07
Livable Wage
09
What to do When You Don’t Get the Job
11
Study Space: Where Magic Happens
May 2016 Wellzine Issue 03 Vol 02
Editors Letter
Three years ago, the previous Wellzine Editor, Samantha Luhmann, offered me her job as Editor-in-Chief of Wellzine. I was finishing my freshman year and had only taken two journalism classes.
I hope it has done the same for its readers during my run as editor.
I’m not sure what Sammy saw in me or why she trusted me with this magazine that was essentially her baby. Even though I felt like I was not qualified, I accepted the job whole-heartedly.
Though I’ve spent countless hours in the Well getting to know the wonderful people who inhabit the health promotion office, I’m excited to move on with my career. I’m happy to announce that after traveling the West Coast during May, I’m moving to Duluth for a summer full-time reporting internship at the Duluth News Tribune.
I have seen Wellzine change drastically over the last three years. We updated the design last summer. Wellzine cycled through talented writers and photographers who covered topics from creating a study space to issues of race and diversity on campus.
Knowing I’m graduating soon feels like the first couple weeks of freshman year all over again. I feel like a baby in a big grown up world. I’m not ready to give up my pillow pet or start dressing professionally on a daily basis.
This magazine has given me the opportunity to explore all issues related to health.
However, like Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit,” I’m ready for the adventure. It’s scary, intimidating and enthralling all at once.
May Wellzine
Although I’m graduating, Wellzine will continue to publishing student-created content for students. I hope Wellzine continues to be a source of exploration and education for readers. Thanks for opening Wellzine each month and perusing your colleagues’ articles. Thank you writers and photographers who have worked so hard. You’ve each made my job worth it.
Kim Schneider Photo Credit: Cover: As You Like It By: Taylor Nyman
Contents
pg 3-4
pg 5-6
pg 7-8
Health & Wellness Services Updates
May Highlights & Other Events
Livable Wage
pg 9-10
pg 11-12
pg 13-16
What Do You Do When You Don’t Get The Job
Study Space: Where Magic Happens
Student Spotlights
pg 2
Health & Wellness Services
Health & Wellness Services IWC 222
Summer Hours Begin May 9
Office: M-F 7:30a.m. - 4 p.m. Clinic: Tu-W-Th 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Regular Academic Hours Resume August 18 May Wellzine
Issue 03 vol 02
Pharmacy Service Updates Parkview Pharmacy at Winona State University has moved pharmacy services to Parkview Pharmacy located at Winona Health at 825 Mankato Avenue, Winona. The pharmacy will offer the same services, just in a different location. The Parkview Pharmacy at Winona Health is adjacent to the hospital. The pharmacy is accessible through the Parkview Office building entrance. Once you go through these doors, the pharmacy will be directly in front of you. To fill a prescription The Parkview Pharmacy offers several options to fill a prescription. Clients can visit the pharmacy in person. Pickup is also available through a drive through window. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The pharmacy is closed on Sunday. The pharmacy also offers free in-person delivery available Monday through Friday. Call the pharmacy and ask to have your prescription delivered in person. If you live on campus (including East Lake Apts. and West Campus) you will need to meet pharmacy staff in person at a scheduled time at your residence hall. Pharmacy staff are not allowed to leave the medication in your campus mailbox or with others. Mail-out delivery service is the final option Parkview Pharmacy at Winona Health offers. For this service call the Parkview Pharmacy and ask to them to mail your prescriptions via U.S. Postal Service. For further questions or to fill a prescription, call Parkview Pharmacy at 507-454-4925.
pg 4
May
Highlights
6th
1st-5th
Don’t Dump, Donate! Residence Halls
Commencement 2016 McCown Gym
7th
WSU Track & Field Hosts The Warrior Challenge All Day
Weekly Programming May 2016 1st
Men’s Baseball vs Minnesota State university, Mankato, Loughrey Field, Noon Winona Symphony Orchestra, PAC Vivian Fusillo Theatre, 4:30pm
1st- 5th Don’t Dump Donate, Residence Halls
5th
Retiree Center: Living History Spring, Stark 103, 1-3pm
6th Spring Commencement 2016, McCown Gym 9:30am and 2Pm
6th-7th Men’s Baseball vs Concordia University St. Paul Loughrey Field
7th
WSU Track & Field Hosts The Warrior Challenge
pg 6
Minimum Wage Raise: Is it Livable?
Written by Allison Mueller ‘17
W
inona State University’s student workers felt the effects of Minnesota’s new minimum wage law, as their hourly wage increased from $8.40 to $9 effective August 1, 2015.
