February 2018 ISSUU.COM/KCCBRUIN
Staying fit during college
KCC signs Meg Niedzwiecki
It is important in maintaining a long life to be healthy and fitness conscious, and it has been said that college students have a hard time doing so... - Pg 2
Meg Niedzwiecki has signed a National Letter of Intent to play women’s basketball at Kellogg Community College and will begin... - Pg 3
KCC BASKETBALL GAINS MORE TALENT
FROM FELLOW COLLEGE STUDENTS
CDI expands at Kellogg Community College DANIEL BRAZIE staff writer
Racial equity is the ultimate focus of the Center for Diversity and Innovation (CDI) at Kellogg Community College. The center was originally founded in March of 2014 with a grant through the Kellogg Foundation. A few short months later, Jorge Zeballos was hired in as the Executive Director of the center. The process to bring CDI to up-and-running status lasted until January of 2015 after a series of interviews and approvals. Programming began not long after. Zeballos explained that the center aims to implement effective racial equity practices throughout the community; equity being the quality of being fair and impartial. He delved further into the center’s role in the community by dividing the work between two tracks: individual and institutional. The individual track offers programming throughout the year with a goal to engage with the community at large. “It’s designed to bring a continual system of engagement in the community,” said Zeballos. This track aims to help people understand what racism as a system looks like and what equity is. Many different approaches are taken on this track, including bringing in speakers and performers, and even coaching. The coaching aspect focuses on building a set of skills and engaging in difficult conversations with a goal of avoiding debate. Zeballos went on to explain the institutional track, saying that it aims to answer one question,
“What does equity look like on an organizational scale?” The institutional track offers open sessions with national speakers and organizations. So far, CDI has worked with many sectors in the Battle Creek community, including Lakeview School District, Garden of Dreams, Early Childhood Services, Battle Creek Fire Department, Battle Creek Police Department, Kellogg Community College, and several others. Zeballos believes that Battle Creek is
Photo by Daniel Brazie Center for Diversity and Innovation Staff at Kellogg Community College
not going to change unless these individual sectors are first changed. The center also offers organization consulting, which Zeballos describes as the most important piece to building a capacity for understanding what equity is at an organization. He says that the center has provided consulting for many organizations, some consultations having been as short as six months, and some as long as three years. Emily McGaughy, the Full-Time Trainer at CDI, informed that the center has seen exponential growth in the past six months, expanding from a team of three to a team of seven. McGaughy said that her job includes designing sessions and integrating feedback. She described her work as, “forty percent design work, forty percent facilitation work, and twenty percent other.” “We’re doing a lot of work in education,” she stated. She explained that the center is looking to do work in all sectors and focuses on increasing awareness about race. The center is currently hoping to take on more long-term work and subsequently larger contracts. CDI is an active organization in the community and is always aiming to specifically support other organizations and individuals with the same type of work and goals as they have. They strive to be very collaborative and are intentional about partnering with other organizations in the city. Contact Daniel Brazie at bruin@kellogg.edu
The KCC campus is safe, sound, and secure BETHANY BEHRENS staff writer
Safety is an important issue in every person’s life, especially in a place of learning. One of the places where people are most vulnerable and most concerned about their wellbeing is in a school. So, how safe is Kellogg Community College and how safe do students actually feel? For the most part, the concerns of students are pretty minor. They are not concerned about being robbed, attacked, stalked, or vandalized. Current student, Mike Beard, claims he is mostly concerned about someone falling into the reflection pools. “I feel completely safe, but I feel like literally any kind of guard railing around the reflection ponds would be beneficial,” said Beard. Another common concern among current KCC students is parking lot safety. Kristen Dornton, fellow KCC student, says, “I feel pretty safe on campus, but I hate parking because so many people pull out of the aisles without looking or take the turns too fast.” Another student, Ash Wild, was also concerned about the size of the parking lot. “I worry the car park is a little too dense, bigger cars and trucks like mine don’t really fit too well, and I worry that someone will
