Friday, February 1, 2008 Seven Comm Graduates Return By Marcus Yeagley staff writer mjysol2@ Seven graduates of Penn State Erie returned to campus to talk to students and faculty about their experiences with their Communications and Media Studies majors Thursday night. Gathering in Reed 114, the panel began by intro ducing themselves and briefly explaining what they liked and truly enjoyed about their careers that came out of their Communications majors. They offered advice, told anecdotes, and answered ques tions from the audience of over thirty people. When asked what sort of communication skills or personality traits that the panel would recom mend to students entering the job market, the seven graduates offered a variety of answers and respons es: Smokey McGill from the class of 1986 and the general manager of Five-Star Trucking, which owns half of the market share in the area for its industry, stressed listening as a vital skill. “It is one of the key components,” said McGill. “If you have to be empathetic toward the customer, all you can do is not tell them what you know, but listen.” Raychull Vendetti, a graduate of 2002 and an anchor for WSEE’s 6 a.m. morning show and noon broadcast, answered the question with time man agement in mind. “With television, there pretty much is no homework,” stated Vendetti in regard to her job. “Before the end of the day, if your story is not done by 6 p.m. then you no longer have a job...you have to make sure you have good time management skills.” Michelle Eidenmuller, a fund raising administra tor for local public media station WQLN, offered SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING continued from page 1 Engineering students were pleased to hear the news. “This gives students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with state-of-the-art equip ment,” said Gary Cooper, an engineering major. “This will give us experience that isn’t provided at other schools, which gives an edge when compet ing for jobs.” Behrend’s School of Engineering has seven bac calaureate degree programs, one minor, and three associate degree programs. The Engineering" Accreditation Commision and the Technology to advise students two pieces of advice to the students: “Be a chameleon. There are going to be a lot of different things you are going to be working on no matter where you go...and also, build relationships and keep everything personal.” Additionally, a kindergarten school teacher at Iroquois School District, Sue Johnson noted to keep in mind who one is speaking to at all times. “Know your audience,” she pressed. “I don't care if it is a five-year old...whether it is a parent or it is a colleague know your audience.” Lastly, Tim Maciulewicz - who works in sales at Cony Publishing based in Erie - made sure to men tion one skill he learned in college that turned out to be necessary for his career. “The biggest thing I learned from going to college was self discipline...the amazing thing is that you can stand out from most people just by being self-disciplined. The panel also covered questions about ethics in their careers and went more in-depth into how lov ing one's job is crucial to success. Afterwards, the panel conversed with the audience individually giving more personal advice and networking with the community. Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology provide accreditation to the school. There are eleven stu dent chapters of honorary and professional organi zations that students participate in. Some include; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Plastics Engineers, Society of Women Engineers and National Society of Black Engineers. HEW' The Medical Minute: Can iPods lead to hearing loss? Christine Homcha, Author Bill Randazzo and Michael Pitzer, Editors Lux et Veritas, Penn State College of Medicine Q: I've had an iPod for a while now but recently I’ve seen on TV that listening to my iPod might cause hearing loss. Is this true? Does it cause hear ing loss just when you listen really loud or can lis tening to an iPod cause hearing loss anytime ? A: iPods have been getting a lot of attention from the media lately, and that isn’t just because of the cool ads that Apple designs. Many stories have been focused on evidence that links iPod use to hearing loss in listeners. MP3 players like iPods have become incredibly popular recently. However, lis teners must pay careful attention to their listening habits in order to prevent irreversible hearing dam age. Researchers have found that hearing loss in young people occurs much in the same way that it does in older people. You have cells in your ear that receive sound waves from the environment and turn that into a chemical signal that your brain perceives as hearing. When these cells are exposed to an excessive amount of noise, they require an increased amount of oxygen and blood supply, or else they will die. The stress placed on your hearing cells is prima rily based on two factors: volume and duration. If you listen to loud music, you put more stress on your cells at that moment. Also, with iPods, many people listen for prolonged periods of time over the course of a day. This puts the hearing cells in a con stant state of stress, and contributes to cumulative damage over time. Want to mite news for The Behrend Beacon? Contact Lenny South at lrsso46@psu.edu or Matthew Schwabenbauer at mjss3B7@psu.edu I- . • -■ ' ''’ T “ The Behrend Beacon I 3 One major factor that contributes to loud listening is that the typical earbud headphones that come with the iPod don't cancel out any of the noise from your environment. This means that you have to turn your music up even louder to hear over people's conver sations, the noise in the gym, or the lawn mower as you're cutting the grass. What most people don’t realize is that trying to drown out other noise actu ally raises the music volume to dangerously high levels and puts them at high risk for damaging their hearing. Using one of the "earmuff" styles of head phones helps to protect your ears by blocking out the noise that's happening around you so that you can listen to your music on a lower volume setting. Doctors and experts on hearing, called audiolo gists, recommend the "60-60 rule" when it comes to listening to your iPod: you should limit your listen ing to 60 minutes per day at no more than 60 per cent of the maximum volume. This gives your hear ing cells time to rest and heal themselves. Any more than this puts your hearing at serious risk. If you find that you temporarily have trouble hearing, or if you have ringing in your ears, you may be having some warning signs of hearing loss. It's time to tum your music down (or off), and see a doctor to make sure your hearing is OK. When it comes to your hearing, it's better to be safe than sorry, because once it's gone, it’s gone for good. If you follow these general guidelines, you can still have fun using your iPod while taking good care of your ears. That way, you can enjoy your favorite music for a long time to come! Note: This article is not meant to serve as a substi tute for professional medical advice of a physician or other medical personnel.
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