According to Winona State’s student payroll manager Kathy Mahlke, who has held this position for 21 years, the university made the change July 29 since that was the first day of a pay period. “Winona [State] was very proactive and knew it was coming,” Mahlke said. “The cabinet decided that they didn’t want any students harmed from this increase and didn’t want hours to be reduced.” Mahlke said in order to allow students to continue working the same amount of time and still earn more money, the budget was increased. If this were not done then students would be working fewer hours to earn the same they had
earned last year. “I think that speaks very well for the university, wanting to give student employees the full benefit of the raise,” Mahlke said. According to Mahlke, this transition was easy and “pretty seamless” as she simply had to change the university’s pay code that is affiliated with the minimum wage. A 60-cent raise sounds great, but if you are a student worker that is part time, this is hardly noticeable. Junior Sharna Miller works part time in the web communications department at Winona State. Over the summer she worked full time, and said she wishes the pay raise would have happened earlier so she could have been making more over the first two months. Overall, she said the pay raise benefits all of the students and “everyone, really, is happy.”
Photo by Sandy Kong ‘16
Issue 03 vol 02
For Mariah Mrotek, a junior who also works part time in web communications, the raise made a difference for her as she worked 30 hours a week over the summer to support herself. She said she treated her summer paychecks as minimum wage living.
In addition, Wrolstad claimed the rise in minimum wage brings low-income people to such a high salary that they start to lose their welfare and benefits. Consequentially, they start refusing extra hours to avoid earning over the amount they need to receive these benefits.
“Whatever I earned, I saw where all my money went. A huge chunk went to rent and then there wasn’t much left for anything else,” Mrotek said.
Wrolstad said the biggest thing the country can do for people earning minimum wage is to get rid of it and lower taxes and regulations. He said this would fire up the economy so much that businesses are going to want to pay workers more, as there would be higher employment and greater opportunities.
The Minnesota Budget Project explains, “Minnesota’s minimum wage will increase each year based on inflation starting in 2018 (commonly called “indexing”), so that it better keeps up with the cost of basic necessities.” On August 1, 2016 the minimum wage for large employers will increase to $9.50. This raises the important question: is minimum wage actually a livable wage for those in Minnesota and the U.S.? Mahlke, Miller, Mrotek and Winona State’s finance department chair Mark Wrolstad said absolutely not.
According to usgovernmentdebt.us, today’s federal debt totals over 18 trillion dollars. Given this, Wrolstad said politicians are “taking advantage of the uninformed” as they “look like saints” by raining the minimum wage to help working people. He explained this is hurting the long-term future of the country. There are many pros and cons to the rise in minimum wage. Student workers on campus may or may not have noticed a huge difference in their paychecks each week, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to have a few extra dollars to put towards food and gas. But is that true – it doesn’t hurt? Tell that to the country’s ever-rising
Not only is it not a livable wage, the whole concept of minimum wage is a sting to individuals and the entire U.S., according to Wrolstad. “The whole minimum wage thing is nothing more than a political scam. It has nothing to do with economics,” Wrolstad said. He said raising minimum wage eliminates the opportunity for teens to work minimum wage jobs and learn the basics of being a productive employee. If their productivity means less to the business than what they would earn at an increased minimum wage, they will not be hired. “It hurts the very people you say you’re trying to help,” Wrolstad explained. “You’d be helping those you want to help if you lowered [minimum wage]. The 15-year-old and 16-year-old can get their foot in the door and get those real world skills to help them be successful in the long run.”
Written By: Allison Mueller ‘17
pg 8
What You Do When You Dont Get A Job Written by
Sarah Nyberg ‘16
Applying for jobs, interviewing with employers and searching for the right career path can be stressful. Especially while attending college, trying new things and finishing a degree. Lucky for you each opportunity to meet, communicate and interview with future employers is a step in the right direction. Whether you are applying for a job to get you through college or a job after graduation, there are other students and alumni going through the same exact thing. It’s all about trial and error. Could you have been a better communicator during your interview or have had better credentials? Or maybe your dream career just isn’t hiring right now. Sure, that’s frustrating
May Wellzine
but the best part is now you know. It’s easy to take criticism personally. However when it comes to applying and interviewing, the best thing you can do is to use the criticism to better your resume, interviewing skills and yourself for the next interview or networking opportunity. In many interviews, you may feel like you communicated well and had the right qualifications but then hear nothing back from the employer. Well, this is something we all need to face. There are many people with connections, referrals and unlimited resources who have the potential to get the one up. How do you bounce back from it? Take the confidence you had from the last interview and bring it to the next.
