Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Episode #9: Connect Yourself

We're doing all the leg work on these connections. For you.
I, DJ Nico got to produce my own show this week. It was both thrilling and anxiety-ridden. I was not sure how exactly I wanted to execute this particular topic. I think that it went fairly well. This week's show was themed around getting involved on-campus either through student organizations or student activities. We put a spotlight on Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP) here at PSU, and had a representative student leader, Rolan, guest-star and talk about his involvement. We also had a fellow orientation leader, Valery join us and give insight to balancing on-campus involvement and how to maintain productive involvement in a healthy way! We have such great student leaders. Thanks Rolan and Valery for joining us. 

Getting involved in an activity on-campus helps you, as a student, get better grades, expand your social circles: possibly to even more diverse spaces, increase your "happiness quotient," and path a successful road to graduation through leadership positions. Four main points behind getting involved: 
Don't fall victim!
  1. Connecting and navigating PSU. This is a big school and a lot of the time students feel disconnected. It is good to have mentors, any shape or form, that have your back and can give you tips on getting adjusted.
  2. Balance is important. I know I always manage to find a million ways to be involved on-campus and have to take a step back and acknowledge my current commitments and the adjustments that would need to be made if I tried to take on, uh, a million different on-campus activities. Make sure to maintain a balance that is productive and healthy, if you find yourself feeling as if you're being pulled at all ends you should consider reassessing your involvement and priorities! You're not Stretch Armstrong. 
  3. Friends and identity. There are a lot of opportunities put together by SALP and other departments on campus for you to meet new people. PSU has over 30,000 students, and I can assuringly say there's a group of people that can't wait to meet you. Yeah, I'm corny, so what. There are also plenty of student organizations that range from Academic groups, Arts related, Multicultural, Political, Advocacy, and Spiritual interests. You are bound to find a group that speaks to how YOU want to get involved. 
  4. Connecting your Academics to reality. Good grades and a well-maintained GPA are very important. But PSU wants to see and hear you involved on-campus. Your involvement reflects your commitment to maintaining your grades and successfully finishing school.
  5. Career skills and leaderships...are two peas in a pod. Leadership positions available all over campus let you grow into the confident, articulate, and unique individual that you are. Graduate schools, future career options, scholarships, and grants are looking for students who make time to get involved with their university's community. Before I got involved with the Orientation team, I would stress over class presentations and job interviews...now these are both things that I get excited about doing and interviewers feel my energy and excitement. 
SALP has two events coming up in January, the Party Near The Park (Jan. 19) and the Leadership Conference (Jan. 20). To find more information about SALP, existing student organizations or upcoming events visit: salp.pdx.edu

Episode #8: Usuccess

If it were up to us, success would look like this. For you.
DJ SpinnerElla took the reigns on this episode and made a very, yeah, I'll say it, successful University Success episode! Go Ella! This episode was geared towards freshmen students, and students utilizing University Success as a resource for academia. We even co-sponsored a party, with food! Shout out to Courtney Sandler for this awesome partnership! We focused on Winter Registration and the anxiety that comes up for many students registering for classes, as well as answered questions submitted by students. 

Louis Maltese, a Learning Community Assistant guest-starred for this episode (sadly he missed out on the chips and salsa party in the Usuccess room). He gave us his own perspective on academic-support in-hall programs and his involvement as a LCA. 

Academic Coaching is available primarily to freshmen who live on-campus, but can be arranged to help our multitude of student populations. This service sets a student up with a mentor for a term, the student then arranges to meets up with the mentor weekly. With the mentor the student is encouraged to establish better time-managment skills, study habits, and other academic skills. I actually took part in this program a couple terms ago, and my mentor was the director of the Women's Resource Center, Bridge D'Urso. I am a good student, but that term I was looking to connect with a mentor on a one-on-one level to keep me grounded as I came closer to the end of my second year of school here at PSU. If you're considering taking part in this mentoring opportunity, please email academiccoaching@pdx.edu or visit the Usuccess Site for more information. 

Other resources that are available through University Success are Evening Tutoring, Evening Academic Advising, access to a cosy Study Lounge and much more! 

Here are the questions that were submitted by students which were then chosen to be read live on-air! Questions starting after #8 were questions not read on-air but that we felt deserved an answer as well.

