On October 19, the STEM program hosted Stem Day in the Paterson Campus Lobby to make students aware of what the program is about. Each month, STEM focuses on a different department within the program. This month’s, October, focus was Engineering. Since they are starting up the Engineering Club, they felt that October was perfect to promote Engineering and invite students to join the club. STEM provides different programs such as Tutoring and Mentoring. Tutors are available all day and all week, including Saturdays, to

help students with their schoolwork. The mentoring program pair students with members of the STEM Program and with an adult faculty member who can help them achieve their goals. These mentors can also

By JanCarlos Gutierrez

VISIONSPage 1

P C C C ’ s

The Student Newspaper of Passaic County Community College

November 2015

In this Issue

By Jenice Brown

By Jenice Brown

Game of Life: Learning how to overcome obstacles on your way to graduation

On October 8th, Maria Mar-te, the Director of Student Activities, chose three students to attend a meet-ing with President Steven Rose and a group of educators from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Neth-erlands, to learn how technology benefits learning in the classroom. The students were there to represent Passaic County Community College’s student body as a whole and exchange questions with the educators about the two different school systems.

After brief introductions, the con-versation began. “I think technology is ben-eficial on campus because students can’t always make it to day classes or even night classes due to conflicting schedules; so having something like an online class is good,” said Sahani Caba, a PCCC student. These classes are hands on because you have discussion boards – where you can interact with other people online, aset schedule of when assignments

Netherlands University Educators meet with PCCC Community

School Shooting in Oregon

By Kevin A. Leiva On October 1, in the town of Roseburg Oregon, as many would remember there was yet another school shooting. The shooter killed 9 people and injured nine others, and later shot himself after being injured in a brief exchange of fire against police.

This last edition in a long line of violence against students from within has many concerned and calling for more gun control. Yet others claim the issue doesn’t only involve guns. A few PCCC professors and students decided to weight in and tell what they see as the

main issue. “It’s just too easy to get a gun,” says Professor Edward Mosley, who is a professional in psychology. “We have very disturbed people out there off of their medications, and they can very easily go around buying firearms to use in later crimes,” Mosley adds. “I think a simple background check would suffice in keeping these people from getting weapons. After all, the vast majority of mental patients are not violent.” Professor Mosley went on to say that there are just too many people getting their hands on weapons, which is

Get to Graduation was the theme of this years’ annual live simulation of Game of life. Just like the board game, students of Passaic County Community College were given a scenario where they had to figure out how to get to graduation despite their dilemmas. Obstacles were thrown at them but there were tables with different attributes to help each student out. The event was sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa honor society in accordance to their C4 week - Community College Completion Corps. “This is an initiative started in New Jersey, to acquire as many signatures as possible to get students to commit to actually completing college and earning a degree,” said Miguel De Jesus, president of PTK.

From October 19th to the 21st, PTK club members were acquiring signatures from students while advertising Game of Life, which was happening on the 22nd. “We chose to play the game of life

because it’s used all over New Jersey but we used the theme of college completion as it relates to the C4 initiative; so it was all about getting to graduation,” Professor Gasparino, advisor of PTK, said.

(Continues on page 2)

“It’s just too easy to get a gun,”

(Continues on page 5)(Continues on page 4)

President Steven Rose, Educators from Windesheim University (Continues on page 3)

Stem Day Pathway to a 4-Year College

News............................. Pages 1-5 Features........................ Pages 6-9 Feature/Editoral............. Page 10

Game Page...................... Page 11

Event List........................ Page 12

Editor-in-Chief Naftaly Hiraldo

Managing Editor Jenice Brown Layout Editing Manager Brian Gomez Layout Assissant JanCarlos Gutierrez Verenice Martinez Lizt L. Gallardo Editor Thomas Feliciano

Production Editor Tanisha McKinnon Faculty Advisor Christine Redman-Waldeyer

Reporters Naftaly Hiraldo JanCarlos Gutierrez Faison Peters Thomas Feliciano Jenice Brown Kevia A. Levia Cagatay Oncu

Contributing Writers Royland Sanchez Kamrul Hossain Llajayra Calvo Dezhaun Thomas Nichole Astarita

Contact us at:news@pccc.edu

Page 2 News

Reimagining Domestic Abuse What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘domestic vio-lence’? For many people, the typical notion is a lower class couple, involving a meek and submissive female being physically assaulted by an angry and out-of-control male. The purpose of Professor Jennifer Gasparino’s lecture was to challenge these stereotypical con-ceptions in the hopes of providing students with a better understand-ing of the less conspicuous forms this issue can assume. Professor Gasparino deliv-ered her open lecture on Wednes-day, November 4th, to a small group of students at the Center for Student Success. Those in atten-dance, whom were mostly women, listened closely as Professor Gaspa-rino explained some of the myths pertaining to domestic violence. Not all batterers are men, for in-stance, nor are all victims necessar-ily women. Moreover, the victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse come from many different back-grounds, be it cultural, educational or socioeconomic. Perhaps the most interesting myth was that domestic violence serves no purpose. Professor Gas-parino reminded those in atten-dance that domestic violence can often serve as a compelling dynam-ic within a dysfunctional relation-ship. Both victims and perpetrators who come from homes where domestic violence took place have often internalized abuse as part of their ideal of romantic attachment. “He hits you because he cares about you,” the broken logic goes. When Professor Gasparino