get hurt,” claimed Wild. What this says about Kellogg Community College as an institution is that it has created a safe environment where its students have little to complain about. KCC is populated with public safety officers that overlook the campus at all times through cameras placed around the grounds. They are a l w a y s available to assist students
all the w a y from lost and found to escorting them to their car or class. Security guard and student, Dereck Burandt, says, for those who feel unsafe on campus at night, “You can ask a guard to walk with you.” This is a largely contributing factor to the secure environment present on campus. Burandt also stated that, for the most part, he feels he is able to maintain a safe environment on campus. “Parking is always an issue, people get
blocked in all the time,” says Burandt. However, there are some things that most students don’t see. Burandt says that there are no public safety officers on campus at night because there are so few students on the grounds at that time and that is often when they need to confront people about acting inappropriately on campus. “It’s the surrounding areas that are the problem, some people try to hide from the cops here,” Burandt stated. Even if there have been some minor altercations, Burandt says that there are rarely any frequent problems on campus. If he could change one thing, Burandt claimed, “We should be able to have self-defense.” While the public safety officers are armed, security guards are left only with a flashlight. The general consensus is that students feel quite safe on campus. They feel a certain community among each other and watch one another’s backs. Along with the attention and assistance of campus security, KCC is a safe place for students of all ages to learn and grow without the effects of crime and violence. Contact Bethany Behrens at bruin@kellogg.edu
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Campus News
February 2018
Staying fit during college from college students AMANDA ELLIOTT staff writer
It is important in maintaining a long life to be healthy and fitness conscious, and it has been said that college students have a hard time doing so. People mainly talk about “the freshman fifteen,” that presumes college students normally have changes in weight and health. Is this the truth? College has been portrayed to make it hard for students to focus on their overall health. The moment you step onto campus, you encounter stress and independence, as well as socializing and alcohol, these things consume both time and energy. It can be difficult for students to find time for fitness in their busy schedules.
Juggling classes, studying, homework, jobs, relationships and free time can make taking care of one’s personal health difficult. The first years tend to be the hardest with the biggest changes taking place. Students also must worry about financial struggles - some may be in debt already. This often results in students being unable to afford healthy food because it is much more expensive than unhealthy microwave meals. I spoke to several students from different schools to see what struggles students are or aren’t having within different college campus’. The responses I received gave off many different lifestyles and how they affect everyone’s health. KCC student, Kody Rocco, says he has
never been fitness conscious. Rocco claimed that he eats whatever he wants and hasn’t had to worry about weight changes in college, he luckily stays thin without effort. Western Michigan student Veronica Town shows that she is aware of the importance of fitness. Town said that she cooks healthy meals for her and her husband nightly. She doesn’t eat the school lunch, mainly because she didn’t know about it. Town also makes it a point to exercise three times a week and obtains a gym membership. Jasmine Boyer, another KCC Student, told me she enjoys exercising and wants to become more fit. Unfortunately, she finds it hard to find a place to work out. With the fees of gym memberships and the college not
having a gym, she does not have access to equipment. KCC student, Daniel Brazie, said “I do not exercise, the most exercise I do is getting up in the morning.” Nichole Devries, a student attending Kalamazoo Valley Community College, says she wishes she had more time for fitness in her busy schedule. She works full time and goes to school full time, making it almost impossible to find time to hit the gym regularly. Fitness plays a huge roll in everyone’s lives, it’s just a matter of finding a schedule that works for you. Hopefully students are aware of the importance and feel motivated to work hard towards their fitness goals. Contact Amanda Elliott at bruin@kellogg.edu
How much time to spend on your college workload JOSEPH ROBINSON staff writer
