Conservative Rumblings

Section: Features
Published: N/A

Many people know Valentine’s Day only in the context of the late 20th and early 21st century: chocolates, cards, flowers, chocolates, romantic dinners and, well, chocolates.

However, the history of Valentine’s Day is a bit checkered and much less well known, as the traditions and origins behind the ‘most romantic day of the year’ are rather varied and, in some cases, not quite so romantic.

The holiday has its roots in legends that belonged to both Christian and Roman culture, according to Cheryl Lemus, an NIU Ph.D. candidate in history.

“There are several myths about St. Valentine and why Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February,” she said, “Like many holidays, Valentine’s Day was ‘Christianized,’ as the Catholic Church, hoping to spread Christianity, adopted many ‘pagan’ celebrations.”

The Roman Catholic feast of St. Valentine, which falls on Feb. 14, is named for a martyred saint who died on that day in the third century. Christianity was a persecuted faith at that point in history, as the Roman emperor, Claudius II, had banned marriage, claiming that it “decreased his soldier’s zest for battle.”

A priest named Valentine, however, performed marriages in secret for those that wished it. When Claudius uncovered what was happening, he arrested Valentine and had him imprisoned.

Valentine was given the choice of renouncing his faith or facing death. When he refused to deny his religion, he was executed and later canonized as a saint. Before he died, however, he inadvertently started one of the main traditions of Valentine’s Day: the giving of Valentine’s cards.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the practice of giving ‘valentines’ began while Valentine was in prison. After meeting the blind daughter of his jailer, the priest felt pity for her and offered up prayers for her healing.

As the legend goes, the girl’s sight was “miraculously” returned to her. Valentine became friends with the girl, and on the night of his beheading, wrote her a farewell message that ended with, ‘From your Valentine.’”

Thus, the practice of calling sweethearts ‘valentines’ was born, and the tradition has grown from that goodbye note to a massive level; the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that one billion cards are sent every year for Valentine’s Day, which is second worldwide behind only Christmas.

The feast day also has significance in Roman legend, as Feb. 15 was a Roman celebration that honored the pagan god Lupercus and involved a sort of arranged courtship procedure. Women would write love notes and place them in a large urn that men would randomly draw from. Whichever note was drawn would be the woman that the man would court.

When Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome, the church combined the Feb. 15 Lupercus feast with St. Valentine’s martyrdom on Feb. 14 and the holiday was born.

Lemus notes that Western Civilization did not pick up the holiday, officially, until the 1600s. “In Britain, Valentine’s Day was celebrated sometime in the 17th century, as men and women sent each other little notes and gifts,” she said, “In America, Valentine’s Day was not really recognized until the 1840s.”

Despite the fact that many anti-Valentine’s Day advocates in recent years complain that the commercialization of the holiday has ruined its ‘original purpose,’ when America first recognized Valentine’s Day as a holiday in the 1840s, the commercialization began right away.

The credit for the first Valentine’s Day card goes to a Massachusetts resident named Esther Howland, who sold $5,000 worth of colorful cards in 1847. Other manufacturers soon copied her ideas, and very quickly the ‘commercialized’ Valentine’s Day became the norm.

By 1861, Richard Cadbury had invented the Valentine’s Day candy box, and within 40 years, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates were a mainstay of the holiday and could be found all across the country.

According to Lemus, today’s Valentine’s Day is much the same as it was then, with just subtle differences. “It is still a commercialized holiday.” Lemus said. She explained that she has seen old advertisements from the 19th century that listed prices for valentines, some reaching as high as $250 each, no small sum in the 1800s.

Men and women were urged as well as they are now to spend their disposable income on treats and gifts for their significant others.

Section: Features
Published: Waubonsee Insight, July 2007 Issue

Let’s be honest; when you click “Agree,” and check the box that says, “I have read the above license and agreement and agree to abide by its terms,” how many of those times have you really read whole thing? Once? Twice? Seen one, seen them all?