asked her audience, “Can you be a victim of domestic violence … if there’s no physical activity whatso-ever?” heads immediately began to nod in affirmation. “Emotional and psychological abuse are some of the worst types of abuse,” she said. Ac-cording to Professor Gasparino, this less salient form of abuse, which includes threatening language and attacks on self-esteem, can often leave invisible scars. When asked by a student in the audience as to how emotional and psychological abuse can be proven in a court of law, Professor Gasparino remarked on the dif-ficulties involved due to the gap between the realities of domestic violence and the legal procedures that deal with it. Nevertheless, she stressed the importance of holding onto text messages and any other recorded communications which demonstrate emotional and psycho-logical abuse. “Even if you don’t get anywhere in the system, at least you have a document on record,” she said. “There are innate qualities: people are born with a temper-ament; there are organic mental health issues …,” However, she identified a focal point for effort when she mentioned the role of childhood learning: “We know, for the most part, behavior is learned. We also know that violence is learned.” The relationship between gender roles and domestic violence was also explored. When Professor Gasparino asked the audience to identify some of the societal forces that encourage or enable domestic

violence, a young female student confidently answered, “Men should always be dominant.” “Society … historically elevates the man into the role of power,” Professor Gas-parino said, and went on to explain how men with emotional or psy-chological disorders are privileged with traditional male authority. The discussion lead into the role of substance abuse. “It plays a huge part in it, the same person who is sober is not the same person who is drunk,” Professor Gasparino said. “We have decades of research to support that substance abuse is tremendously influential in vio-lence, so it’s important that we look at that.” Stress was also mentioned as a ma jor contributing factor in domestic violence. “Somebody who is feeling like the weight of the world is on their shoulders can easi-ly snap,” Professor Gasparino said. “The person who has the outlet, and the healthy notion of being able to take care of the stress in their life, is less at risk for violent outbursts than somebody who doesn’t know how to manage stress…” Professor Gasparino made an important distinction between responsibility and understanding. “I want to stress … that none of this makes it okay, it never makes it okay,” she said, “but again, my job is to teach you how to understand it.” Addressing Human Services stu-dents specifically, she said, “… you have to understand things in order to be able to work with people or understand people who are in these situations.”

(Continues on page 5)

Stem Day(Continued from page 1)

help solve life problems, like helping students get organized and help them prioritize what’s most important. “Why work harder? Why not just work a little smarter, and get as much done or more” says Professor Dennis Reer, Director of the STEM Program.

Often times getting experience, learning about the job position, and doing an internship early are ways to help students get jobs. In addition, being exposed to different experiences in your field, taking up an intern-ship, and volunteering is a great way to get noticed; all of these connections will make a student more of a valuable candidate. “The Stem Department, for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, is where the launching pad occurs, and you can

go as far as you want to,” says Professor Reer. “Our idea of STEM Day is to feature all the opportunities we provide for students, and to show some examples of workshop experi-ments, and different programs that we have. We like to have students sign up for different work-shops, clubs, and other things that we feature here,” stated Professor Gambino. STEM offers different workshops that help students get hands on experience, and an edge over someone else that is competing for that job. Going into a job, knowing more about the field, will stand out and will get students hired faster. Academic Planning Support and Re-cruitment through Dual Enrollment, are oth-er services that STEM provides. They help students complete their degrees on time with targeted courses. Personal Advisors will help students decide on a career path that’s best for each in-dividual student. Students have the option to go on field trips that inspire and educate. Creating a resume is something that

STEM encourages students to make, and they feel it’s important to be active in the communi-ty so that your resume can be filled with every-thing that you’ve been a part of. STEM’s focus for November will be on the Mathematics department.

By Cagatay Oncu

“The Stem Department, for Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering and Mathematics, is where the launching pad occurs, and you can go as far as you want to,”

News

On November 3, 2015, many PCCC students took advantage of a school function – a trip to the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. The Office of Student Activities, as well as the criminal justice student organiza-tion, Justice, organized the trip. Students were in attendance from Paterson and Passaic cam-pus, and were all treated to a full guided tour of the museum. The Museum stands over the footprint of ground zero as a memorial to the events of September 11, 2001. It was on that day that four flights were hijacked by radicalized terror-

ists, two of which crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. This event is still the greatest loss of life due to for-eign attack in the history of the United States. Students were guided through the museum, which goes down several levels, lower than anywhere else in New York City. Once be-low, they walked through the foundations of the original building, being shown what little was left once the dust settled. Students had the option to see a large memorial featuring the names and faces of each of the victims. They also saw many artifacts left

behind from the event. The memorial includes over 2,000 names of both civilian and first responders who became victims of the attack that day. The names are featured on a wall of pictures as well as etched into a fountain built in the footprint of where one of the Towers used to be. When asked about the Memorial, Professor Michael C. Walker commented by saying, “It was done very well. I have been tell-ing people, “Go see it. Pay the money and go. It is completely worth it.””

