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Gaming Paradise From the outside everything seems normal. The building looks old on the outside. However, that tends to be the case with buildings on this side of town. Inside, sounds of people yelling and screaming echo off the walls. The sounds of gunfire and the splattering of blood are all around when visitors enter. This is a place of death and destruction. So much pointless violence, and no one is being held legally accountable. Worst of all, more and more people want in. In exchange for money, they are allowed to partake in the blood sport that is known as local area network gaming. LAN gaming is when a group of people gets together to play one another in a certain game. The systems that the gamers play on are linked together and allow multiple people to play at the same time. The place is none other than GrandLAN Gaming Center located on Division street. This little store, just a short walk from GRCC, is such a wonderful place. The owners are always friendly and they are always glad to see people when they come in to buy comic books or spend some time playing on their computer systems. Eric Bauer is the owner of GrandLAN. When interviewed by the Grand Rapids Business Journal he said, “I did my two years at CC, and spent all my time between classes in the cafeteria playing euchre. This would have been 100 times better.” Not many people know where or what GrandLAN is. “The first time I found out about GrandLAN was from a commercial,” Kristian Rose said. Rose is a member of the GRCC computer club. “I go there because they have helped out with computer club events. They really are nice people and they are quite knowledgeable about computers and comic books.” GrandLAN is a business unlike any other. The idea behind GrandLAN is simple, provide people with a place to come and have some fun playing video games. “Usually I search for any arcade of gaming store nearby, but GrandLAN was a new experience,” said Samantha Tobin, a GRCC student. “I mainly go there to play 'Pump it up,' a dance game.” GrandLAN also carries a wide selection of comic books. Brian Lemin, a GRCC student, said, “I am glad they actually carried the 'Watchmen' comic book. I have had a tough time finding that book.” Most people would never be able to afford a computer that is capable of running many of the games that are on store shelves. Thanks to GrandLAN, for a small cost they allow people to play some of the more popular computer games such as “Call of Duty 4” or “World of Warcraft,” on a machine that is capable of running the game efficiently. GrandLAN hosts many tournaments for card games, board games and video games. Graig Folsom, GrandLAN’s store manager also hosts a weekly review show that is available on Youtube. Everything that a gamer would ever want is available at this store. Bauer hopes to expand the business in the future. He hopes to branch off into more locations. 10 Hit & Runs occur in GRCC ramps in six weeks Ten hit and run accidents took place in the GRCC parking ramps from Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, 2008 as indicated by GRCC Campus Police records. “Accidents are labeled hit and run when the suspect fails to stop and identify,” said Chief of GRCC Campus Police Cindy Kennel. “There are two types of hit and run accidents.” Kennell described the first type of accidents as involving damage to public property such as a construction reflector or a rear-view mirror on a parked car. “Even if it is an inanimate object, they still need to report the incident,” Kennell said. “The second type of hit and run is the personal injury accident” said Kennell. The second type is labeled as such when someone is injured, whether it is a pedestrian or a passenger, and the suspect fails to stop and identify themselves, Kennell explained. According to Kennell, there are many reasons people don’t report hit and run accidents. “They have a bad past driving record, they have PLPD insurance coverage, the vehicle isn’t under their name, or the vehicle doesn’t even belong to their family,” Kennell said. Also, according to Kennell, there are many reasons people get into accidents in the parking ramps. “Most of the time they just aren’t paying attention,” Kennell said. Kennell also attributed parking ramp accidents to students being in a hurry. Just because an accident is labeled a “hit and run” does not mean the suspect gets away. “If there are clues, witnesses, or suspect information, we definitely continue our investigations,” said Kennell. “People just don’t pay attention to what they are doing,” said GRCC student Emily Smith. “That’s probably what causes half of the accidents.” Diversity Lecture Series still growing For the last 14 years the Diversity Lecture Series has been a part of GRCC. Speakers such as Dr. Richard Heinzl, founder of the Canadian chapter of Doctors Without Borders, Pulitzer Prize Winner N. Scott Momaday, and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the first African-American female U.S. Surgeon General, have enlightened the minds of GRCC students and staff, and of Grand Rapids community members at large. Chris Arnold has been working to make the series grow since its birth. She is the Director of the Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Diversity Learning Center, which organizes the Lecture Series among other events on campus. “When we first started, oftentimes there was only a handful of people in the audience,” Arnold said. She explained she felt disappointed, but that former Dean Elias Lumpkins said it didn’t matter if there were only 10 people, as long as they could educate them. Arnold credits Lumpkins for the beginning of many diversity events at GRCC. But in the last 14 years the event has grown considerably.It has gone from having 10 attendees to over 500 when the last speaker, Ray Suarez, came to GRCC on Oct. 8. Kathleen Owens, who works as a counselor and as the University Relations for the Diversity Learning Center said, “The participation and attendance growth has been amazing.” Owens credited the series’ success to Arnold and all the volunteers and interested people. Arnold explained that it was a “dream come true to see it grow,” and that they “couldn’t have done it without community support and sponsorship.” This year’s Lecture Series is different in some ways. There will be five speakers, and this is the second year that all the lectures will take place at the Fountain Street Church, Arnold said. She also said there