The amount of time that we as college students should spend on our homework can be difficult to balance. Even if those students don’t have a job to add to their schedule, it can be a tough balancing act. Additionally, if you add work, kids, a relationship, family, and friends, it only gets worse. So, how much time should students actually spend on their homework? Most colleges recommend two to three hours spent studying per credit hour. So, for example, if a student was taking nine credit hours, they would be spending somewhere between eighteen to twentyseven hours studying every week. This does not even begin to touch how much time should be spent on homework, something that does not have a clear and obvious answer because it can vary; certain weeks may have more homework due than the week before. When talking with college students, the answer varied widely, but for the most part everyone claimed to spend around ten hours or less on homework every week. However, two nursing students claimed to have spent twenty to twenty-five hours on homework per week. Many of these students admitted that they could probably spend more time studying and working on homework. Though, one answer that really stuck out came from current Kellogg
Community College student, Amanda Elliot, who has a busy schedule on top of school. Elliott stated that she believes she spends enough time on homework and studying because her grades this semester have been good. Once these students were asked if they would commit more time to homework if they had access to more time, their answered started to differ. Some said yes, some said no, and other said they hoped they would. Everyone wants to do better at school spend more time on the degree that they are trying to earn, but a variety of things can lead to less time spent on homework and studying. The most important thing to remember is that as long as the amount of time you are spending is working, then keep doing it. On the other hand, if you are doing less than what you expect of yourself, or are barely making it, maybe it is time to change things in your routine. Here at KCC, there are tons of resources that everyone has access to, in order to ensure students are equipped with helpful materials and learning environments to aid in their studies. Student Support Services, located in the Student Center, would be a good place to start if you need a tutor or help with other things class-related. Starting a study group would also be a great resource to help make your semester run a little smoother. Contact Joseph Robinson at bruin@kellogg.edu
Sports
February 2018
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KCC basketball signs Meg Niedzwiecki About Abe... YASMEEN QAHWASH Editor
Meg Niedzwiecki has signed a National Letter of Intent to play women’s basketball at Kellogg Community College and will begin playing for the Bruins next season. Niedzwiecki, a senior at Portage Central High school, earned high school basketball honors including Most Consistent, Ms. Hustle and Ms. Quarterback awards, and is on her high school honor roll as well. “I couldn’t be more excited to have Meg be our first signee in the new era of Lady Bruin
basketball,” Dic Doumanian, head coach of KCC’s women’s basketball team, said. “She is exactly the kind of person, student and player we want and need to take KCC back to the top.” KCC’s women’s basketball team began the 2017-18 season in November. This is the first season in nearly a decade under new Head Coach Doumanian, who led the Bruins for seven seasons from 2000-01 to 2006-07. For more information about women’s basketball at KCC, visit www.kellogg.edu/womensbasketball or contact Coach Doumanian at doumaniand@kellogg.edu. Contact Yasmeen Qahwash at bruin@kellogg.edu
In the November edition of The Bruin, “Abe Lincoln,” the ArtPrize 2017 winning piece by Richard Schlatter, was incorrectly stated as residing in Battle Creek for a couple of weeks. Schlatter’s piece will stay in Battle Creek until next September. It will be on display at the Community Foundation at 32 W. Michigan Ave. Their new hours are Tuesday through Monday, 11a.m.-3p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. photo taken from daily.kellogg.edu
Pictured in the photo, from left to right, are Attack Basketball coach Alton Tucker, Todd Niedzwiecki (father), Meg Niedzwiecki, Julie Niedzwiecki (mother) and KCC’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach Dic Doumanian.
We deeply apologize for any confusion that may have stemmed from this misinformation! –Bruin Staff
KCC baseball signs Jacob Falzone YASMEEN QAHWASH Editor
Jacob Falzone has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Kellogg Community College and will begin playing for the Bruins next season. Eric Laskovy, head coach of the KCC Bruins baseball team, claimed that the Howell High School senior comes from an outstanding high school program.
“Jacob features very good stuff on the mound, clocking as high as 87, and may be able to help us offensively, as well,” Laskovy said. “We are excited to welcome him to our Bruin baseball family!” The Bruins finished up their 2016-17 season last spring as conference and state champions, ending with an overall record of 34-17-2 and conference record of 20-4. For more information about KCC baseball, visit www.kellogg,edu/baseball Contact Yasmeen Qahwash at bruin@kellogg.edu
Thursday & Friday, February 15&16 (choose one) 7:00 - 9:30p.m. KCC’s Binda Theatre Ages 16+ Open to community at large! No advanced prep needed! More info: facebook.com/KCCTheatre
photo taken from daily.kellogg.edu
Pictures in the photo, from left to right, are Jeffery Falzone (father), KCC’s Head Baseball Coach Eric Laskovy, Jacob Falzone and Buffy Falzone (mother).