PCCC’s Field Trip to Ground ZeroBy: Kevin A. Leiva

Page 3

Summit Reaches New HeightsCollege Students Struggle to Reach the TopBy Naftaly Hiraldo

When one hears the word “college” in the media, the images that come to mind tend to be synonymous to the word “party.” Howev-er, what many don’t get to see is the lives that college students lead once they leave campus. Contrary to the easygoing represen-tations of student life in the media, college students, particularly community college students, are often faced with several obstacles while going to school. On October 10th at the Emerging Leader Summit, a group of students, presenters, and faculty gathered to share their own stories and experiences about college life. Among the speakers was Paterson native, Leonardo Estanislao. Estanislao spoke with the group on the importance of relying on oneself and working hard to achieve your goals.

“Everybody has a different situation ... and sometimes you just get thrown in the buck-et and there’s nothing you can do about it. You try to get yourself out of it. You try to evolve, but things happen.” Estanislao’s cleft lip and issues with speech caused him to take special education classes that passed along the standard educa-tion system, thus leaving him ill-equipped for higher education. “It’s unbelievable. You get classified with certain things and you expect people around you to help you, then you just get lost in the system,” said Estanislao. Despite graduating high school at a fifth-grade level, Estanislao was able to make it to the top through hard work and self-reli-ance. Students often find themselves over-whelmed with the responsibilities that come with the roles they play in and out of school,

and forget that they are not the only ones strug-gling to get their diplomas. Sharing her per-spective on being raised by an adult student as well as her own college experiences was Elaina Gassparino. “My mom graduated [with a Masters] from NYU. I went and I saw that amazement for her, and I said I want that. I took that pride that I had for her and applied it to myself,” she commented. Gassparino feels that her mother’s journey to graduation helped her realize the

importance of education. Now a student at the University of North Carolina, Gassparino is having on her

own journey. Despite having a “Plan A” when she initially enrolled at the university, Gasspa-rino says she had to learn that Plan A doesn’t always work out. “I had to learn to go with the flow, and even though there’s a plan it may not go the way that you have strategically planned out.” Following her presentation, PCCC’s Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Eta Chi, also gave a brief presentation on the impor-tance of college completion. As the Summit neared its end, more students began to share their intimate stories of trying to overcome obstacles for their degrees. In spite of all the anecdotes of personal triumph, Michelle Hernandez, President of the Human Services Club, says the biggest take-away from the Leader Summit was that “you can only take yourself as far as your hard work can take you.”

“Without hard work, nothing comes. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. If you believe it, go and achieve it. It may take ten

years, but you’ll do it. ”

Leonardo Estanislao

Elaina Gasparino

(Continued from page 1)Netherlands University Educatorsare due, and you can always email the professor or go see them in person when you have a problem.” “Having computers in school is good too because most people don’t have them at home and they are everywhere here: in the library, in classrooms, and the CIS building. They are there for students to use at any given time during the day so they can get their work done,” said one of the PCCC students who attended the meeting. In the Netherlands, students have figured out what career paths they want to take by the age of 12. With this system, they are put

directly into classes pertaining to that specific career all throughout high school and college. One of the major differences between countries and America is that you can decide your major up until your last day in college. In America, we are able to get different government aids to pay for school such as Financial Aid, Pell Grants, Scholarships and more, but in the Netherlands, no such thing exists. The only way you could obtain a scholarship in Netherlands is to join a show similar to America’s Got Talent or American Idol, or you will have to take out a loan. On the

upside, after you pass away in the Netherlands, if you haven’t finished paying off your loans, your loans don’t roll over to your spouse or children. In America, our Universities have dorms for students to live in all over the country. In the Netherlands, Colleges and Universities don’t have dorms on campus; instead, they are placed throughout cities and nearby homes. The school systems were proved to be very different in their make-up but they had one thing in common and that is to educate students to their fullest potential.

Pride: LGBTQ Community Gathers in Paterson RoomBy Jenice Brown

Deaf for a Day The American Sign Language Club By: Jenice Brown

From 1994 onward, October is recog-nized as LGBTQ History Month. October 11 is designated as “National Coming Out Day.” Passaic County Community College has a diverse population. The community supports one another, despite vast differences in cultural identity and feelings toward sexual orientation. In order to celebrate this month, PCCC’s Real Artistic Writers club organized an LGBTQ Celebration in the Paterson Room on October 8. The goal of the event was to highlight important figures in the LGBTQ community, such as Trace Peterson, through poetry, which students of RAW read. The call was answered by a packed

house of students, alumni, faculty, and parents. “This event is to show the struggles of the LGBTQ community and bring awareness to the cause, but also promote togetherness and unity,” Rebecca Hefelfinger, president of RAW, said. LGBTQ History Month was initiated by Missouri high school teacher Rodney Wilson. He chose the month to coincide with the already recognized “National Coming Out Day.” Also, the first march for LGBTQ awareness took place in October of 1979 in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the month is to encourage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans to be honest about their orientation.

http://news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca/all-posts/pride-proud/

According to The World Federation of the Deaf, International Week of the Deaf is celebrated annually by the global deaf community. International Week of the Deaf is an initiative of the World Federation of the Deaf, which was first launched in 1958 in Rome, Italy. The American Sign Language club had their first oath of the year called Deaf for a Day on October 22. Not breaking her vow of silence, vice president of ASL, Maddy Dessanti, wrote, “Today we are experiencing what it is like to be deaf for a day and will only communicate with sign and written language.” The club members were all over Passaic County Community College recruiting students to take the vow of silence and be deaf for

a day, despite the huge Game of Life event that took place on the same day. Although the Game of Life event proved difficult for some students, others say it was a true challenge. “Game of life was a really good experience relating to deaf for a day because it requires so much communication. It was interesting to see peoples’ reactions when they weren’t using spoken communication, so I got a taste of what it was really like to be deaf for a day,” said Dessanti who had been signing for five years. The ASL club was started as a place for ASL majors to learn sign language,

but now their doors have opened up over the years, welcoming new members whether they know how to sign or not.

