INSIDER 18.10.2019 | VOL. 22 | ISSUE 06
STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK
Featuring Ice Hockey Student story Exchange view Movie review Game review Fashion trends Nordic Business Forum
STAFF
EDITORIAL
LIDIIA BENKOVSKAIA
ARIAN UKAJ
JASMINE LAIMER
MUHAMMET CAKIROGLU
PRAKHAR SHARMA
ANNA RYNDINA
NIKITA MUNENKO
HENNA SUORTTI
JOONATAN BERG
INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587 Editor in Chief: HUGH CLACK
PHONE +358 44 702 8758 WEBSITE insider.xamk.fi EMAIL insider@xamk.fi 2
EDITORIAL Before the break As the world-famous proverb goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", I believe that the weekly holidays occurring right in the middle of the study semester like the autumn holidays and the skiing holidays are there to make us realize that it is a time for some break from the normal monotonous life. It is just not the body that needs rest, the mind demands some time-off from the presentations, exams and deadlines. Therefore, next week i.e. from 20th till 27th October, the autumn break is here to give us the opportunity to enjoy few days before the winter is here. Many students during this time plan trips, while some stay home and spend this time with their loved ones and that brings even more meaning to these holidays.
To introduce some new student faces, Arian is here with his Student Story and this week we expect the gamers in the campus to be happy as Muhammet reviewed the game Europa Universalis IV and the Nikita is as usual back with his critical opinion on the Will Smith starrer Gemini Man.
So, remember, don’t be a Jack and enjoy this autumn break because there is something spooky coming up on the other end of it. (BOO!)
Not to forget, the past week was quite happening for the students, as the university organized the Nordic Business Forum 2019 livestream straight from Helsinki, which let students experience many great speakers and orators from around the world. On this account, in this issue Anna’s going to tell you more about how NBF19 went. For our sport lovers, Lidia is back with her weekly ice hockey review. Our exchange journalist Jasmine is here to tell you about her visit to the Old Town of Tallinn. Also, this issue has our editor-in-chief with his special article in which he continues from his previous article that he wrote before summer break and wants to give our readers some insight into the world of straps of the watches they wear.
Written by Prakhar 3
ALL TO THE MATCH A visit to Cranfield University in the UK
"Fragments"- series of paintings
Last Friday 11/10/2019 in the home arena in the city Kouvola, KooKoo hosted ILVES as part of the Finnish Hockey League (Liiga). It was the second match in the home series. After victories over SaiPa and HIFK, our team moved to 7th place in the table. The opposing team does not have such a positive result, only 12th place. Our team came out as a favorite for this match, and had good chances to extend the winwin home streak. ILVES came to win and score the necessary points, and for our team this match was a kind of stability test, since playing in the home arena is not so easy from a moral point of view, plus a lot of responsibility, but as they say “At home and walls help"! The beginning of the first half turned out to be rather ambiguous, it was clear that both teams were nervous. The match took place mostly in the middle zone. There were some serious violations on the part of the opponent (for example, in the 4 minute of the match, number 48 – Joose Antonen went to the penalty box for 2 minutes for violation of the number of players).
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KooKoo got an advantage. The stands, because of all their strength, began to support the team! Alas, our team was not able to realize the majority. At 10 minutes, the opposing team carried out two rather sharp attacks in our zone, but our guys were able to give a tough fight back! After another attack on our goal in the 12th minute, a player of our team, (number 6 - Peetro Seppälä received a two-minute penalty for rudeness). KooKoo remained in the minority, the opponent also could not take advantage of his advantage. And then it turned out as usual in hockey. Having restored our equal squads, the team missed a counterattack, allowing a beautiful wrist throw to score (number 10 -Eemili Suomi, from number 22 - Arttu Ruotsalainen and number 72 - Matias Maccelli). The score now stands at 0: 1!
The third period began with the removal of the opponent in the team (number 70 – Niko Peltola), and the first face-off won in the opponent's zone led to a powerful blow of number 9 -Trevor Mingoia, the puck, passing between the legs of the goalkeeper, slowly flew into the opponent’s goal. Hurrah!!! 2: 1! Up to 57 minutes, our team attacked more, and there were some deletions. And in 58 minutes after the timeout, the opposing team decided to remove the goalkeeper, hoping to equalize. But the score remained unchanged. KooKoo celebrated victory in the home series. The goalkeeper of our team traditionally thanked the fans after the victory (He holds the stick on his head, it looks very funny!) Jumping ahead, the series was extended by Kookoo fourth victory in Lahti, defeating the Pelicans 5: 1!