It’s ok to admit it; we are all guilty of it at times. License agreements used to be standard affairs and you could get away with it; the old pattern included a part about it not being the company’s fault if you were stupid and misused the program, a part about not reverse engineering and stealing the program, and then a part about not transferring the program to a country the U.S.A. currently had a trade embargo on.

But now, every company (scrupulous and not) is sculpting their agreements in different ways to reach their goals, and the end user (you and me) has to be more cautious then ever.

Companies creating programs such as the virus-filled file-downloading utility called Kazaa bank on the fact that most people don’t really want to read 15 pages of legal mumbo jumbo about reverse engineering and copyright infringement information that does not even apply to the vast majority of users. So, deep down in their agreement, they hide the nefarious little lines of text that can cause so many problems.

Unfortunately for those who’d rather just slap the next button as fast as they can, software developers have grown smarter, and now they are making sure that they cover themselves from potential lawsuits by having the user essentially say, “Yes, please install much spyware on my computer.” Because, when you click “Agree,” that is exactly what you are doing; you are agreeing with everything written in that license, whether you have read it or not.

I have worked cleaning viruses and spyware infections from computers for the last six or seven years, and I can say easily that the vast majority of infections are not caused by downloading some mysterious file that accidentally gets installed; the infections are caused by programs intentionally installed by the user, but programs with loopholes and security risks in the license agreements that the user did not read.

Obviously, there are a lot of programs of ill-repute (such as Kazaa) that are teeming with these license agreement add-ins, because that’s what the programs are all about. What is becoming a disturbing trend is how many legitimate programs have dangerous things hidden in their license agreements.

I recently ran into a license agreement that totally blew me away. I was installing a copy of Iolo Technologies’ System Mechanic 7, which is a tool for fixing a myriad of issues on your computer, when I almost clicked Next as usual at the 300 million page license agreement.

After all, it was a legit program. It’s not like I was installing a file-sharing tool or something else that you would expect to be laden with open doors for viruses and spyware.

Something caught my eye in the first paragraph, however, just a small wording difference from the usual agreement. My interest was piqued, so I continued to read the entire document. Lo and behold, buried beneath many pages of gibberish that means nothing to the average legal user, was the disturbing nugget of information. The license agreement, under the heading of “Software Data Collection and Monitoring” stated the following: “The SOFTWARE contains features that allow iolo and/or third parties to collect data from, control, and/or monitor computers and devices running or interacting with the SOFTWARE in order to prevent unlicensed or illegal use of the SOFTWARE.”

The English version of that is that Iolo is allowed to take information from your computer, including what other programs you are using, in order to make sure that you are not pirating the software.

Talk about a security risk! Even the fact that the program (which is supposed to be doing things like defragmenting the hard drive and fixing registry errors) would have the ability to do such a thing is beyond anything that would have been seen in a license agreement five years ago. Obviously efforts taken to prevent software piracy are commendable, but not at the expense of your user’s privacy.

You can argue that a legitimate security company like Iolo is not going to do something illegal, but giving any company the permission (not just the ability, but the permission) to take hold of your computer is simply asking for problems. Who is to say that a dishonest employee of the company couldn’t take control of your computer for his or her own purpose? What would stop the company from simply spying on you? It’s pretty far-fetched, granted, but is it a risk that you really want to plunge into without reading about it first?

We live in a day and age of fine print. You see it in T.V. commercials and magazine ads, you hear it in that really fast talking guy’s voice at the end of radio commercials, and now, you are seeing it in the license agreements of that new piece of software you just bought.

The difference, however, is that you don’t store personal information in your T.V. or your radio. Read your license agreements and read them well. I am not advocating that you don a tin-foil hat and never install another program because it might be dangerous or include some nasty text in the agreement, but it only takes one program like that to wreck a computer or steal your information, and this is a simple and painless way to save yourself from problems down the road.