  1. When can I register for classes? If you are classified as a freshman (first year student), you can register for classes starting this past Wednesday, November 23 at 8am, for Winter term. 
  2. Where do we register? By going to the my.pdx.edu site, logging in, choosing the "Student" tab, and then choosing "Add or Drop Class" or "Look Up Classes" either link will get you to where you need to be. 
  3. Does statistics count as a Math class? Yes! 
  4. Where can I find course descriptions? Each department has their own website on pdx.edu and provides an accessible list of course descriptions that are department specific or your PSU Bulletin.
  5. Where do you find prerequisites for classes? You can use your PSU Bulletin to locate prerequisites or go to Class Schedule and listed courses will hyperlink to an information you should know prior to registering for that course. 
  6. What if my registration is on hold? To see if you have any holds on your account go to my.pdx.edu, choose the "Student" tab and then click "Registration Status" this will tell you if you have any holds on your account. Make sure to get in contact with the correct office that has placed the hold on your account. For example, Undergraduate Advising and Support Services places Academic Warning holds that will prevent you from registering. 
  7. How often do we have to meet with an adviser? Technically one time during your Freshmen year, this is the only required time. BUT, advisers know from experience, and I will vouch for this as a student, that working with advisers on a regular basis is a lot more helpful in the long run! 
  8. How many SINQ’s do I need? To review the University Studies program and placement, you can go to:www.pdx.edu/unst
  9. What are the easiest classes? Unfortunately the answer is very subjective. It just simply depends! 
  10. Is English a smart major choice? What career paths can an English degree take you down? Generally speaking, we recommend that you identify specific careers, and then work backwards by researching if you need a specific major to take you there. The key is to explore majors by taking courses of interest. The Career Center has plenty of valuable information on this and much more at this link: http://www.pdx.edu/careers/choosing-majors-and-careers
  11. What are core requirements? You can find the PSU degree requirements here: http://pdx.edu/advising/requirements-baccalaureate-degree 
  12. What about Chiron classes? Chiron studies classes are student-led, and very diverse! See here for more information: http://www.pdx.edu/chiron 
  13. How do I pay my bill? Information on paying your bill can be found here: http://pdx.edu/bao/payments
  14. What if a class I need is full?  There is a Special Registration form (obtained in Neuberger lobby) that you can take to the class on the first day. However, it's not guaranteed, and at the discretion of the professor to sign it.
  15. Can you switch to a different FRINQ? Since the sequence is built for a year-long commitment, then you need to follow the same FRINQ path.
  16. What if required class’ conflict? You may not register for two classes if the times conflict. You can meet with an adviser to discuss any concerns you might have.
  17. How do I register early? There is no early registration (there are very few exceptions for students in a special admissions program).
A huge thanks to all those who participated in the Listening Party for this episode, especially Courtney Sandler, and Shoshana Z. who brought her Academic Success class to the party! We definitely need to do this again. 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Episode #7: MajorQuest II

We're dealin' with your paper jams. For you.
Great Scott and DJ Thrillhouse brought the house down (in a good way) when we left them without the supervision of DJ SpinnerElla or me. We're proud of our fellow advisers for managing to put together a great episode without DJ SpinnerElla or I...Not that we don't trust them to do exactly this when we are there! MajorQuest II featured DJ Thrillhouse's own game entitled "Name That Major!" I am really bummed I wasn't able to play it. Two students, Sheena and Jamie were special guests for this episode and gave input on their own journey to deciding their majors. Nelson's Deep Voice was featured in this episode and DJ Thrillhouse taught our listeners How To Fix A Paperjam. Cool. 



Please Read: The past few weeks have been pretty staggered and hectic for myself, DJ Nico, and advisers DJ SpinnerElla, Great Scott, and DJ Thrillhouse. As faithful followers of our blog I'm sure you've noticed my lacking upkeep of the blog, and inaccessbility to our recorded podcasts*. KPSU has been dealing with a dead server, which has prevented access to any recordings for our last couple of shows which in turn has made it difficult to maintain the blog about episodes! We're hoping things will be figured out soon. Our last episode of the term is coming up on Monday, December 5, 2011 and we'll hope you'll join us. 

*I won't be posting a link to the podcast per usual as it is inaccessible. I will continue checking up on it and will update the links when and if the server gets up an running.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Episode #6: Support Our Veterans

We brought Allen Roberts to our show. For you.


This weeks episode features a profile on our Veteran students and Veterans Services, at PSU. We interviewed two student veterans, Britni and Jesse, along with Veteran Certification Officer, Allen Roberts. We talk about the veteran perspective in the PSU community, and how sometimes our veterans live the differences between being non-traditional college students and their peers, who are usually traditional college students. Britni and Jesse encourage student veterans to seek out community at PSU and contribute through student groups or volunteer at events (Britni was an Orientation Leader this past summer, and is now the Women's Veteran Outreach Coordinator for the Women's Resource Center at PSU). 