The second period began with reciprocal shots on goal and beautiful rallies of combinations. Further, the opposing team committed a number of gross violations (the first removal was number 70 - Niko Peltola, the second removal –number 11 - Tuomas Salmela; both 2 minutes). The game started 5 on 3 and almost immediately our team was able to make a confident attack and score the puck (from the transfer of number 8 - Matthew Caito and number 94 - Anrei Hakulinen; threw the puck number 12 - Kim Strömberg). The score now stands at 1: 1! Equalizing the score, our team began to play on hold, allowing the opponent to easily enter our zone. Our team got nervous and began to break the rules until the end of the period we got 4 deletions against 1 from the opponent. Until the end of the period washers were no more abandoned!
Written by Lidiia
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EXCHANGEVIEW 3 days in Tallinn For this week’s article I chose to write about my experiences in the wonderful capital of Estonia, Tallinn. To be honest, actually I wanted to go to Stockholm, but then I saw that the price for the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn was just 25€ both sides and the hostel which is directly in the oldtown of Tallinn was only 25€ as well for 3 nights. So I didn’t thought even twice and booked it instantly. To go from Helsinki to Tallinn it’s not even 3 hours by ferry and you get easily into the city centre/old town from the port by foot. I reached my hostel within 15 minutes time where I didn’t even had time to unpack my stuff as it was time for games night and beers. The next morning, I unpacked my things and did sightseeing. Mainly, I went to Tallinn to have a cheap party and to buy alcohol, just as any other Finnish student would do, but as I strolled through the streets of Tallinn’s old town I was amazed, I just didn’t expected it to be that lovely I guess. I visited Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian styled cathedral, in Tallinn’s old town. After that, I went to Linnahall, a giant piece of concrete that was built for the Olympic summer games in 1980. Linnahall is not really nice to look at, as it would desperately need some restauration and a purpose, but the view up there is just amazing! You have an excellent view on the Baltic sea and Tallinn’s old town at the same time. After my sightseeing tour, the pub crawl already started so I had to hurry. I really recommend you to do a pub crawl at least once when in Tallinn, as the alcohol is cheap and there’s a lot of funny bars you would not know about without the guides. If you prefer to party on your own/with your friends only: Club Hollywood is recommendable.
Sadly, I’ve lost half a day I wanted to use for sightseeing on hangover, so maybe you want to calculate that as well as you might return from pub crawl at 7 o’clock in the morning. However, after some Chinese takeaway you’re fine again and can continue sightseeing. For this day, I went to the museum of Estonian architecture and the museum of Estonian history. Both museums were nice experiences and are definitely recommendable as the entry is cheap and the exhibitions are interesting. On my last day in Tallinn I chose to try the famous pancakes of Kompressor. Well, they are quite good, but the staff is not friendly at all as they seem to be overwhelmed by the amount of customers. So I recommend you to rather go to the modern part of Tallinn – Rotermann. This is a cool district of the city and amazes with a modern architecture and hipster restaurants that are not even expensive, e.g. I payed 8€ for a solid dish at a fancy restaurant. Before you go back to Finland again, I recommend you to visit a shop called “SuperAlko”, which is near the passenger port. All Finnish people shop their alcohol there as there’s such a huge variety. It is not only funny to watch people buying as much alcohol as possible, but also, it’s really cost saving for student parties.
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Written by Jasmine
FASHIONTRENDS Fashion, Trends, and Future Watch your strap! Continuing on from an article I wrote just before the summer break, about the Watch Show Finland, I’m here to shed some light on the often overlooked, wristwatch strap. I say overlooked, because in most cases people will notice the watch someone is wearing, and may even comment on it, but when was the last time you heard anyone say “wow, nice watch strap”? Well, in watch appreciation circles, that is an oftenheard comment, as people pay as much attention to the strap attached to the watch, as to the watch someone is wearing. Indeed, at the Watch Show Finland, the strap vendors and suppliers were every bit as tempting as the watch stands. So, what is it about watch straps that can turn peoples’ heads? For those whose interests lie in watch collecting, then straps take on a highly important part of the hobby. By swapping the strap on a watch for another, the watch takes on a whole new look – even looking like a different watch. Many watches you will find are classified into general categories, we see divers, sports, dress, military, and pilot (often referred to as “fliegers”). Within these broad categories you will find many sub-categories, fashion, luxury, mechanical, automatic, quartz, and I could go on and on. For the purposes of this article, I’ll keep it simple – I’ll focus on diver, sport, and dress, as these are the most commonly seen adorning peoples’ wrists. Dress watches often come with leather and that is usually the best way to go. For many sports and diver watches, you will probably want to buy your watch on a steel bracelet. This is usually more economical in the end, as purchasing a bracelet later will be quite expensive. Some OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) bracelets, and straps for that matter, can run into many hundreds of Euros as a stand-alone purchase.
