20 YEARS 20 YEARS OF OF INSIDER 08.03.2019 I VOL. 21 I ISSUE 18
INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK
STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK
22
volumes designed
500+
issues published
~80000
copies delivered
~1 million A4 sheets printed
40+
countries represented
200+
students joined Credit: Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
Credit: Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
POLINA VISHNYA Kouvola Current Affairs
LEIF HEFLIN Kouvola Current Affairs
MINH-TRANG LE Kouvola Current Affairs
LONG NGUYEN Layout Editor
MARIJA MARASH Kouvola Current Affairs
ANNA RYNDINA Kouvola Current Affairs
LENA GELFERT Kouvola Current Affairs
NIKITA MUNENKO Kouvola Current Affairs
GLORIA TAZZINI Layout Editor
ELIZABETH AKINLABI Kouvola Current Affairs
LIDIIA BENKOVSKAYA Kouvola Current Affairs
MUHAMMET ÇAKIROĞLU Kouvola Current Affairs
INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola Editor in Chief: Hugh Clack INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587
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PHONE +358 44 702 8758 WEBSITE insider.xamk.fi EMAIL insider@xamk.fi
FACEBOOK / INSIDERSTUDENTMAGAZINE
HUGH CLACK Editor in Chief
EDITORIAL Don’t hold back on your ideas When you have an idea that you think is worth exploring, it is a great feeling to get support to take it forward. That is what happened 20 years ago when I first went to see the then Head of Business Department, Mr Markku Puustelli, with the idea for Insider. He welcomed the idea and put me in touch with Ulla Puustelli, who asked me to form a team and see what we could come up with. I pulled a few likeminded and enthusiastic classmates together to pitch the idea to them and with Ulla’s support, we soon had material to put a first issue together. That first issue we called “Business Department News” as this is what it was created for, but giving our readers a vote, the following week’s issue was named “Insider”, and it has stuck ever since. I want to give thanks to not only Markku and Ulla, but to the original team from back then: Joonas Abraham, Heidi Blomfelt, Katja Mäkinen, Heikki Reijonen, and Piritta Helenius. Insider has gone through some changes over the last 20 years, from black & white to colour printing, having a website, electronic issues, and using social media, but the idea is still the same – bringing student interest news and information by students for students. We even had a team of students in Mikkeli for one semester publishing a Mikkeli centred version. Speaking of students, did you know that over 200 students, full-time and exchange, from almost 40 different countries have participated in Insider over the last 20 years? An incredible international editorial team over the two decades. Other statistics you can see on our cover this week.
So once again, a big thanks to everyone that has been involved in Insider over the last 20 years, and for the next 20, special thanks also to our readers for keeping us going. So, if you have an idea, no matter how small, crazy, or impossible it might sound, share it with someone, you never know where it might lead you. Hugh Clack Editor in Chief Ps In case you were wondering, our actual birthday was 8.2.2019, but we have chosen to celebrate it on 8.3.2019 with a big party, hence this is the 20th birthday issue :) Ed
Hugh Clack
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CONGRATULATIONS TO 20-YEAR-OLD INSIDER Heartiest Congratulations to 20-year-old Insider 20 years ago, I was the Head of Business Department at Kymenlaakso Polytechnic as our institution was then called. Kymenlaakso Polytechnic started its first year in August 1996. At the same time the first programme, Business Administration (later International Business) taught in English started. The name of our institution was changed by the ministry of Education after a couple of years to the Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences. This change of the name also proved in practice that our degree of Bachelor in Business Administration was recognised as Bachelor’s level university degree. I remember very well when then IB-student Hugh Clack came to see me and asked, if he could start a newspaper to provide information to the English-speaking students. I warmly welcomed this kind of project. At that time, we had an e-mail in use to some extent but otherwise social media in spreading information was practically unknown. The newspaper was very useful in giving information to the English-speaking degree and exchange students. The name of the first issues was Business Department News but soon the present name Insider was found. Editing student newspaper was soon integrated to studies. Quite a few credits have been earned by writing articles to Insider and editing the paper. I had no idea that Insider would “stay alive” this long. Actually, it seems to be going better than during the first years. I retired seven years ago. I am still reading Insider when my wife brings weekly issues home. I am very proud of the work of editorial staff during these twenty years.