LETS GO BRUINS!
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February 2018
Sports and Comics
Women’s basketball results
Men’s basketball results
YASMEEN QAHWASH
YASMEEN QAHWASH
On January 20th, 2018, our KCC lady bruins fought a hard fight against Jackson Community College here at home, but JCC came out on top with a final score of 69-45. This set their overall record at 1-10 and their conference record at 0-4. Sarah Gwinn put 13 points up on the board and had 8 rebounds and 2 charges taken. Destiny Kincaide came out with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Dareka Clayton had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Sydney Macomber put up 5 points and 7 rebounds. “We were right in it until the end of the game when turnovers did us in,” stated Coach Doumanian. On January 22nd, 2018, the Lady Bruins took on Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor. With a final score of 91-48, LMC took home the win. This set the lady bruin’s overall record at 1-11 and their conference record at 0-5 Destiny Kincaide put up 18 points on the board. Dareka Clayton came out with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals. Kimi Rook put up 6 points and 5 assists. “We came out flat to start the game for the first time this season, which made it tough against the 2nd place team in the conference,” stated Coach Doumanian, “We have a quick turnaround and need to be ready for Wednesday’s game at Grand Rapids.” Contact Yasmeen Qahwash at bruin@kellogg.edu
On January 20th, 2018, our Bruin team played Jackson Community College here at home and walked away with a loss and a final score of 76-64. This puts their overall record at 0-12 and their conference record at 0-4. “Still a lot of basketball left for us to win some guys during conference. Have to come out and play team basketball on Monday against Lake Michigan,” stated Coach Reed. On January 23rd, 2018, the team went up against Lake Michigan Community College in Benton Harbor and LMCC took home the win with a final score of 79-57. This sets their overall record at 0-13 and their conference record at 0-5. “We started the game with intensity and kept the game close in the first half. Second half, we got the stops we needed on the defensive end, we just couldn’t hit any shots on the offensive end,” Coach Reed commented, “Guys are still fighting and playing for one another, we just have to find a way to get the job done our next game.” Contact Yasmeen Qahwash at bruin@kellogg.edu
Editor
Editor
“Hey Corgeous” by Kaelin Burrows
“Raster” by Matt Headley Still in the woods
You see, it all started back when I was 25 years old.
Look at the world Donna. It’s so beautiful, so peaceful.
I’m sorry for giving you boys a hard time in class. I guess I owe you a better explanation on why I’ve been so tough on you two.
I’m glad we don’t have any kids. They’re a handful, handfull, and loud.
They would just disrupt the peace and get in the way. I know one day we’ll have kids of our own...
But I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. So let’s enjoy however long we have.
Honey...
Yes dear?
I'm pregnant.
To be continued
BRUIN Staff
Editor
Yasmeen Qahwash
Graphic Editors Noah Murray Lucas Neujahr
Editorial Policy The KCC Bruin is a free student publication produced monthly by Kellogg Community College students during the fall and spring semesters. The KCC Bruin welcomes letters to the editor from members of the College and the community. Letters must be signed and submitted with a current telephone number or email address. All letters become property of the Bruin and may be edited for clarity and length. By-lined opinion columns represent the opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Bruin staff or the College.
Advisors
Drew Hutchinson Penny Rose Thomas Webster
Staff Writers Bethany Behrens Anthony Bonds Daniel Brazie Gavin Cotton
Amanda Elliot Damar Maddison Andrew Marsden Joseph Robinson
Letters may be submitted by mail to: KCC Bruin student newspaper, c/o Kellogg Community College, 450 North Ave., Battle Creek, Mich. 49017. Letters may also be submitted at all three KCC sites. At the Battle Creek site, letters may be dropped off in the English Department on the 4th floor of the C Building; the College Life Office in the Student Center; or the student newspaper office. At the Grahl and Fehsenfeld Centers, letters may be submitted at the information desks. The Bruin office is located in room 202 of the OITC Building. The staff can be reached at (269) 965-3931, Ext. 2630 or e-mail the Bruin editor at bruin@ kellogg.edu