The GYM

The gym is a place filled with motivated and dedicated people. Whether if you are fit or not, working out is for everyone. A healthy lifestyle is a great lifestyle. Practicing healthy habits will change your life for the better. It will promote longetivity. This interview was on my friend Paul Vasquez. He lives a very healthy life. He goes to the gym everyday, and overall, he is very motivated and focused on his body. Paul has been working out since he was 16 years old.  He is currently 25 years old. It is very tough to maintain your body. Dieting is very hard, but once you get used to it.. it becomes a routine. Promoting a fit lifestyle is always for a good cause. As people, we should all give off positive energy to the people and friends around us. It is never too late to get up and make some good changes to your life!

A Commuter's Take on the Metro North Tragedy

The Metro North is one of the most used means of transportation in our area. On Februrary 3rd, 2015, a train running along the Harlem line struck a car at a railroad crossing in Valhalla. This caused an explosion in the first train car as it struck the vehicle leaving 15 injured and 6 dead (more info). Many daily commuters were shaken up by this tragedy, seeing that it is the deadliest in Metro North's history. I spoke with two commuters who ride the train everyday about their thoughts on the accident and about looking towards the future. The first commuter I interview, Stephanie Loucas, talks about how her mom was actually on the train that night. Stephanie had picked her mom up in Hawthorne after she walked for a mile away from the mess. When asked, her mother described the scene as "chaotic." The other commuter I spoke to has been commuting to NYC everyday for years, and had never heard of this happening before. He thought that the driver may have panicked, causing the accident.

WCC; How safe is our campus?

If you were one of the students who received the campus alert on February 12th, you may have been asking yourself this very question. How safe is our campus? The email sent out at 6:28 pm stated:

“The college has been made aware of an anonymous posting on Yik Yak by a person who was being teased by several individuals. The posting stated that this person would 'have something' for those individuals, and the campus, tomorrow (Friday) that the campus would 'remember'."

For those who do not know what Yik Yak is, it is a social media application that allows users to anonymously post messages that can be seen by anyone within a 10 mile radius. Being that SUNY WCC is the largest educational institution in the county, and that there are at least 3 other colleges nearby, what are the chances that this message was meant for this campus?

With a student body of approximately 13,000 students, SUNY Westchester affords it's students a unique experience. Located in Valhalla, NY, SUNY WCC is what most would consider to be a suburban campus. But, with White Plains less than 10 miles away, and New York City 30 miles away students here can still be connected to city life. With that being said, there still is a general feeling that this is a safe area. Surrounded by nursing homes, other institutions of learning, and residential homes, SUNY WCC isn’t located in a “bad area” by any stretch of the imagination.

After speaking to fellow students there was a sense of either being unconcerned, or a “better safe than sorry” approach was taken. Many students either did not receive the email, did not pay attention to it, or only heard about it through a professor or friend. Jessica Lopez, a freshman here at WCC said that she did in fact receive the email. But it was not until she received text messages from friends that she actually took notice of it. "Unfortunately," She said, "we can’t take this lightly anymore.” She also added, “I heard a lot of people didn’t show. It’s just a precaution because you just never know.”

Speaking to Lawrence Burns of Securitas Security, he believes that we have a generally safe campus. He stated that, “We have very few problems I would consider to be any type of threat particularly to students...we do have complaints of minor disputes and things, but I don’t really consider those hazardous to students.” When asked about personal safety Mr. Burns added that students walking around campus with ear buds and focusing on their phone is of particular concern to him, but that an attitude of being alert to what's going on around you is the best way for students to protect themselves.

If you do not receive the school emails straight to your phone, you can sign up for text alerts on the schools website. There are also campus security phones in the lobby of every building on campus, and if you see or hear anything you can always go to the security office located in the Student Center room 118. Being mindful and aware of your surroundings is the first step to not only protecting yourself but also your fellow students.

Little Girl Big City

She's young, she's spunky and fun! Janux "Gigi" Vasquez is only 11 years old and already taking New York City as her own stage! She is already known by many in her neighborhood of Washington Heights for her singing being that she performs yearly at her Church's "Our Lady of Esperanza" outdoor festivities.
This little lady has been singing since the age 6, at this young age  she began by performing for her family and family friends by putting little shows together for them and this is something that she still does. Janux is involved in many extracurricular activities at school and out of school such as glee club, choir, and piano, guitar and voice lessons. Janux is definitely a busy bee. At 9 years old she practically begged her mother Francisca to take her busking to the subway station. At first her mother was hesitant about it but Janux was so persistent that after getting some family input Francisca gave in and gave it a go. Her reason for allowing Janux to do this was because she wants to be supportive with her daughter's dreams, however only if it is within reason. Around that time they only went a couple of times because although her mom agreed to take her she was still not very comfortable with it even though she did see how it helped Janux to be more outgoing.
Later after Janux turned 10 she explained to her mother how great she felt singing at the subway station and believed and still believes that one day she will get discovered. During the interview Janux said that she doesn't busk for money but since she knows some people have tried to and have given her money she decided to take a little box and she saves every penny she gets.  It's clear that anyone that see's Janux and watches her fearlessly perform would be blown away especially because she is so young.
Janux explained that this time was special because she was actually busking for a cause, she was raising money for her family's team for this year's Autism Speaks walk. First Janux and Francisca went to Times Square and then Penn Station. Janux enjoyed going to Penn Station the most that night. There she had a fan named Britney who watched and then joined Janux to sing a couple of songs before having to run off to catch her train.  People clapped, some gave money, others would do a double-take as they walked by. They didn't last very long here because not too long after arriving an officer said to wrap it up. Despite of that moment it was crystal clear that Janux felt rewarded in her performance and her mother was very proud of her. Janux definitely loves to sing for people and will continue to do so.