Section: Features
Published: Waubonsee Insight, March 2007 Issue

Editor In Chief Ian Essling takes Insight readers on a behind-the-scenes look at Insight and the rumors that abound about the paper. Find out what’s fact, what’s fiction, and what is the deep dark secret behind Von Ohlen 230.

Another semester is upon us, and another round of tall tales are again floating through the halls of Waubonsee. The tides of the rumor mill are cyclical, it appears.

Regardless of their origins, I am here to dispel the mist and mystery around as many of them as I can in the space I have.

Some of these are pretty simple, but others are quite involved. I hope that you will hang with me through them all, and that you can finish this article with a better understanding of where Insight comes from and where it’s going.

Have a question about Insight that I missed? I’d love to hear about it and include it in the next issue: insight@waubonsee.edu.

Fiction:
The Opinion of A Writer is
Synonymous With That of the
Paper As A Whole

I felt that this deserved a top-slot in my list because it is probably one of the most hotly contested and least understood aspects of the paper.
It is a common misconception that by printing something, we are endorsing it. That is simply not the case. As stated on our opinion pages, the editorials are the opinions of the writers and should not be taken as the opinion of the Insight staff as a whole.

Fiction:
Waubonsee Administration Controls What Insight Publishes

In reality, Insight student editors are the ONLY people who decide what material is published in the newspaper. There’s not an administrative body on campus that has oversight over this publication. The student editors are the people making the decisions about what gets printed; after all, it IS a student newspaper.
Personally, I think that there are some people in the Waubonsee administration who wish they could control what we publish, but thankfully, freedom of speech remains intact. Sometimes I think that some difficulties Insight faces stem from this situation (such as being stuffed into a utility closet for over a year), but of course, that’s just speculation on my part.

Complaining to Waubonsee, the Career Services Center or the scholarship foundation committee (all of which have been done this past year) is really not going to have much of an effect on us.

Even complaining to your teacher is not going to do it. Believe me, I know there are some sympathetic ears on campus for those that want to rag on the paper.

I can even provide you a list if that’s the route you want to take, but honestly, why not just come to the source? If someone wants to voice their opinion about something we printed, they need to come directly to us.

Unfortunately, I have heard a number of stories of people sending information to Waubonsee itself that was intended for the newspaper, equally unfortunate is the fact that Waubonsee does not usually pass this sort of misdirected communication on to us.

For example, one of our editors recently heard a student trash the paper for not printing a letter to the editor that she delivered…to the admissions and records desk.

Fiction:
Faculty Advisors Have Prior Review of Articles

For years, people called Insight “Gary’s paper” because of how dedicated Gary Clark, our faculty advisor, is to the paper, People just assumed that he was in charge of it.

In all honestly, if this paper really was “Gary’s paper,” it would not be a student newspaper anymore, it would be a faculty newspaper.

That is why the Insight staff is grateful for the freedom we are allowed. Our advisors never read our opinion pieces before they are published. Insight editors make the determination as to what opinion pieces we print.

Our advisors will sometimes help with proofreading of non-controversial news or features pieces, but our opinion section is a haven of free speech.

Fiction:
Insight Does Not Publish
Articles We Receive If The Editors Disagree With The Topic

The views of the “editors” of the paper vary across a wide spectrum.
An article that one editor agrees with, another may disagree with, and vice versa. therefore, this misconception makes no sense at all.

Rest assured that denying publishing rights to articles that I disagree with is not an action I engage in, nor is it something I allow my editors to do.
Any unbiased glance at our opinion section from a few months worth of papers pretty much proves that point.

As an Editor In Chief, my goal is to build a quality newspaper.

Throwing out articles does not move us closer to that goal, so why would we do it ? After all, we can’t print a bunch of blank pages.

The vast majority of articles make it past the preliminary phases of editing without a problem and are then subject to the whims of timeliness, space, and layout.
In all honesty, those are the attributes that have the largest effect on whether or not an opinion is printed, not the view expressed.