Even though dive watches commonly come on a steel bracelet, you will often find people swapping these out for a rubber/silicone strap for a more rugged or sporty look and feel. You will even find some people putting a leather or “NATO” strap (a type of nylon strap in a rugged military style) on a diver just for the “look”. Similarly, many sports watch bracelets can be swapped out in the same way for rubber/silicone, and also for leather, canvas, and “NATO”. On the other hand, dress watches generally favour a leather strap but can often be found having a bracelet. Most watch enthusiasts will quite probably have at least 2-3 options of straps for each of their watches. In addition to a watch taking on a new look with a different strap, there are other reasons for swapping them out. A bracelet can be quite cold to wear in the winter, so a nice warm leather strap might be preferable. The heat in the summertime can quickly turn a leather strap into a sweaty and smelly mess, so a rubber/silicone strap might be preferable, especially on a diver or sport watch. A steel bracelet can also be quite heavy, so swapping it for a “NATO” or canvas can make it more comfortable to wear. Adding a nice leather strap can “smarten” the look of any watch and works well as evening dress when matching the colour to other accessories. Add to this the vast variety of colour and styles available in various materials, and the choice can seem endless. For this article, Insider received a small selection of straps from Barton Watch Bands located in the USA and Watchgecko in the UK. They have been tested out by myself and another enthusiast on the various watches we own, from divers to dress. Barton Watch Bands are relatively inexpensive, with a high quality/low price ratio, while Watchgecko have a larger range at various prices. Barton have a great range of soft materials, colours, styles, and sizes, and the 7
attention to detail in the packaging is something extra that you don’t often see in many brands. Watchgecko on the other hand have a much larger variety with the usual leather and soft material options but also a vast array of metal bracelets.
and soft, but is strong and trustworthy as it should be. We did receive one Perlon strap with an adjustable buckle but this was not something any of us liked. The material seemed harsh and not very comfortable, and we could not find anything that we would pair it with.
Barton Watch Bands are quite lightweight and the leather ones seem a little insubstantial compared with the Watchgecko straps, which seem to be more robust. All of the Watchgecko straps have a slightly heavier, more quality, feel, and the leather feels more like it should. Having said that, Barton’s seem to perform well, show little signs of wear – so far – and feel very comfortable on the wrist. Their canvas straps performed really well, even in sweaty and dusty conditions, were so light and comfortable – they are like wearing nothing at all. Barton Elite silicone straps are a great choice for the summer season and anything water related. The silicone performs perfectly in the heat and is well suited to the water for a diver, and is light and very comfortable to wear. Similarly, Watchgecko tropical rubber and sailcloth straps match perfectly with anything that is going in the water. Both the rubber and sailcloth versions are light and easy to wear, give a stylish look and are great quality. Barton’s leather alligator grain was quite stiff and will take some “breaking-in” to make it comfortable, but it does seem to be a quality item. All of the various Watchgecko leathers were extremely comfortable on the wrist and there are so many styles and colours to choose from that you will find one to fit any watch. I particularly liked their Vintage Highley Kudu leather that is exceptionally comfortable and wonderful quality. The dark brown vintage leather pairs perfectly with the Steinhart O1 Vintage diver to make it more dressy. Watchgecko also has a great selection of NATO straps, and the ones we tried looked great on several watches. The material is wonderful
One of the main features of any strap is how it is fitted to the watch case, namely springbars or “quick release pins”. QR pins are by far the most convenient means of swapping out one strap for another. No need for tools or frustration [watch enthusiasts will immediately know what I am talking about]. All of the Barton’s came with these, which made it so easy to try them all. Watchgecko has these for some of their straps but not all, although this would never be a deal breaker for choosing a strap, the main criteria is the look and feel of the strap.