Former Winona State University student Kait O’Neill has a lot of experience with applying and interviewing. As a former Timberwolves dancer, she has learned to take criticism, apply it and improve. In college she worked as an Ambassador for Love Your Melon and What R U Wearing. She also interned for Mayo Clinic among other activities. “Before I apply to any sort of job, I always channel my “humble-confidence” mantra,” said O’Neill. “I tell myself how hard I’ve worked and that even though I think I would be a great fit for whomever’s team I am applying to be a part of, that there are other people out there who are just as good or better than I am…we’re all attempting to snag one position.” When it comes to not getting the job,
Issue 03 vol 02
What You Do When You Dont Get A Job
O’Neill advised to view it positively. “So, lets say I don’t get the job. Well yeah, I’m upset, but one person who was technically “better than me” is now out of the running for any other job I want to apply for. Score,” she said. “Better chance for me somewhere else.” O’Neill said she developed a routine. She tries to keep a few jobs she would like to apply for in mind and throughout the day in between Netflix and cooking dinner, she writes a cover letter and application.
For current students, WSU offers networking sessions, resume building classes, trial interviews and the chance to join clubs that can help you prepare for different career situations.
Photo Credit: Above: Interview By: Marcus Spiske, Raumrot.com
Be on the lookout for emails from careers@winona.edu for on campus events including networking, speaking and career fairs. For more information, help with cover letters or interview tips, go to the WSU career services website.
Opposite: Job Papers By:Kim Schneider ‘16
“By keeping a routine and schedule for applying, it will make the process more comfortable and it’ll feel rewarding,” O’Neill said. To keep motivated remember that at some point, after one or many no’s, there is bound to be a yes.
pg 10
Study Space: Where Magic Happens Writtenby by Written Grace Pesch ‘16 Allison Mueller
Who among us hasn’t wished to have a photographic memory, take one glance at our hardest classes textbook and automatically recall it the day of the test, all without having to study? Most of us aren’t so fortunate. However, recent research has suggested that our study space affects our ability to store, learn and recall information later. Turns out lighting, the arrangement of furniture and genre of music playing, among other factors, can affect productivity, according to Western Governors University. Everyone has a different way of setting up their space, but what is the ideal way? WSU freshman Xena Tran doesn’t really have a method to her madness. May Wellzine
“I just set things up, I don’t really think about it,” she said. On the other hand, some people don’t have an organized space or a set agenda when going into their study session, like Senior Courtnie Schierman. “I only pack the things I need for that study time and I make sure it’s all out of my backpack and set out on the table,” Schierman said. There are many different ways to approach organizing your space, but there are certainly some methods to avoid. According to Western Governors University (WGU), creating too comfortable of a space, like on your bed, along with having low lighting, can actually cause you to be less productive.
Similarly, WGU said having a clock in a noticeable and attention-grabbing area while studying could interfere with your concentration. “I love to study on my bed,” said WSU senior Melanie LeMay. While that may be comfortable and relaxing, doing homework in an area that you associate with a very different activity is not conducive to retaining information, according to Western Governors University (WGU). In addition, WGU said that working on your bed or any other place that you associate with relaxation activities can negatively affect your level of productivity. If you’re anything like me, about every 10-20 minutes you’re checking your phone
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Study Space: Where Magic Happens
or social media outlets while attempting to study. While technology can be a distraction when trying to get things done for school, it can also be used in productive ways. There are computer apps you can download, such as “Self-Control” for Macs or “Freedom” for PC’s to block internet use for a certain period of time. An even simpler way to get rid of those distractions is just to make sure your computer or phone is out of sight when you really don’t need them. The things to remember when you’re going into your next study session is know what works for you. Are you the type of person that can only bring the notebooks for that one class you have to work on, or can you bring other things in case you need a break?
Are you the type of person that needs to lay every sheet of paper out on the table or is that just going to distract you? Virginia Tech created a Study Environment Analysis, which helps students decide which of their top three study environments will help them be the most productive by answering a series of true/false questions.
Photo Credit: Above: Study Space By: Kim Schneider ‘16 Opposite: Study Spaces By:Kim Schneider ‘16
Everyone operates differently, just try to avoid studying in loud or distracting places such as a super comfy bed, sitting directly in front of a noisy clock or having your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram dashboards up at all times. pg 12
Student Spotlight
With: Ashlyn Crawford, MSUSA Diversity Specialist
Photo by Kim Schneider ‘16
Issue 03 vol 02
t
A
s a woman of color at Winona State University, Junior Ashlyn Crawford, 21, knows she’s in the minority—but that has only motivated her to work toward making WSU a more inclusive environment.