Game of Life(Continued from page 1)

Page 4 News

By: JanCarlos Gutierrez On October 30, in the Paterson Room, there was an event that took place called the Halloween Costume Coplay Party. The Modern Vi-sual Culture Club sponsored this event. Students came to the event dressed in their favorite costumes. “[We created this event so people [could] feel more open about dressing up as a char-acter that they felt like being,” says John Llerena, President of the MVC Club. At first, the MVC Club wanted to see if they could collaborate with The Graphic Design Club. Llerena asked their president, Marcos Salazar, if they could make posters to help promote this event. Salazar was happy to help, and even invit-ed members of his club to come join the party. Llerena brought his Nintendo Wii Counsel, with games like Super Smash Brothers Brawl, House of the Dead II, and

Mario Cart 8. These party games were brought for students to play, laugh, communicate with each other, and have a little more fun.

Halloween Costume Cosplay Party

The gym was packed with students be-fore the event even began; there were two film services recording and reporting and the tables were furnished with both in house and commu-nity resources to serve as informational guides for the students throughout their quest in the game. Kisema Burch, Business Management and Hospitality major said, “I’m having a lot of fun playing this character, even though I’m not on drugs and I’m not drinking. It was refreshing to see that the school had so many different out-reach programs to help students and I was not aware of this so it’s really interesting.” Another student Jean-Pierre Cazorla, an Engineering major said, “It was really cool how they had it set up and it was really easy to get around. The tables were really helpful and infor-mative.” The live simulation Game of Life was a hit. Those who participated learned something. Most importantly, PTK helped students trust in themselves and their potential abilities despite adversities.

Page 5 News

One in four adults – approximately 61.5 million Americans – experience mental health illness; approximately 20 percent of youth ages 13 – 18 experience severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder in a given year. According to the Na-tional Alliance on Mental Illness at the Multi-cultural Action Center, Latinos are identified as a high-risk group for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse; however, only 1 in 11 contact mental health care specialists while fewer than 1 in 5 contact general health care providers. In accordance to Latino Heritage Month, the Human Services Club decided to bring awareness to mental health issues in Lati-no families. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the club had the Paterson Room booked from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event involved a briefing by club members Kelly Gutierrez and Miriam Toxtli, a play, and a raffle. The play, which featured four PCCC stu-

dents, was about a young Latina girl who feared she was suffering from a mental disease; how-ever, when she tried to talk to her family about it, they simply wrote off the idea that she was ill and claimed she just had evil spirits in her. “That play was to help people become more culturally sensitive when working with people who suffer from mental illness. In Latino cultures and most cultures it is the norm to think that it is ‘spirits’ bothering a person and not a real issue; so often times the person who is sick has to go on living with their disease with-out the correct help,” said Professor Gasparino when she started her speech on Cultural Com-petency and Mental Health Awareness. During Professor Gasparino’s speech, she touched on some serious topics of being culturally sensitive when dealing with people you are not familiar with. She said that even though the theme of the event was Latino, it was a message for all ethnic backgrounds because

we do face the same challenges just in different ways. “I enjoyed it very much; it was very informative and very eye opening especially to-wards being culturally sensitive. I was not aware of what it really meant to be culturally sensitive until now,” Nicole Wisdom, a Human Services major said. Karen Martinez, a Human Services ma-jor said, “People are so afraid and they walk on eggshells because they think they are being rude but that only results in them being rude, when it comes to being culturally competent.” It was apparent that everyone in atten-dance had learned some valuable lessons be-cause even after the event had finished, many stuck around to discuss the topic further. People may have just shown up for class credit or the prizes and goodie bags but they stayed for the lesson; that is what made the event a success.

Cultural Competency and Mental Health AwarenessBy: Jenice Brown

An important part of Professor Gasparino’s lecture, which should be of interest to all students, pertained to Title IX, a part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. Regarding the law, she explained, “… any kind of sexual assault … or ha-rassment … or any kind of violence on campus … is reportable without any consequence and you can report it anonymously.” Students with concerns can apply to the Office of Student Af-fairs. At the end of her lecture, Profes-sor Gasparino provided students with the locations and contact information of two community resources for wom-en suffering domestic violence: Project S.A.R.A.H., a Jewish-run family center that receives state funding and is open to all, regardless of “race, gender or financial difficulties,” and the Passaic

County Women’s Center Domestic Violence Program. Professor Gasparino made a point of mentioning the lack of com-munity resources available to men who are affected by domestic violence. However, “that should not discourage you from asking for help or getting help …,” she said.