Now, that’s not to say that every opinion piece that we receive is printed; that would be inaccurate and misleading, and the whole intention of this article is to clear up all the inaccurate and misleading things others are saying about this organization.

I can count on my hands the number of opinion articles Insight has not printed in the past three years for reasons other than time and space constraint. There are only seven or so of them, out of a total pool of hundreds of submitted articles.

Fiction:
Insight Is Conservative (Or Liberal, or Socialist, or [insert ideology here])

Insight itself is none of these things; Insight is an organization, not a person. Granted, it is the sum of those involved, but it’s not a one person or cabal-style dictatorship, despite what some would have you believe.

The fact that our opinion pages have recently appeared to be slanted to the conservative side is only a testament to one thing: conservative writers are penning pieces and submitting them, while liberals are not. It is that simple of an equation.

If no one writes the other side of an argument, then the opinion section might appear biased. Ironically, Insight has a history of being liberal; in all the years that I’ve been at Waubonsee (both as a reader and a staff member), Insight has normally only had a token conservative or two on staff, with the entire editorial council falling left of center.

Strangely, no one complained about THAT situation, but as soon as we have some conservative voices, you would think that the sky is falling with how serious of a “problem” some people consider it.

It is wrong for Insight as an organization to deny freedom of speech to a writer simply because no one is writing against the first writer’s opinion. That, ladies and gentlemen, is censorship.

The only reason that Insight’s opinion section can be considered ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ is because the ‘other’ side is simply is not writing articles or letters to the editor.

Something that I’ve noticed over the past few years is that often, the most vocal opponents of the paper and our writers are usually the last ones to pick up a pen and respond in kind.

It is much easier for a student to insult a faceless writer, or for a teacher to give a speech to an entire class about the ‘terrible things’ that exist in the pages of the paper, than it is for them to stand up and put their opinion in print. It takes guts to put your name on your opinion and put it out there for the world to see. Some people have those guts, and some do not.

Fiction:
Letters to the Editor are edited

A number of “letter to the editor” debates have circled around Insight over the past few years; they edit too much, they don’t edit enough, they try to make people look stupid, those sorts of things.

Once and for all, I am clearing this up. For the record, we do not ever edit letters to the editor for anything other than profanity. If someone who writes in to us does not take the time to grammar check his or her own piece, then so be it.

Fiction:
Editors Change Opinion Articles Significantly

Our heavy-duty editing only applies to non-opinion articles. At Insight, we make every effort to preserve the writer’s message in opinion articles. We will edit these articles for spelling, grammar, clarity, brevity and other similar factors, but we never make edits that undermine or change the meaning of the author’s work.

Fiction:
Insight Asked to be Moved to Von Ohlen 230 (or, a variant: Insight was offered a “better” office this semester and declined it)

We were moved out of our old office, Von Ohlen 100, before the spring 2006 semester, and we were moved completely against our will.

Honestly, no one in their right mind would ask to be moved or agree with a move from such an awesome location (complete with windows and a chalkboard) to a room that has served as a storage closet for something like the last ten years.

Now, with regard to the “new office” for this semester. We were in discussions with our dean, Cindy Fisher, and the dean of social sciences, Jill Wold, to find us a new office. Unfortunately for us, the location that was presented to us was Weigel 107, an old, dirty and defunct science laboratory in a lower traffic building on the wrong side of campus for an English-discipline group.

Obviously, that location makes so sense at all, and we were somewhat upset that it was even considered and shown to us. It is already an adventure to find our current office, and Weigel 107 is even further off the beaten path.

No one would suggest that an active science club that recruited 90% of its members from science classes relocate its permanent office to Von Ohlen or Bodie, and by the same token, having an English group in an old science building made no sense.
Putting the newspaper into Weigel 107 would have been devastating to this publication.

Hopefully, the staff that takes over in fall 2007 will have a better location. With the opening of the Academic and Professional Center, there will be a lot of empty space in Bodie and Von Ohlen; keep your fingers crossed.