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You have made excellent work. It is not exaggerated to say that Hugh is the father of Insider. Without your courageous involvement Insider would not be twenty years old. Once again congratulations to Insider and all the staff of these twenty years. I wish you all the best for the next twenty years. Markku Puustelli Manager of Business, emeritus
PROFILE What is your name and where are you from? My name is Ulla Puustelli. I am from Finland. What is your function at the university? At the moment, I am in charge of training of International Business stuULLA PUUSTELLI dents and I am currently supervising several thesis. I have been in charge of the International business program for 15 years now. What are your educational backgrounds? I have studied International Business. I have this passion for international culture, affairs, languages, etc. How many languages do you speak? I have studied courses in English, German, French, Italian, Bahasa Indonesia language, Russian and currently I am trying to study Chinese. I have been to China several times and learning Chinese is very interesting. Do you travel a lot? If yes, where have you been to? Yes! I love travelling. I have been to 17 countries. I like to travel particularly in Asian countries. I find it interesting as you travel you become curious and discover strange habits, cultural differences, etc. You started the Insider student magazine with Hugh Clack. What was the story behind setting up a magazine for international students in English? I was the first contact lecturer of Insider Student Magazine. Then at the beginning (20 years ago), I was the head of the Insider student magazine. I totally supported Hugh Clack’s idea to have a media channel for international students. All the information back then was published in Finnish. At that time, my husband was the Head of Business department and the Head of IB program. It is a great idea to have this magazine in English. An Issue of Insider goes to the city Library and it is backed up with an ISSN number. It is also promoting internationalization and getting also international news for Finnish students. They can also get to read about exchange experiences. Students has the chance to learn new things, interesting to find out what is happening, what people are doing, etc. What is your philosophy about life? “Do your best now�. Live in the moment and never worry about what tomorrow brings. Do your best so that you do not have anything to regret. Stay curious and open
minded. Try to stay positive. It is very difficult for Finnish people to stay positive. When something bad happens, everyone hears about it but when something good happens no one talks about it. So, it is very important to stay positive. What tips would you like to give us as students in order for us to come out outstanding and successful? Study hard, be curious and be flexible. It is very important to learn from others. Use well every moment to learn something new. It is easy to dive into the internet world and get disconnected in the real world. Furthermore, stay healthy, keep yourself in good condition and try to get the most out of your studies. Connect with people and actively take parts in projects business at the university so that you will get motivational feedbacks which will push you forward. Things learnt at school are actually things that matter in the business world. It is hence important to take responsibility of your own learning. The students should be responsible for learning themselves. Team work encourages learning from others, and it benefits yourself. This will determine how confident you are when you get into the business world and be a responsible person in life. You have learnt to work in teams, improve your confidence level, manage projects because these are the kind of skills companies are looking for. Your career here at Xamk is very inspiring. What the evolutions you have seen in teaching so far? We as students have to write down notes. Lectures sit on the table and he has roll projector where he writes, and we copy exactly those words to our notebooks so, the lectures were more like note taking. Books that were accepted were endorsed by National Board of Education in Finland and there were certain books which were not accepted for learning. Today, we have e-books on the internet making it very flexible and easy to learn. Teaching has changed a lot during these years and that is why the profession has changed so much. Teachers have to know what is going on in business life all the time, they have to meet business people and also try to see into the future. Get all kinds of new ideas from digitalization as part of your own teaching. Coaching yourself is also very important. Teaching is not really teaching anymore. We talk about learning. Will you be attending Insider 20thBirthday anniversary? Of course, I will be there with my husband M. Marku Puusteli . I am very excited and looking forward to the anniversary party. Text: Elizabeth Akinlabi Photo: Markku Puustelli
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WHAT IS TKI OR RDI IN XAMK?