Britni and Jesse reflect on the misconceptions that come with being a veteran student, and the hardship that comes with meeting new people on-campus. Britni comments on her perspective as to the varying reasons why many opt to pursue the military route, and what the G.I. Bill actually does for our veteran students. Jesse finishes up the interview with a great comment on how non-veterans can support veteran students on campus, stating that they should reach out to employment that supports veteran students and other opportunities. 

You can be supportive by attending Viking Vets (if you have questions, or if you're a veteran looking for support): Viking Vet's Site

Allen Roberts, the Veteran Certification Officer here at PSU, shares his insight on being a veteran himself, and how he really encourages student veterans to get in contact with Veterans Student Services, or himself, for support or questions, as well as anyone who wants to talk about their options of possibly pursuing the military route. 

Allen Roberts, Veteran Certification Officer
p. (503) 725-5547
e. allen.roberts@pdx.edu
l. Neuberger Hall 104

Britni Mimms, Women Veteran Outreach Coordinator
p. (503) 725-5672 (WRC main line)
l. Montgomery Hall Basement (Women's Resource Center)

Scott impresses us by knowing what a doula is, or rather, tries to show up our guest Britni...but we all know Britni knows better. And chit chat minutes gets a little weird, when everyone decides unicorns don't exist (uh, obviously they do guys) and Nelson can't be a dinosaur.

Veteran's Events:

Veteran's Day Celebration, Thursday, Nov. 10 from 12pm-2pm
in Parkway North (SMSU 101). 

Hiring Our Heroes - Career & Benefit Fair, Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9am-3pm
at Clackamas Community College in Gregory Forum. 

Other things to note: 

Deadline to withdraw from a course and receive a W on your record is this Sunday, November 13!

Back to the future:
Next weeks episode is MajorQuest #2, the handsomer brother of MajorQuest #1. It will be a great show and we're all excited about it. 

Episode #5: Horror Stories

We're getting our rabies shots. For you.
This week Turntable Advising has opted to give you a visual version of our show courtesy of Grant, our camera guy. The video is called BEHIND THE TURNTABLES! We're so cool. 


Here is the link to the video: Behind The Turntables


While you're at the site you can look at Grant, our camera guy's artsy film videos and the French movies I, DJ Nico, made for French class. I'm pretty embarrassing.  

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Episode #4: Hire Me!



It's our fourth episode...and Ella hopes that you'll watch Breaking Bad to learn about, uh, chemistry. Yeah, chemistry!  Oh, Ella. 


This weeks episode takes us into the belly of a Career Fair held on 10/24/11, organized by our very own Career Center. Thanks to all of the great employers that attended this fair, and I hope a majority of our listeners were able to check it out. Just a heads up, next week Tuesday, 11/1/11, a Nonprofit Career Fair is happening in the SMSU Ballroom from 11am-3pm. If you didn't get a chance to attend this week's career fair, there's still time to print off a couple resumes and make a great first impression. 


DJ SpinnerElla created a "Top 10 Ways to Explore Careers" document that I'm going to share the link to through google docs: 


Top 10 Ways to Explore Careers - Google Doc

I think it's great advice, and I hope you get a chance to utilize Ella's advice. 


Our very own, Great Scott ventured out to the Career Fair earlier in the day, and scoped out some great employers to interview for our show. Here is their contact information in order of it airing on our show. 



Terry Foster, Recruiting Officer for Portland Fire & Rescue:

Portland Fire & Rescue
Human Resources
55 SW Ash Street
Portland, Oregon 97204
tel. (503) 823-3811
e. terry.foster@portlandoregon.gov
w. portlandoregon.gov/fire


Brynn Utela, Program Adviser for Proworld

600 California Street, FL10
San Franciso, CA 94108
tel. (877) 429-6753
e. brynn@proworldvolunteers.org
w. proworldvolunteers.org


Lisa Hobbs, Human Resources Manager; Ashley Cone, Marketing & Recruitment Supervisor for Boys & Girls Aid

018 SW Boundary Court
Portland, OR 97239-3939
tel. (503) 542-2354, (503) 542-2320
e. lhobbs@boysandgirlsaid.org ; acone@boysandgirlsaid.org
w. www.boysandgirlsaid.org


Kayt Zundel, Program Director & Community Outreach Coordinator for ThinkFirst Oregon

Mail Code: L603
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd.
Portland, OR 97239-3098
tel. (503) 494-5353
e. zundel@ohsu.edu
w. www.ohsuhealth.edu/thinkfirst



Best quote out of all these clips: "I do not work with rats." - Kayt Zundel. Priceless!