(Continued from page 2)Domestic Abuse

School Shooting in Oregon(Continued from page 1)

the problem. Could making tougher gun laws influence crime? According to The Washington Post’s article entitled “Zero Correlation Between State Homicide Rates and State Gun Laws,” murder rates vary from state to state and often have nothing to do with how easy or difficult it is to get a weapon. According to the studies, it actually seems arbitrary. This doesn’t surprise Associate Professor Michael C. Walker, who specializes in terrorism and criminology. “How can you prevent someone from getting a personal grievance and deciding to kill someone? People are complicated, and can be set off by anything,” said Professor Walker. Professor Walker addressed school shootings as they pertain to our school community, “Schools are targets. Easy targets. When someone feels that they have something to take out or prove they go for it. It doesn’t matter how locked up our school is, or that you need a card to get in. You can tag along with

someone who does have a card. I didn’t swipe to get in this morning. A girl and two students in front of me did.” “Even then, we need to leave and go home eventually. They can just wait for us to leave. We can never eliminate the risk,” Professor Walker said. He went on to say, “There are examples of mentally incompetent people acquiring weapons illegally. In the Sandy Hook Shooting – the shooter stole his mother’s weapon. Even with a complete ban of firearms, will we give police weapons? They can be stolen. 3D printers can make working firearms too. Perhaps a ban of ammunition would be more effective in controlling crime.” Professor Walker also mentioned deinstitutionalization. In the 1960’s, well over 600,000 Americans were locked away due to mental problems. Today it is less than 50,000, according to his estimates. “Due to ethical issues,” he says, “We can’t lock everyone that may eventually snap. So there is no blanket

fix. I can’t even begin to say how this may be resolved. There is no simple answer. Trying to give one is far above my pay grade.” Regardless of what stance we may take, it is important to stay informed and know the protocols. PCCC has released a public emergency plan, posted in every classroom and on the school website. There is also a yearly update to our campus security statistics and crime rates. “Students should also be aware that we offer a few services to keep them safe,” says Michael Anderson, campus security guard and former Marine. “We offer a security escort to students’ vehicles in case they ever feel threatened. We also have a hotline you can report suspicious activity, web posts, or even videos. Anything that may seem like a security concern can be mentioned. The best way to keep our community safe is to stay vigilant,” said Anderson.

By Kamrul Hossain Passaic County Community College parking lot is too small for too many students. According to the college catalog 2015, there are over 13,000 students enrolled at PCCC; for these students, PCCC has only one parking lot, which is located at 125 Broadway.

Rudes Baez, 25 years old Computer Science major, said the PCCC parking lot is too small for over 13,000 students and that he has been suffering with parking problems since he started college. Baez is registered for 16 credits this semester and all his classes start at 10:20 a.m. Most of the time, Baez cannot find parking space to park his car, so he parks his car out-side. “In between nine months I got two police tickets due to parking my car outside of the parking garage […] the last ticket I got was during spring semester,” Baez said. “During

spring semester, I had an exam for my CIS class which was really important but unfortunately I came late because I could not find a parking space in the parking garage.” Quindaya William, 23 years old, CIS major, said on behalf of all 13,000 students, I would like to say PCCC’s parking garage is too small for us and we all have problems with it. If I had to compare the size of the garage and the 13,000 students’ cars, I would say that the garage is the size of a dog and students’ cars are the size of an elephant.” In the 125 Broadway parking garage, students can park their cars from the fourth

floor up because the first three floors are for public use. “PCCC should immediately allow stu-dents to park their cars from the first floor [and up] in order to solve this problem,” William said. Stephanie Ramos, 19 years old, ac-counting major, said she feels that PCCC has two problems about their parking garage. One being the lack of parking spaces in the garage and the other being that there’s no safety. “PCCC should realize by now that their parking garage does not have space for too many students’ cars. By now they should

“On behalf of all 13,000 students, I would like

to say PCCC’s parking garage is too small for

us...”

PCCC Students Having Problems with Small Parking Garage

“IS IT NEW?”By Thomas Feliciano

On the release of the October issue of “Visions,” the editorial staff took to the halls of PCCC to distribute the paper to students person-ally. Editor-in-Chief Naftaly Hiraldo, Managing Editor Jenice Brown, and Editor Thomas Feliciano walked through the cafeteria, library, rec room, gym, and every corner of the campus to meet students and ask them about “Visions.” Many students asked frankly, “Is it new?” But upon hearing about the paper, they took interest. Several students inquired about con-tributing their talent. “Visions” is an outlet by which students can ex-press themselves and the vessel by which other students can learn about campus activity. The team behind “Visions” asks you, the PCCC Student Body, to grab ahold of the paper and make it your own. Is there a story worth covering? An interesting student, professor, or class worth noting? Do you have an interesting experience that others should hear about? Or artistic talent worthy of display? Read, contribute, and encourage others to do the same.

