Friday, October 17, 2008

Student Senate Elections Announced

CCC students cast their ballots on Sept. 23 to elect members of the 2008-09 Student Senate.  Voting was held following a pep rally which was organized to recognize all athletic and academic  team members.
Students elected include Adrian Gonzalez (Groton, Conn.), Neal Jeffrey (Mankato), Ryan Baalman (Colby), Jessica Swanek (Doniphan, Neb.), Kimberly Kelly (Ada, Kan.), Levy Ryan (Russell), Ryan Edmundson (Brewster), Andrew Starns (Brewster), Jeffrey Heller (Beloit), and Alyssa Lambert (McCook, Neb.).  They join Student Senate President Kayla Dinkel (Hays), Secretary Kim Wessel (Dresden) and Treasurer Katy Hall (Rolla).
Student Senate sponsors a number of events during the school year including first-week activities, movie nights, dances and community-service projects. 
Advisors for the group are Crystal Pounds and Patti Albers.

Fred Spencer

Colby Community College has announced the selection of Fred Spencer as assistant coach for the Lady Trojan basketball team.  He will assist first-year head coach Brady Jasper.
Spencer coached women’s basketball at Riverview High School and Newsome High School in Tampa, Fla.  Prior to accepting the job at CCC, Spencer was Senior Program Manager at the YMCA in Orlando, Fla., which served 2,000 youngsters.
He began his college basketball career at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla., and continued to play basketball at Troy State in Troy, Ala. 
“Prior to finishing my degree at Troy State, I returned to Tampa to assist my ailing grandmother,” said Spencer. “I completed my degree in Human Services at Springfield College while living in Tampa.”
After graduation, Spencer played professional basketball in Spain for four years.
“I really want to coach on the collegiate level,” said Spencer.  “People in the community of Colby have been very friendly. I am looking forward to assisting Coach Jasper this season and to recruiting for next year’s team.”
Spencer and his wife have three children ages 14, 12 and 7.

CCC Students Register to Vote

CCC students were given the opportunity to do more than just eat lunch when they visited the cafeteria last week.  A voter registration drive, jointly sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Kansas National Education Association-Student Program (KNEA-SP), enabled students to register to vote at a table set up in the Union.
KNEA-SP members also distributed “Register to Vote” reminders to all CCC students during the Wednesday 10:10 class period.
“Shannon Titus, KNEA-SP event planner, and I created the reminder forms and a cover letter to deliver to students,” said sponsor Carolyn May.  “The KNEA-SP members received very positive responses about this activity.  They encouraged others to register to vote but did not try to persuade anyone on how they were to cast their ballot.”
Approximately 25 students completed voter registration forms on that day.  Several others picked up forms to complete at a later time. The reminder forms included the web site to register on-line.  That site is www.kssos.org/forms/elections/voterregistration.pdf.
“Registration may be done online but the form must be signed,” said May.  “If the signed form is brought to us at the H.F. Davis Library, we will take it to the court house.  Shelly Harms, Thomas County Clerk, has requested that she receive the registration forms no later than Oct. 19.”
Additional blank registration forms are available at the college library.  The General Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM).  Since the program began in 1985, mammography rates have more than doubled for women age 50 and older and breast cancer deaths have declined.  In recognition of this important initiative, members of the Colby Community College Lady Trojan softball team set up a table in the Student Union and distributed informational materials, pink bracelets and mints to students, faculty and staff members.
Although exciting progress has been made, there are still women who do not take advantage of early detection at all and others who do not get screening mammograms and clinical breast exams at regular intervals.  Women age 65 and older are less likely to get mammograms than younger women, even though breast cancer risk increases with age.  In addition, women below the poverty level are less likely than women at higher incomes to have had a mammogram within the past two years.
Experts agree that if all women age 40 and older took advantage of early detection methods–mammography plus clinical breast exam–breast cancer death rates would drop as much as up to 30 percent.
The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month program is dedicated to increasing public knowledge about the importance of early detection of breast cancer.  Fifteen national public organizations, professional associations and government agencies comprise the Board of Sponsors, who work together to ensure that the NBCAM message is heard by thousands of women and their families.