TKI is an abbreviation from Finnish “Tutkimus, Kehitys, Innovaatiot� which translates in English into Research, Development and Innovation (RDI). RDI activities are part of the mission of XAMK according to the law of University of Applied Sciences in Finland. Our role is to provide regional development opportunities and projects that supports education and lifelong learning between university students and staff members along with community of local companies in the region. We operate at every campus: Kouvola, Kotka, Mikkeli and Savonlinna with nearly 200 staff members. In Kouvola, there are about 50 experts in several projects focusing on creative industries like art, business and railway logistics. Service design is hot topic and it is included as a theme to many projects. XAMK has nearly 160 projects going on within several fields of research and development. All of our projects are related to four major research fields which are 1) Digital Economy since the world is
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digitalizing around us so we need to catch the wave of development instead of being the follower. 2) Sustainable Wellbeing as social and healthcare cost are rising, and it is our responsibility to assists companies to learn new ways to work with their customers. 3) Logistics, Marine Technology & Transport as our port in Kotka-Hamina is strategically located near our campus in Kotka and there is a long history of maritime education in the region. 4) Forest, Energy and the Environment is major research field concerning the global climate change. Beside these major fields we have smaller research units like Creative industries in Kouvola which is related to development and utilization of creative methods and boosting entrepreneurship both start-up and SME sector. Small Business Centre is focusing on entrepreneurship education and SME development operates both Etelä-Savo campuses. Opportunities for students For students RDI provides internship opportunities
both internally and externally. Internally at XAMK in our projects, there are opportunities for basic of professional training to do in summer period or during the academic year side by side with studies. For example, business students can assist small business owners on developing social media channels or IB students with native Russian or another language could find out travellers requirements in their home cities as part of the project team in order to get first-hand experience on surveys. Externally as we co-operate with the local companies usually there rise up some opportunities of practical training placement. Training is an amazing opportunity to get your foot between the doors to that company and learn their company culture while gaining valuable experience with professional contacts to your CV and future career. Whilst practical training, also thesis can be done either internally at RDI project or externally with the companies. I remember in 2017, one accounting student did eight weeks of practical training by spending a week with different small business owners consulting them on accounting related topics he had studied. After successful training, he received thesis topic from one of eight business owners that prolonged topic at hand into larger research. I met him last summer in Kouvola campus. He got a job with an accounting company and the experience gained in the field with different businesses was one of the key elements to land that dream job after graduation. XAMK is the largest RDI player among UASs. Our project portfolio is worth of 14, 2 Million Euros of external funding annually. Funding comes from companies, European Union and international funding sources. We collaborate with our Erasmus partner network in order to make international research possible. Within startup entrepreneurship projects, our partners are located for example in UK, Estonia, Latvia and Russia. My journey from entrepreneurial student of UAS to project management expert at XAMK
As a student of Vaasa UAS from 2006 to 2010, I did my basic training on customer service and sales in summer 2007. After a good training period, I got summer employment 2008 and 2009 with normal wage at the same company. They asked me work some Christmas periods too when it was busy, and I enjoyed the money. Professional training I did by running a Start-up Company with fellow students on IB group 2008 – 2010. It was part of business incubation project funded by European Union. Now I feel like making the full circle when working as project manager on entrepreneurship development projects funded by European Union here in XAMK Kouvola campus since November 2016.