is a larger number of faculty bringing classes or offering extra credit for students that attend a lecture, not only from this college but also from local high schools, GVSU, Davenport, and Calvin. Not to mention the fact that there is a prince coming. Nelson Mandela’s grandson, prince Cedza Dlamini, is lecturing about “Global Forgiveness and Connectedness” on Feb. 4. With the series, Arnold hopes to bring a “broader understanding of all dimensions of diversity” to GRCC. Owens said that they also want “to emphasize the connectedness between people. There might be some dissimilarity, but there is really some connectedness. We hope that people will then begin to see their responsibility for each other.” Stress coping techniques taught by college officials The Counseling and Career Center held a coping workshop for dealing with stress Oct. 7. They focused on tips and techniques to minimize stress in school and life. College life can bring a great amount of stress. It’s a chaotic time in life with stress from pressure to do well in school, work, pay bills, find time for loved ones, and juggle other responsibilities all at once. It seems there is barely any time to get anything done and there is too much going on. The GRCC coping workshop was about making the stress go away. Jessica Rozena, 18, attended the workshop for a class extra credit but she mentioned that she hoped to learn from this class how to cope with stress when she has hard classes. Elvira Omerovic, 25, hoped that the workshop would help her organize time, study, and get ready for the test without stress. Rozena and Omerovic, along with the other students who attended the workshop, learned how to make that stress go away by using a relaxation technique. Steps to this technique include deep breathing, body tightening, and peaceful imagery. Students were told to breathe through their nose and exhale out their mouth with their lips shaped like an O. Then they were told to scrunch their toes as hard as they could and slowly count to three before letting go. Then to do the same for their heels, thighs, tummy, buns, fist, arms, neck, and face. After they finished their body tightening technique, the students were told to imagine a place that they feel safe and relaxed, like the beach. The main lesson taught at the end of the workshop was that stress makes things bigger than they are. When things happen, it is not the end of the world. After someone under stress handles the current situation and takes steps that are possible, then that person has to treat themselves like they would treat a friend; don’t beat themselves up. If a friend called for help, one would never yell at the friend and tell them to snap out of it. A person would be there for their friend, support them, and let their friend know they are trying their best and that everything will be okay. Students were asked what caused them to stress: homework, job loss, bills, family, relationships, and peers. The two types of symptoms were discussed; physical (headaches, blood pressure, lack of sleep, weight gain/loss) and cognitive (anger, anxiety, lack motivation, depression, memory loss). Then after the students discovered the symptoms, behaviors were discussed and students brought up; drinking, smoking, fighting, gambling, and eating more/less. These behaviors can be coped by playing/listening to music, calling a friend, exercising, and treating oneself with what makes one happy (bubble bath, chocolate, hobbies). After the workshop, Jessica thought this workshop was a lot better than the other workshops and she liked learning the relaxation techniques. As mentioned in the workshop, stress can be significant to a person’s health, so if a person is ever in a stressful situation, they should try out the relaxation techniques. Cooking with an audience The Heritage restaurant and Art & Bev’s are firing up the grills, sizzling, sautéing, and even giving table service to those who prefer it. “Table service is a type of cooking in which the chef does everything in front of the public,” said GRCC Chef Mike Whitman. “This is a part of the cooking skills that the students take pride in because it gives them chance to show off what they have learned,” Whitman said. “It helps the students build confidence and helps them be more comfortable in performing their task.“ Demonstration cooking also helps the student, with their practicing skills in sautéing and being efficient and giving service,” Whitman said. “The food that is mainly demonstrated in front of the customers is pasta, burritos and stir-fry.” This year’s culinary arts students are also first to wear the new uniforms, said culinary instructor Bob Schultz. “The uniforms are called a chef coat and they are black with a more sharper sophisticated look, compared to the old uniforms which consist of a blue button down shirt with a tie,” Schultz said. “Students like the chef coats a lot more and prefer wearing the coats instead of the button down shirt and tie.” “We have a neat system with the culinary art students,” said Program Director for the Culinary Arts Randy Sahajdack. “Every student gets their chance to experience all aspects of the duties that are required to become a successful chef. During the day time at the Heritage, the first year students do the cooking and the serving, and during the evening the second year students do the cooking and the serving. For the first seven weeks half of the students do the cooking and the other half do the serving then at the end of the first seven weeks they swap." “We welcome every one in the community to come and experience what we, the Culinary Arts here at GRCC, have to offer.” Sahajdack said. “We need people to practice on. Experience is the key. This system has worked extremely well for the students.” Campus Events for October 29, 2008 Successful Transfer Planning (Workshop) October 29, 1p.m -2p.m Kent Philharmonia Orchestra; Ghoulfest October 29, 7:30 p.m. - 9p.m. GRCC League of the Arts Halloween Sale October 30, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Anime Club October 30, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Halloween Dance October 31, 7p.m.-10p.m. Choosing a Major Workshop November 3, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. Being Tobacco Free @ GRCC November 3, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. Study Skills and Learn Styles Workshop November 4, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
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