Phonathon

One of the most significant Colby Community College fund-raising events will begin Oct. 19 and continue Oct. 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28.  The annual Endowment Foundation Phonathon Scholarship Fund Drive will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. each evening. 
“We raised approximately $50,000 last year for student scholarships,” said Foundation Director Nick Wells.  “The need is even greater this year with the addition of new programs such as Entrepreneurship, Feedlot Certification and Therapeutic Massage Therapy.  It is our goal to exceed the $50,000 the college received last year.”
CCC Presidential Scholars, Student Ambassadors and student representatives from clubs and organizations will be making calls to approximately 12,000 alumni and friends of the college.
“We have an increase in freshman enrollment numbers this semester” said CCC President Dr. Lynn Kreider.  “The completion of the new 160-bed dormitory, the new programs, and the increasing competition to attract the best students to CCC are all factors that contribute to the need for additional scholarships.”
Over 50 percent of CCC students receive a scholarship.  Eighty percent of full-time students receive some form of financial assistance.
Letters have been sent to alumni and friends of the college allowing those who prefer not to be called to send their donations in advance.

Cormier Story

Daniel Cormier has experienced tremendous success and devastating defeat on and off the mat during his career as a six-time time national champion and two-time Olympic wrestler.
Cormier, who was chosen as the team captain for the 2008 Olympic wrestling team, won six straight national championships and the Bronze Medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece.
“In recognition of Daniel’s contribution to the sport of wrestling and his success at Colby College and in the world arena, we have named the Nov. 1 wrestling tournament the Daniel Cormier Open,” said CCC Head Coach Steve Lampe.  “He will be attending the tournament with his wife Robin.” 
Cormier was widely recognized as the USA’s best hope for a Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.  However, his dream of winning came to an end when he was forced to withdraw from the competition at 96 kg (211.5 lbs.) because of health concerns.
Cormier will discuss details of the devastating decision to withdraw from the competition and his future plans during the 6 p.m. break in tournament. He will also be available to talk with and provide photo opportunities for those who attend the tournament
“Daniel has an unique and inspiring message,” said Coach Lampe. “I encourage everyone, especially young athletes, to attend this tournament and hear him discuss both the triumphs and tragedies that he has experienced,” said Coach Lampe.
The 29-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana native was a three-time state prep champion.  He led the CCC Trojan squad, coached by Steve Lampe, to the NJCAA championship in 1999 and was the national champion for two years.  After graduating from Colby College, he continued his career a Oklahoma State University where he earned second in the 2001 championships while receiving a degree in sociology.
Cormier has not lost to an American wrestler since 2003, earned his first World medal in 2007, and was honored with the John Smith Award, symbolic of the country’s top freestyle wrestler.
For more information about the tournament, call Head Coach Steve Lampe at 443-2220 or Rich Epp at 443-1994.

Procrastination: A Way of Life

Staying up late nights to finish the paper your teacher assigned to you a week ago, cramming in all the information you possibly can five minutes before the big final, and even putting off paying bills until they’re overdue are a few fine examples of a problem we all face as college students.  This is a problem that can cause anxiety levels and stress to sky rocket, making the simplest task seem like climbing a mountain.  The problem we’re facing now is procrastination. 
Everyone knows that procrastination is quite frankly a part of life.  There will always be that paper that you dread writing, or the book you intend to read but just can’t seem to open up. 
Procrastination has always been an issue, especially with students.  Everyone has had their run-in with it.  However, how people deal with it can either make or break their college career. 
There are many reasons why students decide to procrastinate.  Some people have the fear  of failure.  In other words, before they even start a paper, they are afraid it is going to turn out horribly.  Therefore they put it off.  Others reinforce procrastination by putting something fun in the place of doing something productive.  Rather than studying for a test, they sit in front of their computer and get lost in the world of Facebook and MySpace.   Before they know it, an hour has gone by and they can’t remember anything about the chapter the test is over.   Another reason why students procrastinate is because they’re simply too busy.  Work and other classes can become quite a burden on individuals and make procrastination the easy way out.  Although procrastination will always have an effect on our lives, we can step up and control it rather than just going with the flow.  There are many ways to avoid procrastinating. 
For example, find out exactly how you procrastinate.  Whether it be ignoring the talk, turning a short break into a long one, or telling yourself that how you perform in school today won’t matter in the future are some ways everyone procrastinates.  Once you find out how exactly you procrastinate, you’ll be able to catch it in the future and eliminate that obstacle. 
Creating a productive environment for yourself is a good way to keep focused on the assignment at hand.  If you’re in a room full of friends and television and music, how easy will that be to keep your nose in your book and actually understand what you’re reading?  Try to find a quiet space and avoid all distractions as possible. 
Some assignments require working on a computer, which we all know is a major distraction when trying to get something done.  There are endless possibilities as far as entertainment goes on the World Wide Web.  Some great advice on how to keep yourself away from that is to get yourself off Facebook, stop downloading music from Limewire, and get off messenger.  These are all just excuses to keep yourself from getting to the point. 
As I stated before, procrastination will always be a part of life.  But the main question I will leave you with is, can you control it, rather than letting it control you?