Click here to see subway entertainment rules

Smoking Ban on Westchester Community College - Is It Effective?

Westchester Community College, NY, has recently become a smoke free campus in January, 2012. However, is the smoking ban really effective?

Westchester Community College, founded in 1946, currently holds over twenty-seven thousand students as of 2011. Since January, 2012, students have been banned from smoking on campus. This policy covered all ground, including the parking lots and extension centers. There is no designated spot for smokers on campus, except rolling up the windows in their car and smoking in there.

Once this ban came into effective, there has been no statistics on whether or not there has been a decline on smoking since the ban took place, so this is where students and faculty came into play. Zayna Marjieh, WCC student, who usually has class near the technology building, says she constantly smells smoke and finds it gross to encounter smoking on campus because she herself is not a smoker. She went on to say that there is less smokers on campus because of the ban, but usually comes across students hiding behind buildings.

Students do not have a right to smoke on campus, as there is no “right” to use tobacco under either state or federal law. Nonsmokers on campus are also protected by the federal law, stating "the right of nonsmokers to be free from exposure to secondhand smoke is protected by both legislation and judicial rulings." This ban is enforced by compliance, which means WCC hopes all smoking on campus should be stopped by the smokers themselves, without the need of being told to. However, faculty and security may take action of this compliance is abused.

This is where Lynette Boone came in, WCC Security Supervisor, who wished to not be on camera, went on to say a fair warning is given. After a fair warning, if she catches the smoker again, their identification will be taken and given to by the Dean which then the student could get suspended from class. She went on to say that no student has ever been suspended, nor has ever had to take a student to the Dean.

Could this be because students are actually complying, or are fair warnings all students are getting? Based on what was found near every double door, which was hundreds of used cigarette butts was questionable doubt that forceful action is actually being used.

To find out more about WCC’s ban on smoking on campus, click here and here for more information.

Is College Worth Paying For?

                 

According to the New York Times, only 66% of students who graduate from high school have gone on to enroll into college, which means that 34% of students decide not to continue their education. One of the reasons being the high and unaffordable costs of the colleges.
Over in Westchester Community College, students and employees of the school gave their opinions on whether they thought College is worth paying for.

Sharon Gabin a research analyst of the college who is also involved in the mentoring program, helping out students throughout their college life, felt that going to college is important if "you want to be successful". She also felt that even though the college education is important, what mostly matters is the degree, which is what's going to truly help someone get a job. Overall, Sharon Gabin did believe that College is worth paying for.

A student now attending Westchester Community College felt that the high costs and possibility of going into debt that comes with going to college is not worth it, and that it's only worth it if one is guaranteed a job afterwards. The student said he was speaking from experience as he is currently in debt from a private college that he was previously attending to, he switched to Westchester Community College for the cheaper tuition and is now slowly paying back his debt from the previous college.

Vaccinations: Age of Daycare

Vaccinating children has become a national issue. Parents fear that side effects will cause long lasting medical issues for their children. Parents fear that because of those parents their child will be at a greater risk for getting serious illnesses.

Montrose Child Care Center is just one of many daycare's facing concern of non-vaccinated children. The daycare is responsible for infants, as young as six weeks, to children, up to five years of age. Infants are usually too young or still in process of getting vaccinations when they enter the daycare. Eileen Scerra, Director, says that children are aloud to attend the daycare granted they have proper documentation from a doctor with a schedule for their vaccinations. There are children that sometimes have delayed vaccinations because of allergies or other medical concerns. Those children, according to Scerra, also need proper medical documentation stating the reason for the delay and future schedule.

Heather Mackey, former employee and parent of Montrose Child Care expressed concern that if a child attends the daycare without proper vaccinations her five month old son will be at risk because of vaccinations he has yet to receive. Scerra agreed by stating it would cause too much risk for a child without vaccinations to attend the daycare.

Montrose Child Care Center is a NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited daycare. According to NAEYC, children must have proper documentation of medical records INCLUDING forms stating religious exemption from vaccinations.

When a child is trying to enroll in the daycare program that has chosen to not get vaccinations because of religious reasons the decision must be voted on by the Board for Montrose Child Care Center. Scerra says ultimately the decision would be NO because of the potential risk that this child would pose on other children.

New York State, among many other states, allows parents to enroll children into programs that have religious exemption from vaccinations.

Most fear of vaccinations comes with concern that vaccinations and immunizations have a direct relationship to autism in young children Even though this theory has been discredited through many studies, including a recent one that involved over 95,000 children, the fear still exists.

For more information regarding vaccinations: http://www.nvic.org/
Click Here to find NAEYC Accredited Daycares in your area!