Crawford, from Minneapolis, Minn., is studying legal studies with a minor in intercultural communications. Crawford is deeply involved with diversity groups and issues on campus including the Women of Color Association (WOCA) and KEEP Council as well as MSUSA as their Diversity Specialist. In her spare time Crawford dances on the hip-hop team. What do you do as the Diversity Specialist for MSUSA and what’re your goals? My main focus is WSU so I focus on issues involving diversity at Winona State and bring them to a larger scale, like MnSCU, the entire MnSCU program. Basically I just focus on what our diversity looks like, how it can change and how we’re going to do that. I [have] noticed that Winona State has gotten better with their diversity…but overall there are a lot of things we’re lacking. So my goal is to put on more student-based events outside of speakers that come: getting students who aren’t already a part of diversity inclusion [or] getting other students involved or aware of diversity at Winona State. This semester we’re holding panels. We’re going to be holding a diversity panel, [which includes diverse] students—race, ethnicity, sexual orientation. Basically just getting those students to answer questions that other students might have.
What do you hope to accomplish by being involved in diversity groups on campus? My main goal is to make other students who are looking for a safe haven, to make them aware that the KEEP center is there and WOCA is there. My freshmen year, there was no KEEP center, there was no WOCA…I think it’s important to know that there are other students like you. That’s why I got involved, to make people aware. My freshman year, I knew there were students of color, but I feel like there was no central area for us all to be in one space. There weren’t clubs designed for people of color, or women of color. [It’s good to] know that these clubs are here. You’re around like-minded people that have experienced similar things at Winona State or just in life. What do you want to do after you graduate with a paralegal degree? After I graduate, I’m going into the air force as [an Intelligence Officer]. From there I can apply to take law classes. But right after I graduate I will just be working as an officer in the Air Force. My brother’s in the Air Force and my dad was in the navy, so it kind of runs in the family. I was thinking about doing it after high school but decided to go to college. It’s just kind of like a continuous plan.
How are you involved in WOCA? I do all the public relations so any upcoming events that we have, I try to put them on Facebook. I made our logo and club case. Basically I work with the president the vice president, were’ all on the exec board. This semester we’re putting on an event called the juke joint, which is our first really big event. It has some historical context. Slaves had events called juke joints where people would dance and sing…It’s like a party basically. Our juke joint will include a speaker, student performers, spoken word, dancers, musicians. There will be a soul food meal. *Editor’s note: This event occurred in April.
Interviewed by Kim Schneider ‘16
pg 14
Student Spotlight
With: Josh Hanson, Student Senate President
Photo by Kim Schneider ‘16
Issue 03 vol 02
S
enior Social Studies Education major at Winona State University, Josh Hanson, has the opportunity to represent the student body as the Student Senate president. Although he is our student president, Josh has favorite things and is a student like most of the people at WSU. How did you get to where you are at as student senate president? Actually it’s a weird story. When I came to Winona State, I was a transfer student, I had my first semester and I didn’t really do much. I was a music minor at that time. And I had a bunch of music stuff going on but eventually I thought ‘I don’t know if this is for me.’ So I was like, ‘eh let’s find something else.’ So, I have been in the process of converting to Judaism for a long time and I got in touch with the Jewish Student Organization on campus. The president of JSO at the time, Cara, was also on Student Senate. I was talking to her and she said, “you should really run for Senate.’’ I have always been interested in student government but had never gone forward with it. So she told me to and so I did and I got on it. Oddly though, I did not campaign at all the first time because I got my appendix taken out. So all of a sudden I am supposed to be campaigning and I was in the hospital. That was my initial experience with Senate. Last year, a club came into Student Senate and left frustrated. I was sick of how this was going so that is when I decided to run for president.
Favorite Netflix show? House of Cards. I also watch the West Wing. It’s my second time through watching. I love that. Are you involved in anything else on campus, besides student senate? I also am involved in Minn. History Day as the regional co-coordinator. That is not now, but it is a second semester thing in March. That has been a lot of fun, I get to work with a bunch of different students on their history day projects. I am also involved with American Democracy project on campus. I moderate some forums and National Issue Forums. They are introducing a new National Issue Guide and WSU is getting a chance to pilot that issue guide. I am working on doing that as well. Do you have any plans for after graduation? No but I have been browsing different options. I will be certified to teach but I will go where I can. I really enjoy higher education. I like how higher education is shaped. I would love to teach K-12. What is your dream job? President Olson’s job. Not necessarily at WSU, I mean, I would love to come back but being a University President would ideally be my dream job. It’s a balancing act between politics and education, two things I am super in love with.
What do you enjoy outside of school, classes, clubs and organizations? I watch football but that’s because it’s football season right now. I am very political, so realistically everything I do outside of senate is still political. Those hobbies are still political. I love studying politics and the political atmosphere—that is really what I do outside of Senate. Favorite celebrity? Does Hil Dog count? Hilary Clinton, is she a celebrity? Favorite song? Man these are hard, let me think. Jackie and Wilson by Hozier. Interviewed By: Cortnie Schierman ‘17
pg 16