SE health seminar to discuss lifestyles, alternative options

Aiming to educate, inform and help students and visitors explore non-medicinal healthy choices, the SEHealth Occupations Only Club will sponsor a health seminar Nov. 20.

Healthy Alternatives: Mind, Body and Soul will feature Dr. Kathi Perry as guest speaker and include other health professionals covering different health substitutions for students.

Club sponsor Bethanye Morgan, biology assistant professor, said she would like the audience to pursue all options when faced with health challenges.

“We are discussing a variety of different and inexpensive alternatives that research has proven beneficial,” she said. “We will have health professionals such as a chiropractor and nutritionist tell the audience important and useful information regarding maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”

Representatives from Breast Thermography, Healthy by Hands Wellness Center, Godwin Chiropractic and other organizations will help expose students and visitors to various disciplines including homeopathy, herbal alternatives and holistic practices, Morgan said.

“This event is targeting people of all ages — healthy and unhealthy,” she said. “We encourage people to come out to this event.”

The free seminar runs 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the North Ballroom on SE Campus and is open to students and the public.

— Javine Toms

Students can manage stress effectively, says NE advisor

Learning how to deal with stress is one of the most important things students can do to avoid the health problems and mental distress associated with it, warned a NE academic advisor Nov. 7.

Marjeanna Burge spoke about the physical and mental effects of stress, saying mind, body, behavior and emotion can all have serious or even deadly outcomes if stress is not relieved properly.

“Some of the health consequences from stress are some of the nation’s No. 1 killers,” she said.

Burge recommends a healthy diet, physical exercise, adequate sleep, limited alcohol and caffeine consumption and plenty of water to maintain a healthy balance.

She presented different techniques as effective stress relievers, such as muscle relaxation, visualization of peaceful settings, meditation, deep breathing and other unconventional exercises, such as laughing yoga.

“Close your eyes slowly, breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth, emptying your lungs completely. Repeat this until you feel calm and relaxed,” she said.

The benefits of laughter have many of the opposite effects of stress, Burge said. Laughing helps combat infections, stimulates abdominal muscles, increases positive mental functions and reduces blood pressure as well as other benefits.

“Remember to take moments to laugh, wherever you are,” she said. “Laughter is the best medicine.”

When home life, finances, school, work and other factors cause people to become overwhelmed, Burge said students should be positive, train their minds to look at the opportunities in each situation and be grateful for what they have and what they have accomplished.

— Jonathan Kahan

TR summit to coach students in community leadership

TR Campus hosts its next Leadership eXperience Summit 1-4 p.m. Nov. 16 in Action A (TRTR 4202).

Facilitated by the TR Campus All-Stars, the summit is the next installment in a series of leadership seminars where student leaders are encouraged by guest speakers to step up in their communities. The summits fit into a service-learning curriculum designed by Lionel Bailey, TR student development associate, for All-Star students.

“It’s part of our syllabus for student leaders,” Bailey said.

Leading Others will focus on leadership in various settings where leaders have a chance to understand others to help them be stronger leaders.

Keynote speaker Angel Garcia, director of the University of South Florida leadership center, is responsible for researching and implementing a leadership doctrine that will be applied to develop all future soldiers, Bailey said.

Because of large turnout and positive feedback in previous seminars, the summit will have two breakout sessions, so students can visit with two of the four workshop facilitators: TR graphics coordinator Adrian Jackson, South student support coordinator Jamal Williams, TR political science instructor Corena White and Jason Eagar, assistant director of the Texas Christian University leadership center.

— Kirsten Mahon

Lectures given on SE, NE, on science of storm chasing

Reed Timmer, star of the Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers, will present The Science of Extreme Tornado Chasing Nov. 19 and 20 on NE and SE campuses.

Students can learn how storm chasers, forecasters, news media and emergency personnel work together to warn people in the path of storms and how social networking is emerging as a new platform for delivering potentially life-saving information.

Timmer will also explain how storm chasers use innovative new technologies such as armored vehicles, mobile radar and probe-launching tornado cannons to study these powerful atmospheric forces. In addition to extreme tornado science, the presentation also will show students what it looks and sounds like inside one of the most powerful atmospheric phenomena on the planet.

Timmer will speak on SE at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in the North Ballroom and on NE at 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Nov. 20 in NSTU Center Corner.

Those planning to attend either of the NE presentations can register at tccdne.volunteerhub.com. The presentations are free.

— Craig Barnes

TR coffee bar tip jar presents source of conflict for baristas

The tip jar common to any drink bar can be seen as the connection between the customer and barista. But ECI’s coffee bars on both the TR and TRE campuses had to fight for that right.

“Most coffee shops you go to, a tip jar is kind of culture,” said Dean Combs, ECI general manager at TR Campus. “Coffee is very specialized, very personal. It’s not like grabbing a soda. But we try to have drinks ready for customers before they even tell us what they want.”

According to Combs, who fought to get the coffee bar its tip jar, some customers were upset they couldn’t leave a tip.

RadioShack employee Candace Bates said coffee bar workers deserve a chance for a little extra pay.

“Every time I come down here, they say ‘hello,’ and they know my face,” she said.

Combs and Andrew Whittle, a Riverfront Café employee, said the coffee bar originally had a tip jar, but a dispute last semester resulted in some employees being let go.

Apparently, the tip jar went with them, and the only way to get it back was to petition and get the final say from the owner, who had first elected to eliminate the tip jar.

“We considered quitting,” said Elizabeth Ward, Riverfront Café employee. “We work for a tip jar. We deserve one, Starbucks has one, and we do the exact same thing. It doesn’t hurt or break our company.”

Whittle even considered changing jobs.

“The thought had crossed my mind that there were greener pastures elsewhere,” he said.

Combs said he encouraged the workers to stick with it. He knew there was a proper way to go about getting things the workers needed, but quitting wasn’t it.

Whittle and Ward said they love their job because they meet many different kinds of people and the customers give great feedback now that the tip jar is back.

— Kirsten Mahon

Former paratrooper to speak on SE of Army experiences 

A former Army paratrooper who is now a TCC student will describe his experiences in the military Nov. 15 on SE Campus.

Nick Koezeff, who served five years on active duty and two years in the National Guard, will speak at 11:45 a.m. in the Commons.

After seven years in the Army, most of it with the Panther Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., Koezeff decided it was time to tell his story, particularly the positive aspects of serving in the military.

“It gives me an opportunity to speak about my experience and how I grew from it,” he said. “I hope that those who listen to my story will either join the military or be encouraged to support the veterans who have come back and the ones that are currently serving.”

Koezeff’s talk is the second in SE’s Untold Stories series sponsored by student activities.

— Anderson Colemon