme. They are in fact an illness and one that leads to death.”

Sex, Lies and Advertising

 

 

The image of a woman is heavily processed in a man’s head due to mass media exposure.
In our generation men look at women as sex objects and not for their inner beauty. Is it because Hollywood has been depicting women as sex targets since its earliest days? As cliché as it sounds, feminists have done studies to illustrate that men are innately more visual than women.
But we also know that media plays a huge role, especially Hollywood movies, advertising and pornography.

Looking around the current media landscape, you need not look further than some of our culture’s most infamous reality TV and tabloid stars: Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. But the real game-changer in recent years has been pornography, especially in the Internet area.
I’ve read a recent report that suggested that pornography is playing an increasingly larger role in determining the sex lives of today’s generation of American men. In short, with its easy accessibility online, it has in many ways become the form of sex education for millions of young men.

The feminist film theory has given us a vocabulary to analyze men’s desire to look at women as sex objects. The male gaze is the term used by film critics to suggest that the camera in mainstream Hollywood films is most often showing us the perspective of the heterosexual man.
We can see this, for example, in the way the camera lingers over a woman’s body more often than a man’s. Another term that film critic’s use is “scopophilia” to suggest the pleasure the viewer gets from watching women.

In Dove’s recent advertising campaign called the real beauty campaign, Dove has chosen to advertise its beauty products by showing us women of all shapes and ages, without makeup or artificial manipulation.

The revolutionary change in our day and age that goes against the proverb “sex sells”. Dove wants us to questions why only one type of woman typically sells us our products. They also are trying to redefine our very idea of beauty and enable us to see women not merely as sexual objects, but as sexual subjects.

We can also see attitudes changing in shows like “Sex and the City” that depict women as active, empowered agents in control of their sex lives. Last year’s smash hit “Bridesmaid” was an important movie in this regard, showing that women are just as gross and enjoy gross-out movies just as men do. They show us examples of women no longer dressing to please men, but for themselves and occasionally even to repel men.

I like when there’s a diversity of images. As mentioned above, I really admire the Dove campaign because they prove that men and women don’t just want one type of beauty. We want to see all sorts of images.