This episode was the debut of our "Chit Chat Minute" with the wonderful theme song from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." I was not aware of this new segment, and was worried that DJ Thrillhouse was going to talk about jobbies. He did not. Needless to say, we talked about our "long lost loves" and we're very vulnerable.


We're learning to grow jobbies. For you.

Tune in next week for our...HALLOWEEN EPISODE!! Special guest, Anne (a fellow UASC student worker), a behind the turntables special video, costumes you won't see but will probably hear the rustling of, cliche songs and as always, our antics. OH, and a special treat too....SPOOKY. 






Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Episode #3: Victor Says Relax



This weeks theme was STRESS! STRESS. STRESS. STRESS. We've made it to the fourth week of fall term already, and we wanted to give you an opportunity to unwind and relax...with us!

We're bringin' the wild to the radio waves. For you.
Dr. Aziz Gazipura joins us, and talks us through a relaxation exercise. This exercise really helped all of us, except Nelson, as he was freaking out due to the fact that once again we couldn't get our intro. song to play. Fail. 

Nelson introduces 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Ella racks our brains with a Stress Quiz! Aziz and I, DJ Nico team up against Thrillhouse and Great Scott. 

Best quote of the show: "Thanks, Dr. Dingo." -Nico. You need to listen to this episode to know why it's funny...so do it. We get an opportunity to interview Aziz, and find that he's a pretty cool doctor, if there ever was one! Sweet jam by AIR 'All I Need' is played and we finish up our interview with Aziz, he even mentions Star Wars. 

Bob Marley ends our episode, not a bad way to start the week. 

Contact information for Dr. Aziz Gazipura: 
Site: socialconfidencecenter.com (this is a center that Aziz is leading, check it out)

Need more info. on mental health, or ways to de-stress? Check out the
Student Health and Counseling Center at the Portland State University Campus. As a student you get access to the PSU health insurance when you're taking 5 or more credit hours. Here is a link to the site: http://www.pdx.edu/shac.

Preview for our 10/24 Episode: Careers...(Title TBD, you'll just have to tune in.) We're planning on focusing this episode on the Fall Career and Internship Fair that is occurring that Monday, October 24, 2011 from 11am to 3pm in the SMSU ballroom. Here is a link to the Career Center website, where you can find an extensive list of the employers that will be at the fair: http://www.pdx.edu/careers/. Great Scott will be there earlier in the day, and I, DJ Nico will be checking out the fair around 2pm. Hope to see you all there. Remember to dress as you would for a job interview and bring plentiful copies of your resumes. 

Takin' you to the future and back: We're super excited for our Halloween episode (10/31) and can promise you spooky stories from the DJs, a possible behind the scenes video, and a revamp of a song that you won't want to miss!


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Episode #2: MajorQuest



Recap: MajorQuest Episode #2 aka DJ Thrillhouse leaves us to our own devices and things slightly fall apart. 

We're stuck in a glass case of emotion. For you.
Sam Gioia joined us this week for an insider scoop to the Bachelor's of Social Work program here at Portland State University. He covers the misconceptions of Social Work, experience (i.e. volunteer work) that the programs looks for to its prospective students, and is put on the spot by Ella to describe what exactly Social Work is! Sam is looking forward to answering any questions about the School of Social Work that might have come to you during the show. I've included his contact information in this post. 


Sam Gioia's Contact Information: 
tel. (503) 725 8470 
e. gioia@pdx.edu
Click HERE to see a picture of Sam!


Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple and Pixar recently passed away and we wanted to play a clip from his 2005 Stanford University commencement speech. Here is a link to the youtube clip: Steve Jobs Commencement Speech.
We discussed the path to choosing a major, and I, DJ Nico, shared my story of how I got to be a Women's Studies major. Precious!


Tune in next week (10/17) for our Student Health & Counseling Center mental health check-in (ways to de-stress) as all of you will be making your way into the fourth week of Fall term!

Episode #1: Welcome New Students



Turntable Advising: Episode #2 MajorQuest will air on Monday, 10/10. 

We've digitalized ourselves. For you.
Episode #2 is themed MajorQuest and will be about exploring majors and tips on how to go about choosing a major! We're planning on interviewing Sam Gioia from our own School of Social Work. Also, tune in to hear a clip from RoadTrip Nation, and a new segment on our show...Scott's Morsels! 


DJ Thrillhouse aka Nelson will not be joining us on this episode, unfortunately. 


Recap on Episode #1: First show!
Dr.Jackie Balzer (PSU Vice Provost, click HERE for more info) met with Great Scott and SpinnerElla for an interview about her leadership in Student Affairs, and we heard just how passionate she is about PSU and its students. We also played a favorite song of Jackie's titled Shout by The Isley Brothers.