Text: Riku Happonen, Project Manager RDI Photos: XAMK Archive
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MARKETING FOR XAMK First of all, I want to say congratulations for the INSIDER. We are going to celebrate the 20th year birthday and I am very excited about it. After the celebrations, or dearly readers will know everything about it. Keep reading. This week, I am going to talk about Students from Turkey that does not feel secure about their future. I spent last week in Turkey, my home country. Before I get started about it, let me tell you what the idea was and what happened. When we first talked about student exchange program in class, we saw the list of the schools that has agreement with XAMK. I realised that there is no school from Turkey. That made me wonder why. Before I left for my holiday, I told my lecturer that I can go to few universities in Turkey to talk about the student exchange program and about our school to start an agreement. I think it would be exciting for both sides. Anyways, the international office of our school said that it is impossible because of the process. It could not be a student who starts the connections. And he told me that it was good idea, but he had another. I could go to high schools in Turkey and let them know about our school, which is what I did. Firstly, I can say that there is a great potential. All the students were very excited to hear about the country, the school and about my experiences. Famous Finnish education system takes big part on this excitement for sure. I told them about my experiences as much as I could, but it was hard to convince them to the entrance exam because they have been prepared for a different kind of examination for whole their life. My behaviour was not about talking them into studying abroad, or in XAMK, I was more like giving them an alternative. Most of them said they would like to take that opportunity, but it is too difficult for them. But let me start with what they liked. So, they liked the idea of student houses in Finland. Paying the rent and having everything inside the rent. Like electric and internet. They laughed a lot about the printers in the schools because they must pay a small amount of money to print for themselves. I told them about our relations with our lecturers. How they listen to our ideas and how they ask for feedbacks about everything. It was shocking to hear that our feedbacks take place immediately. Hearing this was exciting for them but since there was their teachers listening, I could not get too deep into it because she might have been offended. Didn’t want to criticise Turkish teachers in front of their students. But the students did anyways.
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Overall, every student was excited, and they wanted to try it out which is hectic for me. The language barrier is a great problem. The school I visited is a piece of failure in Turkish education system. They prepare the students to university examination and they don’t focus on their education at all. Therefore, they don’t learn any English. Also, some of the students complained their families, that they would not allow them to leave. I don’t see any reason for that but maybe they have different families. In the end, marketing XAMK like this will definitely get more candidates from Turkey for sure. But for sure, the focus should be on high quality high schools. The reason that I visited this school is that my cousin studies there and I had a limited time for preparing. So many people will like the idea of studying in Finland, because no one, including minister of education, in Turkey likes the education system. So, young people are looking for alternatives and they should know about Xamk for sure.
Text and photo: Muhammet Çakıroğlu
FOOD CORNER - Friends & Brgrs I am huge burger fan and whenever I tried burgers I am like “meh, it is okay, but it could be much better.” But burgers in this place truly woke up a long asleep gourmet inside me. F&B is rapidly growing year by year in Finland as well as in other European countries. The first restaurant was established in Pietarsaari in 2014 and since then they have opened three more restaurants in Finland in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere and even managed to go international expanding to Copenhagen in 2016 and Hamburg in 2017. Friends and burgers has been voted best fast food restaurant chain in Finland recently and they do have solid reasons for gaining this title. Firstly, one of core principle of the company is transparency and it reveals in their approach to everything. They bake bun right there in front of your eyes in their own small bakery. And they also have an open kitchen, so you can watch all the steps of cooking process and lick your lips along the way. From my point of view, it is quite brave and deserves great respect to disclose “behind the scene” to the customers and this gesture creates trust in consumer`s perception of the branch and shows company`s openness. Secondly, F&B mainly focus on burger`s taste and quality, therefore freshness and high-quality of the ingredients is the key priority.
Thirdly, to my great surprise, they have relatively low prices which makes food affordable for most of the population. All the burgers cost almost the same price – 8 or 9 euros. So, customers don’t have to make their decision depending on the price. Even though composition of the burgers seems to be pretty simple, but don’t make a mistake thinking that taste is boring. I believe, simplicity of recipes is the magical key to the doors of fulfilling, rich and tremendous taste which sure lead to climax any food lover.
Not to mention the interior design of the restaurant, which also supports principle of simplicity and transparency. In addition, personnel are very friendly and the whole atmosphere creates a welcoming pleasant feeling and gives its guests unique dinning experience.
Finally, F&B underlines its diversity in selection of burgers with various fillings and also take care of vegetarians by offering Veganburger. If you are looking for a great food experience and madly slobbering for burgers as I am, then definitely remember to stop by Friends & Brgrs next time you go out. Food is one of the great enjoyments existing on Earth, so let`s experience it with all its intensity, depth and brightness.