(Continues on Page 7)

Page 6 Features

Making Sacrifices for Success: The Balancing ActBy Royland Sanchez

Brian Gomez rushes through traffic, through streets, and through hallways in an attempt to make it to class on time. This is a daily routine for many students who are trying to balance school and a full or part-time job. These individuals take on a lifestyle that is known far and wide as hectic and exhausting. Gomez, 20, who is a full-time student at Passaic County Commu-nity College in Paterson, also maintains a part-time job in retail. “ I want to make a difference he told me with a hopeful tone to his

voice. Gomez, a Biology student, told me that he wished to help people with the development of new medicines and improvement of current ones. Angelica Muñiz, 21, holds a full-time job and is also a full-time student. As we discussed the time constraints she faces, she mentioned the sacrifices she had to make in her everyday-life. Spending time with family didn’t occur as much as she hoped for, nor did going out with friends. There weren’t as many opportunities for her hobbies either. Though as she saw it, these were necessary sacrifices in order to obtain her degree and ultimately succeed in her field. This is temporary is what she told me as her eyes glistened with emotion. She carried not just her own dreams, but also of those in her family who did not have the same opportunity to build a career as she does. Conato, who is studying to become an electrical engineer, main-tains two jobs. It starts with him waking up at 6 a.m., then going to his first job until 3 p.m. Afterwards he makes his way to his second job where begins his shift at 5 p.m., and ends at 10 p.m. He does this three times a week, including Saturday, and attends school another three days. He tells me that in order to make sure all his assignments are complet-ed on time and that he has studied enough, he brings his textbooks and notes to work, using any idle time to go over the material. He explained that, “my number one incentive for working hard was because no one is going to simply give me what I want.” Conato’s family emigrated from the Philippines and worked odd

jobs to get by. He is the first to have the opportunity to go to college and thus wants to make it worth the hardships his parents had to endure. He talked about his ambitions with the same glossy look in his eyes as Muñiz. Conato told me he looked forward to a lifestyle where he could afford the nicest things, but he only wanted them if he had earned them. Each one of the students I sat down with faced troubles main-taining a perfectly balanced schedule. Nonetheless, none of them com-plained about it. They simply understood that in order to get what they

wanted in life this was part of it. They had the clear goal of graduation in mind and the image of a bright future after that. For this, they welcome the difficult times with open arms.

“… my number one incentive for working hard was because no one is going to simply give me what I want.”

https://headsupab.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/the-balancing-act-how-to-manage-work-and-school-all-at-the-same-time-from-one-slightly-anxious-student-to-another/

start building another parking lot for students to solve this problem,” Ramos said. “I also don’t feel safe while driving in the parking garage because many students are speed-ing in the garage.” Moreover, Ramos said that many students also park their cars in corners which causes the risk of accidents. Ramos believes PCCC should put a car speedometer on every floor to record car speed so that no one can drive faster. Jocelyne Medina, 42 years old PCCC public safety officer, said that they receive so many com-plaints everyday about parking, especially speeding. She said PCCC is thinking about giving tickets to those who drive their car more than 5mph. Medina also said that the PCCC president already knows about the parking space situation in the garage, and that he is trying to buy a building to build a new garage.

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Page 8 Features

Our sister Jennifer from Pennsylva-nia is coming to the house for Thanksgiv-ing for the first time in years. Before, my mom’s man wouldn’t allow any of my sisters to our house since the last altercation they had. However, this year he was feeling a bit generous and decided to let the whole family spend Thanksgiving in our home. My uncle from Elizabeth, my family from Pennsylvania, and my family from Paterson were all here. Sadly, the reunion wasn’t a good one. Instead, there was so much yelling and bickering amongst everyone until 10 p.m. After that, we haven’t reunited since, until now.

Just because my holiday experience wasn’t the “usual”, doesn’t mean yours has to be. Try bringing up different topics with everyone so there’ll be plenty of conver-sations. Make sure there’s plenty of alco-holic beverages so everyone gets loose enough to make conversation, but remem-ber, too much alcohol can cause conflict sometimes! The holidays are meant for families to reunite, relax, and not think about the daily responsibilities of life. Always have that in mind when you see your family bickering. People are flying thousands of miles just to spend a small amount of time with their families. Do you really want to see them arguing the entire time, or would you

like everyone to get along and appreciate the fact that this will become a precious memory? So for this year, make a resolution for yourself. Set yourself as the “peace-maker” of the family. Be that positive person. If the situation happens again, be that person who steps in and tries to calm everyone down. After all, this is a family reunion. Everyone didn’t fly hundreds or thousands of miles to just argue with each other. Remind everyone that this won’t happen again for a while and you want everyone to enjoy their time as much as they can. There’s food, liquor, amazing vibes, and family time. Why ruin it with petty drama?

What Matters the Most at the TableBy: Llajayra Calvo

With the rise of the Web, also came the rise of cyberterrorism. Threats exist at various levels. There’s common identity theft all the way to hacking government databases. A wide range also exists in the motive of these Internet criminals. Some, as with any black market, seek nothing but profit. Other “hacktivist” groups, such as Anonymous, have a much blurrier vision. No matter the motivating factor, special Cyber Defense experts at various levels of our law enforcement take these threats head on. The students of Passaic County Com-munity College’s STEM Department had the op-portunity to sit with these experts and take away more than information. They visited Farleigh Dickinson University for the Third Annual Symposium on Law Enforcement and Cyber Defense on Sep. 30, 2015. The event featured speakers from the CIA, FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, as well as various professors acquaint-ed with the topic. While the presentations were educational, they also gave students interested in technology an interesting new career oppor-tunity. Russell Gambino, the STEM Student De-velopment Specialist, joined the students on the trip. He believed the events captivated the stu-dents because the presenters spoke in language they understood. Every expert used the same terms the students hear from their professors in PCCC classrooms. This gave them practical knowledge on a topic relevant to their interests. If one speaker stood out more than the rest, Gambino believes it was Brad Carpenter.