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Overall, we had great fun trying so many different styles of a multitude of watches, and we were surprised to find some styles that we would not normally have considered. We were particularly surprised by the canvas and NATO straps. I had dismissed these before as something I would never buy, but now I am reconsidering due to their easy look and comfort. Our favourites out of those we tested were the Canvas and Elite Silicone straps by Barton, and the Kudu Vintage Highley and ZULUDIVER Marine Nationale NATO by Watchgecko – simply for their comfort and quality. Many thanks to Barton Watch Bands (www.bartonwatchbands.com) and Watchgecko (www.watchgecko.com) for supplying us with the review straps.
Written by Hugh
BUSINESS
NORDIC
Nordic Business Forum What do Steve Wozniak, Randi Zuckerberg and George Clooney have in common, except the fact that they’re super famous, extra-talented and mega-charismatic people? Yes, exactly: past week they were performing on the Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki. Nordic Business Forum is an annual business conference - one of the biggest in the world, and all students of XAMK University had a unique opportunity to listen to all speakers for free right from the Kouvola. Steve Wozniak finished the 1st day of pitches with very curious stories of his working life and shared many memories about his friendship with Steve Jobs. Randi Zuckerberg seemed a great role model for all the women all around the world, motivating them to be independent, happy and achieve dreams. George Clooney also had an amazing interview at the end of the 2nd pitching day. He was sharing the funniest pranks of his life and talking a lot about his wonderful wife & kids.
Undoubtedly, there were many more other talented pitchers who were covering different and fascinating topics. That is why, everyone found something interesting and inspiring during the forum. Till next year, Nordic Business Forum!
Written by Anna 9
STUDENTSTORY Hi! My name is Viveka Titola, I´m 22 years old My father, which I adore him alot was involved in the theatre here in Kouvola and my grandparents had a musical band. They made their own cd music and they had few small gigs around here. Probably it’s my bloodline to be an energetic and expressive person.
Hi! My name is Viveka Titola, I’m 22 years old. I was born in Myllykoski and moved to Kouvola like 7 years ago. It was during high school when we moved here and I enjoyed my time in high school cause it was one of the most popular schools in the area (Lyseo high school). While growing up I tried to be a good student, my average grade was 9.3 so I was a bit nerdy trying to be a perfectionist. When I was 6 years old, I started dancing and I continued during primary school as a cheerleader. I was very ambitious and always wanted to be the best in what I was doing. To this day dancing is a part of me and now I give dancing lessons. Along the way, I took some instruction courses about gymnastics exercises. About 8 years ago I started coaching youngsters and now I train adults as well. After finishing high school took a break for 6 months. I applied for different jobs and worked as a cashier in a store. I really liked the customer service but when I went back to dancing lessons it reminded me how much I enjoy moving freely with peoples around.
Not being happy with my job I decided to look forward and study. Digital business (tradenomi digitaalinen liiketoiminta monimuoto opinnot) was a new studying program at XAMK at 2017 and got my interest, at the time I didn’t know that it was going to change my life direction. Now I’m working on my thesis, the journey I had during studies it’s priceless. The thesis theme is to research influencer marketing in Emma Gala’s activity and how they could develop it. Xamk is one of the main collaborators of the Emma Gala. Last year I took part of the course where we get to plan digital marketing strategy for Emma Gala and my team’s strategy was chosen to be the best one. Now we got the opportunity to put our strategy in the practice. I’m thankful to XAMK for giving to me the best education and clear the way for me towards my dreams. Kouvola it’s a small town and I guess rumors fly fast cause after joining XAMK, I got a call from a high-quality fashion store to which I applied before but got rejected, now they wanted me back. I’ve been there for about 2 years. I stopped there cause now I’m doing internship in XAMK in the marketing department but they told me that I can always go back. It gives me the security to know that I’ve got a place to go after graduating but during studies, I grew a lot personally and professionally now I want to move around and have more experience. I have my own blog that I write about my personal life. Feel free to check it out and comment however you feel about it https:// blogbyviveka.blogspot.com/
Written by Arian 10
GAME DESIGN Europa Universalis IV . There is a game in steam, developed by paradox. Europa Universalis IV. Before we start, I have been surfing in steam to see what people thought about it. Overall reviews show highly recommended but recent reviews shot mixed. I wondered and check why is that and the answer is because they developed a new launcher for the game which does not affect the gameplay but for some reason people did not like it. Also, most of the negative reviews are based on the DLC pricing which is actually overwhelming. But as a player that just played the basic game, I loved it.