Text: Polina Vishnia Photos: Polina Vishnia and Julia Avksentieva
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RECIPE: Viennese Cookies Simple but amazingly delicious dessert, which will make an excellent accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. INGREDIENTS: • • • • • • • •
Margarine or butter— 250 g Eggs - 2 pcs. Baking soda - 0.5 tsp (pay off with vinegar) Sugar - 1 cup Flour - 1-1,5 glasses Any jam - 1/2 cup 1 apple Salt - pinch
PREPARATION • • • • • •
Melt the margarin. Add eggs, sugar, soda, salt to it. Sift flour and knead the dough. Divide it into two parts. One part (smaller) put in the freezer for 15 minutes. Roll out the second part of the dough and put it on a greased baking sheet with vegetable oil. Spread jam on top and the apple grated. Now take the second part of the dough out of the refrigerator and rub it on the grate over the filling. After that, put the Viennese cookies in. heated oven for 30 minutes with a temperature of 180 C. Then cool and cut into pieces.
ENJOY MEAL! BON APPETIT!
Text and photo: Lidiia Benkovskaya
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MOVIE REVIEW Ralph Breaks the Internet
STUDIO 123 Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 044 375 3686 www.studio123.fi
08.03.2019 - 14.03.2019 STUDIO 1 THE FAVOURITE (16) | 12€ | 2h Sat - Sun 14.45
RISTO RÄPPÄÄJÄ JA PULLISTELIJA (S) | 11€ | 1h24mins Every evening at 17:00
CAPTAIN MARVEL
(12) | 12€ | 2h05mins Every evening at 18:50
STUDIO 2 JUICE
DIRECTORS: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore WRITERS: Phil Johnston, Pamela Ribon CARTOON BUDGET: $175 Million
(7) | 11€ | 1h46mins Sat - Sun 15:00
RÄYHÄ-RALF VALLOITTAA INTERNETIN (dub) (7) | 11€ | 1h53mins Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs 17:15
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a sequel to Wreck It Ralph, a cartoon released in 2013. After five years (six for Finland), Disney released another animated movie about Ralph and Vanellope, two video game characters that actually have their own lives. The first part was a nice addition to the Disney animated movies and was warmly welcomed by the critics and audience alike. What about the 2nd one, though? Vanellope’s amazing life is in danger: the handwheel to her game is broken, so she and Ralph decide to buy a new one. In order to do that, they go into the Internet and find the same handwheel on Ebay. In order to get money for it, they visit YouTube, earn likes and other stuff… This movie is for kids. It may be good for them. Older audience, however, won’t probably find anything interesting or intriguing in Ralph Breaks the Internet. The Internet itself is very well done, yes. It’s a new approach, it’s creative and fun (Google is MVP). 3D is also well done. The picture is beautiful, but what’d you expect from Disney? Unfortunately, when it comes to the plot, everything falls apart. Idiotic decisions that characters make almost force you to cry. The movie does not present anything new besides a cool way of showing the WWW: everything awesome is taken from other Disney franchises. Multiple references to princesses, Marvel, Star Wars, etc., make Ralph Breaks the Internet a watchable cartoon, but… It will be interesting for kids below 14, though!
NÄIN KOULUTAT LOHIKÄÄRMEESI 3 (dub) (7) | 11€ | 1h44mins Sat, Mon, Wed 17.15
BABY JANE
(12) | 11€ | 1h33mins Fri, Sun - Tues 19:30
THE PRODIGY
(16) | 11€ | 1h32mins Sat, Wed - Thurs 19:30
STUDIO 3 GLORIA BELL
(12) | 11€ | 1h42mins Fri 19:10 Sat - Sun 14:30 Mon - Tues 19:10
GREEN BOOK
(12) | 12€ | 2h10mins Fri, Sun, Tues - Wed 16:45
VAN GOGH – IKUISUUDEN PORTEILLA (12) | 11€ | 1h51mins Sat, Mon, Thurs 16:45
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY sing-along (S) | 12€ | 2h15mins Sat - Sun, Wed - Thurs 19:10
for kids for adults
Nikita Munenko
Students/armed services, pensioners 1€ discount on all full priced tickets of 10€ or more
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