Carpenter, a Special Agent in the FBI’s Cyber Division, grabbed the audience by bringing the presentation close to home. A resident of New Jersey, Carpenter described himself as a typical soccer dad. By seeing agents the students can relate to, they understand these careers are ob-tainable goals, not just the work of Hollywood. Of his talk, Gambino said, “It inspired not only the students, but also the teachers and adminis-trators who accompanied the students.” Other agents, such as Steven N. Frank, who works as a Technical Director for the CIA’s Cyber Security Group, shocked the audience by disrupting their common image of a govern-ment official. Frank had hair down his shoul-ders, tied back in a ponytail. The students took away many important lessons from the trip. First of all, by learning of the dangers that exist on the Web, the attendees

realized how important keeping their personal information secret is to their safety. The talk also bridged the gap between the reality of the situation compared to the students’ previous-ly held notions. By hearing language they’re already familiar with, the students also under-stood that they can one day join the fight in keeping the Web safe. In all, 14 PCCC students from the Computer Science, IT, Network Administra-tion, and Cybersecurity Departments attend-ed the Symposium. They were joined by the STEM Department Director Dennis Reer, his Executive Assistant Dr. Gonzalo Perez, David Hernandez, and the aforementioned Gambino. The Department has their next event on April 3 where they’ll visit Neil DeGrasse Tyson at the Performing Arts Center in Newark.

NEW CAREERS FIGHTING THREATS ON THE WEBBy: Thomas Feliciano

By: Llajayra Calvo

Fall semester is the time when stu-dents go to college to start their degree or go back to continue their education. Usually around this time, students often ask questions at the financial aid office and the admissions office. Here, many students experience dif-ferent kinds of customer service. Students on PCCC were surveyed about their experience in the financial aid and admissions office. Alba Marina Sanchez, 21, a sociolo-gy major had good experiences in the ad-missions office; she registered without any problems. “Sometimes it’s busy, but it is never unreasonable. The people were friend-ly and they answered all my questions when I got there,” she added. Esther Moreno, 18, Graphic Design

said that financial aid services needs to be quicker and more open since most help desks are usually closed. “The line that I waited on took long even though there were few peo-ple, and also I didn’t understand what they said to me. I had a hard time understanding procedures,” she added. Paola Lemonier, 20, Graphic Design had good and bad experiences with financial aid and admissions. “I had have good ones when I see they make effort to help me, and bad ones when the employees do not know how to explain some things and do not know what they’re talking about,” she added. “Financial aid doesn’t help me. Ev-ery time I go there, they treat me like I am a dumb person. They keep sending me back and forth for documents, and when I bring

the papers they don’t verify it in the system, so I have to go back again,” Lina Eshack, 20, Graphic Design said. “I never left financial aid happy or at least convinced. I’m still going there to com-plete my papers, and every time I go there, they tell me that I have to come back next week, and they also say ‘Oh, I don’t know let me ask someone else,’” Lisa Eshack, 20, Graphic Design said. Freddy Gallardo, 48, real estate student expects good service, answers to his questions, and assistance from admissions. “They didn’t have a clue about a course I wanted to take. I think there’s no good com-munication between departments,” he added.

Navigating the Financial Aid and Admissions Office By Lizt Gallardo

Being a college student and managing time can be quite challenging. During the week of October 12, 2015, I visited college campuses to gain perspectives on how students manage their time on a two and four-year campus. Time management is something that can make or break a college student; unfortu-nately, it’s really not a topic that is taught in our school system. A person who is irresponsible with their time at college may not have the best grades; therefore, it is a good thing to know how to master your time while in college. Students have to be able to prioritize what is important and not important through-out their day. Faison Peters, a PCCC and Rutgers student, remained undistracted and focused on studies. “I believe it’s very easy to fall into the trap of frequently going to parties or out with friends and that’s why I like keep my time and mind on studying so I won’t lose sight of what is important.”

It’s very hard to not to waste time as a college student when you’re part of the mil-lennial generation that has so much electronic devices and gadgets exposed to them. Donnie Diallo from Pittsburgh Art Institute agrees with that statement wholeheartedly. “I try to hide my phone or my iPad because sometimes it leads me to procrastinating for hours and hours,” Diallo said. Despite the flaws of using time to procrastinate or go to parties, college students have found ways to address their bad habits with their time. Jay Aziz from Montclair State University found ways to better manage his time. “I use sticky notes or write in my note-book on how many hours I will study for a class so I won’t forget. When I was a freshman, I hardly put anytime into studying so this helps me now,” Aziz explained. To master managing your time, you

may have to sacrifice certain aspects of your life. Being a full time student and having a job can be very exhausting and can certainly affect a student’s performance. PCCC student Gamar Virgin had to delete an important part of his life for school. “I was working full time at Lowes and going to school at the same time, so I asked my manager to reduce my hours dras-tically for more time to focus on school,” said Virgin. College is going to be difficult if you don’t know how to use your time wisely. You can prioritize what’s important and what’s not. Stop going to every party your friends invite you to and limit how much you procrastinate. If you are a student having trouble with managing your time you can visit the site: https://alison.com/courses/Introduc-tion-to-Time-Management to take a free class on how to improve the way you manage your time.