The time this game takes to learn is something not recommended for students. Since there are so many details, getting good at this game consumes very long time. Just play it in your holidays when you do not have homework to do. Because when you start, a war follows another, an agreement creates a problem, you want to fix those before you leave the game and you check the time. It has been 9 hours. It is 4 in the morning and you have a class at 8. Do not do that. Play on your holidays.
The earliest stage of the game starts in 1444, Rise of the Ottomans. You can, day by day, change the starting time of your game experience. But this is only 1 of the freedoms that the game gives you. We are used to play history games which we have been allowed to pick one of the nations, mostly in or around Europe, and we would have to build a state and destroy others. This has a lot more. First of all, you can pick any nation. Including eastern or native Americans. Or Africans. I am not historian, but I could say there is too many nations to choose. After that, when you start the game, what you do with that nation is completely for you to decide. You can pick ottoman empire and became Christian, duh. The freedom of the game is what made me love it most. But the difficulty is also something I like. Even in very easy mode, it is very challenging. All the alliances need to be considered, trading is something you cannot forget for a moment because your economy will collapse. You have to keep track on your rival countries because they might be going too strong or creating a coalition against you, which will probably lead into ruining your country. All those details just make the game harder, and people who love challenge in a game will love this.
Written by Muhammet 11
STUDIO 123 Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 044 375 3686 www.studio123.fi
MOVIEREVIEW
18.10-25.10.2019 STUDIO 1
Gemini Man
JETI (DUB) (7) | 11€ | 1h38min Fri-Sat, Tue, Thur 16:00
What’s better than Will Smith? Two Will Smiths! Gemini Man TOYSTORY 4 (DUB) review (7) | 11€ | 1h40min The of the review is not at all Sun-Mon 16:00 random. Everybody loves Will Smith, right? Hence, this movie FINGERPORI received much hype even after (12) | 12€ | 1h25min Every evening 18:00 it was first announced. The hype kept on building up and before JOKER its release, Gemini Man had (16) | 12€ | 2h2min become one of the most-awaited Every Evening 19:40 movies in America. Since US is STUDIO 2 the country that makes or breaks film expectations, high hopes for LATE-LAMMAS: FARMAGEDDON Gemini Man reached Kouvola. (S) | 11€ | 1h28min So was it as good as promised Mon-Thur 15:00 by ratings? DOWNTOWN ABBEY The film tells us about Henry (7) | 12€ | 2h2min Brogan, an assassin who works Fri-Sat,Tue,Thur 17:00 for the government. After a little hiccup on one of the missions, OLEN SUOMALAINEN Henry decides that he’s old for (12) | 12€ | 1h53min Sun-Mon 17:00 this shit and retired. Everything is fine until Henry encounters DIVA OF FINLAND (12) | 12€ | 1h31min Fri, Mon 19:20 STUDIO 3 AND THEN WE DANCED (S) | 11€ | 1h45min Sat, Mon,Wed 14:30 MESTARI CHENG (7) | 12€ | 1h54min Every evening 16:30 AMAZING GRACE (S) | 11€ | 1h29min Sun, Tue, Thur 14:30 MALEFICENT 2 (12) | 12€ | 1h59min Every evening 19:00 Students/armed services, pensioners 1€ discount on all full priced tickets of 10€ or more
himself, only a bit younger and with an attitude. Or even THE attitude. Honestly, there were some concerns as to whether the movie will be good because one of the screen writers is David Benioff, the man who is a co-creator of the universal failure known as Game of Thrones season 8. However, Jerry Bruckheimer as a producer is amazing, therefore there were also hopes that Jerry will help Benioff not fail again. And boy, he did. This movie just doesn’t disappoint. I wanted to place it #1 for 2019, but Endgame and Hobbs & Shaw were better. And still, Gemini Man is one of the films that don’t feel like you wasted money and time going to the theater. Not only that, you might want to re-watch the movie after some time. Saying anything else about the plot would spoil things, but there is the only complaint – sometimes, SOMETIMES, you can guess what happens next. The plot is well twisted but not all the time. Everything else, acting, directing, music and interesting camera work, is delicious. Will Smith is being his funny self while also doing good drama
Written by Nikita