Pitt gets fit

Carl Bachus | Collegio Writer In an effort to increase campus health, Pitt State has created a fitness initiative entitled “Exercise Is Medicine” for this year’s Pitt State Project. Leading the way is Bryce Winklepleck, assistant director of fitness and wellness, who has taken it upon himself to get the campus to make healthier decisions and habits. “My job is to make the campus as healthy as possible by starting events and programs,” Winklepleck said. “I didn’t really do any kind of assessment or anything. I just came in and saw that there was no wellness program here, so I started from the ground up.” Winklepleck says he created the program to promote and enhance…

Birds of a feather flock to PSU

Jen Rainey | Collegio Reporter Students had the opportunity to get a close look at various birds of prey Wednesday, April 18, through the Nature Reach Program. Delia Lister, director of Nature Reach, says the program offers students the chance to see hawks and owls up close, and touch feathers, bird skulls and bones. The event was held as part of Earth Week. “People are typically fascinated by the birds and would probably spend hours looking at them if they could,” said Lister, instructor in biology. “It’s not every day that people get to see birds like these.” About 20 people attended the event and Lister gave extra credit to her students for attending. Kelsey…

Students get the dirty truth on sex education

Jen Rainey | Collegio Reporter Students had an opportunity to learn about sex education in a manner different than some were used to. On Thursday, April 19, Gorillas in Your Midst hosted a Sex Ed Boot Camp in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom. The event was led by Joni Frater and Esther Lastique, a lesbian couple famous for their presentations on romance, love, affection, communication and trust. “We wanted to up the conversation on sex education, not just education on regular STDs and condom use,” said Sara Duffy, senior in communication. “We’re aware students are exposed to that on a regular basis and wanted to bring something different to them.” Duffy says she and Cara…

Apathy squanders health services

Val Vita | Collegio Reporter A $1,600 health survey is causing headaches for J.T. Knoll, coordinator of prevention and wellness, a part of Campus Activities. He says fewer than 300 PSU students have completed the American College Health Survey, even though it was sent by email to more than 3,000 students. Knoll says the survey began on April 1 and the deadline is April 30 and only students who received the email with the subject “Take Pitt Health Survey – Chance to Win Kindle Touch” can participate. Knoll says the Kindle was supposed to be an incentive, but apparently even that can’t convince students to take the survey. “Students aren’t responding at the rate I…

Speaker preaches inclusion

Zach Wagner | Collegio Reporter Good leadership can have a profound effect in creating an inclusive society, said Sara Mata, a grant coordinator for Oklahoma State University who spoke Tuesday in front of a small group of PSU students in the Governors Room. “Those who seem to be acting out, are merely trying to lead the rest of everyone in their own expression,” said Matta, who spoke about her life and how she stumbled on the field of social activism. Mata said her past experiences in various social work positions have contributed to her knowledge about the controversy behind leadership traits and the different perceptions about immigration that exist in today’s society. Though she started…

Club’s event covers calligraphy, culture

Val Vita | Collegio Repórter Shiqi Xu was 4 years old when he learned traditional Chinese calligraphy from a private teacher in China. On Friday, April 20, he demonstrated this technique, writing words in Chinese in front of a group of students who attended the Chinese Culture and Art Event in Yates Hall. “This shouldn’t be a performing art,” said Xu, graduate student in technology engineering. “It has to be in someplace quiet, without people watching. But I wasn’t nervous. When I write, I calm down and try not to get distracted.” Xu used a brush he brought from his country. It is made of wolf hair and bamboo stick, and he has been using…

PSU uses April to advocate for autism

Jessica Sewing | Collegio Reporter   Mikayla McHenry has been an advocate for the autistic and their parents since she was a young girl because she has a personal connection to the cause: When she was growing up, she went to school with a boy who was autistic and they became good friends. “Having a friend who had autism opened my eyes to how parents get treated when their child is first diagnosed,” said McHenry, sophomore in psychology. “And how difficult life may be for children with autism.” She has made it her mission to educate people on how they can help the autistic. McHenry is the youngest person to be Kansas state-certified in the Autism…

Sororities donate books to Via Christi

Gretchen Burns | Collegio Reporter Last week, students at Pittsburg State held a book drive to benefit patients at Via Christi Health, and the sororities on campus used it as an opportunity for a friendly competition. All week, collection boxes were set up in the Overman Student Center to be filled with media donations for long-term patients at the local hospital. Jaimie Berberich, chair of the Panhellenic Council, says the organization put on the book drive to collect books, games, CDs, magazines and puzzles so that patients who are treated for long periods of time at Via Christi would have something to do to pass time. “I can only imagine how difficult it would be…

Registering voices

Jessica Sewing | Collegio Reporter Timi Myers says more than 7,000 people in Crawford County are not registered to vote, and she decided to do something about it. Myers says she chose to organize a voter registration outreach for her project in Advanced Social Work Practice II. Myers says she started the project to target only people in Crawford County, but she ended up helping anyone who wanted to register, as long as they were from Kansas. She says she wanted to educate as many people as possible, people who may not have known how to register, when to register or just hadn’t taken the time to register. Myers says that when she talked to…

Awkward silences: International students look to each other for conversation partners

Jessica Sewing | Collegio Writer Most international students, like Ya-Chu Gu, say that the hardest part of mastering a language is the pronunciation. Gu says she was happy when she received a conversation partner in her English class. Gu met with her conversation partner every Friday in class and they would just talk about life, allowing Gu to get a chance to learn more about American culture. “It was a good experience that was really beneficial to me,” said Gu, senior in English education. Matthew Manning, graduate student in English, says there has been a lack of involvement in the program from American students, so they decided to hold group events. He says that way…