College Students Try to Manage Time By Dezhaun Thomas

Page 9 Features

Presidential Campaign: the End or Rebirth for EducationBy Nicole Astarita

With the president election of 2016 closing in rapidly, multiple college students and faculty members alike are pondering a similar topic. What will happen to our edu-cation and schools when a new president arrives at the White House? There has not been much talk about any changes in the education system for students in college. However, it does raise some concerns for students who are wor-ried that their future maybe at risk when Obama steps out of the White House. Yet, there are many students who are not following the presi-dential campaign and their plans for schools education. Christian Costa, a student from PCCC, ex-pressed very little desire to follow the presidential campaign at the beginning of the interview. However, Costa’s opinion started to change when questioned about what he thinks would happen to education for students in colleges like PCCC. Costa stated, “I do not know what will happen regarding education in general but, I do know Obama wants to have free edu-cation for at least two years.” Costa added, “Other than that, I approve of Bernie Sanders and think he is a good option.” Petar Drakulich, a professor from the

Wanaque branch of PCCC, however was very enthusiastic about the topic I presented to him. Drakulich was brief with his opinionsabout the impacts the next president may

have when they go into office. Drakulich said, “I believe all of the candidates will make their good and bad impacts for the school systems for PCCC and others schools.” When asked if there was anyone in mind he thought might make the most no-table changes to education, Drakulich re-plied saying that “Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will certainly have a positive effect in the school districts. Donald Trump is going to bring our [generation] and future genera-tions’ education down the toilet,” Drakulich

answered. Drakulich is certain that they believe in the missions that schools, such as PCCC, have in store for their students. “I am also

hoping for less emphasis on standardized testing and the standardized approaches toward education,” Drakulich said. Marc Van Der Sluys, a security guard stationed at Wan-aque, shared his opinions about the current candidates running this term. Van Der Sluys said, “I am not a fan of any of the candi-dates running this term and I do not believe schools like PCCC will benefit from whatever their plans are.” Van Der Sluys also said he is positive that if they do have plans for education it will be set into action after they win the election. Van Der Sluys con-cluded strongly, “no matter who

wins the election, I am almost certain they will ruin the U.S.” The future is uncertain for students and the faculty members of their schools when politics come into the mix. It can be a hit and miss situation where education may become out of reach for students who want a career after graduating. It is agreeable that 2016 will probably be the scariest year yet when Obama passes the baton to the next president of the United States.

Summer is officially over and many stu-dents are preparing themselves for the chilliest time of year in New Jersey. Shirts have gotten thicker and sweat pants are beginning to take the place of those denim jeans and short shorts. According to njweather.org, September, 2015 served as an extension to the scorching summer, ranking as the third warmest September since 1895. Farmers’ Almanac, an annual North American periodical, predicted that winter 2015 – 2016 will be just as cold as last year. That being said, we can expect much snow, as well as chilly winds from the end of this year to March of 2016. Although the weather is unpredictable at times, sources such as weather.com and ac-cuweather.com allow students the opportunity to browse its websites weeks ahead. As a result, students can determine whether or not they should wear heavy clothing on the days they

know they will be outside walking to class. Watching out for weather reports is one way folks can protect their bodies from Mother Nature’s changing temperatures. How-ever, sometimes protective gear is not enough to prevent one from getting the common cold or even worse, the flu virus. The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention rec-ommends folks 6 months and older to receive a yearly flu shot to protect their bodies from the disease. Also, retailers across the world are getting more involved by offering vaccine shots to their customers and employees. People in favor of the flu shots consider this to be great news. While customers usually have to provide proof of insurance and schedule appointments, employers such as The Home Depot and Walgreens offer free flu shots to its employees during influenza season. Consider-ing the fact that most college students work in these retail organizations, many people applaud these companies’ gesture for good health. However, some people believe the flu vaccine does more harm than good and seek other options such as over the counter med-icine. Pharmacy chains such as Rite-Aid and CVS keep their shelves stocked with goods pertaining to cold/flu remedies all year long. Therefore, the need for options are extended due to the enormous variety of products being sold at these stores. Cold and flu viruses can hinder a stu-dent’s ability to focus, making things such as studying and paying attention in class extreme-ly difficult. Students all over can learn about

measures they can take to protect their immune system from unwanted germs. In addition to avoiding people who are sick, the CDC recom-mends that people wash their hands occasion-ally to prevent the spread of germs. Also, they believe that staying home while sick will prevent them from causing others to get sick and thus, provide themselves with a speedy recovery. Other options – for those not in favor of

taking medication – are remedies such as vita-min c tablets, drinking herbal tea, and adding natural herbs to one’s diet. Health.com ranks ginseng, goldenseal, and Echinacea as some of the top herbs that help fight the common cold and flu virus. The site also recommends people maintain a healthy diet. According to the web-site, fruits and vegetables are necessary because it aides in strengthening the immune system. Students and anyone else interested in taking any type of medication are advised to speak with their healthcare provider first. Phar-maceutical companies believe it is necessary to prevent things such as allergic reactions from harming one’s body.

“However, some people believe the flu

vaccine does more harm than good...”

Cold & Flu: Fighting Back Viruses This Chilly Semester SeasonBy Faison Peters

Page 10 Feature/Editoral

Page 11 Game Page

Page 12 Event List