Fiction:
Insight Staff Members Are Paid

Years ago, a proposal was put forward to get the Insight editors paid, and it was summarily dismissed. Thus, this myth is cut and dried: we do not get paid, at all, ever.

Logically, since most other college paper staffs ARE paid, many people just assume that this is true here as well. However, as I have learned from dealing with some members of Waubonsee administration, logic is not something you can count on.
I personally think that my editors SHOULD be paid, because many of the staffers on this paper put in as many (if not more) hours than a full-time job, but for now, it’s not a happening thing.

Fact:
Insight Pays for Printing Costs From Its Own Budget

This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most important in this list. You see, on top of writing the stories and laying out the paper, the staff of Insight also has to raise thousands of dollars to pay for printing costs.

Occasionally, we are able to get some funding from Student Senate to use for special purchases, but our day-to-day spending comes from our own hard earned money.
That’s why it’s rough on us when people throw away our papers for no reason. When an art student uses the paper to catch paint, they are crumpling up our money.
When maintenance takes it upon themselves to “clean out” our paper rack because the papers are “old,” they are tossing away hard earned money.

Fact:
Insight Is Always Accepting New Members

Insight always, always accepts new writers and columnists. The only positions that we do not have perpetual open slots in are editorial positions. So, if you are interested in writing, don’t think that you have to wait for an “opening.” Join up today!

Fact:
You Don’t Have to Be A Journalism Major to Write for Insight

This misconception is one of those little things that isn’t malicious, but just the result of Insight not doing the best that we can to make sure students are aware of these things.

Anyone, in any discipline, is eligible to write for Insight. For example, right now our editorial council is made up of the following majors: a business, two journalisms, an aerospace engineering, a sociology and an undecided.
And that’s just the editors! Our general staff exhibits even more variety in majors.

Fact:
Insight Has Been Around Forty Years (In Some Form Or Another)

We have a plaque that sits on the desk in our office that shows all the Editor In Chiefs of the paper between 1967 and 1994 (the last year it was updated). We keep this around to remind us that we are but a ripple in the pond of this organization.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of hundreds of student editors and writers, faculty advisors who care about their students, and the loyal readers, Insight has prospered for forty years. It is my sincere hope that it is around for another forty and forty beyond that.

I hope that I have given you a glimpse at what Insight is all about, and a new appreciation for what we do.

You see, we are students, just like many of you. On top of our homework and jobs, we also build a newspaper.

By no means have I addressed all the issues that have been brought up about Insight. If you have a question about Insight that I didn’t cover, please, feel free to email us and we will do our best to answer it.

Section: Features
Published: Waubonsee Insight, March 2007 Issue

For years, the term “Migraine” has been evolving. Once, it was only applied to a distinct vascular attack that often affected heart patients.

Because a headache was part of the migraine symptoms, it soon began to be used to describe simple headaches, and from there it was only a matter of time until the real meaning of the word was completely lost.

According to the International Headache Society, Migraines must include at least four of the following symptoms: nausea, extreme sensitivity to light or sound, pulsing or throbbing pain on one side of the head (the pain must also be considered moderate to severe) and the condition must be worsened significantly by everyday activities such as climbing stairs.

In addition to all the above criteria, at least four or five such attacks must occur before a doctor may diagnose the patient as a migraine sufferer.
Migraines are far more than a headache; they affect nearly every aspect of the body.

On top of the above listed symptoms, migraines often affect eyesight and mental clarity.

Most Migraine sufferers also experience severe nausea, extreme sensitivity to light, chest pain, blurred vision, fatigue and other symptoms along with the headache.
This definition itself shows why people claiming to suffer migraines while going about their daily lives are simply not informed correctly.

In fact, the vast majority of people who claim to suffer migraines are actually falling prey to the much less severe tension headache, a headache brought on by muscle tightness.

Migraines have nothing to do with muscles; they are caused by blood flow and blood vessel dilation (hence the connection to heart patients).

Migraines are actually much more than just a quick headache.

They consist of four phases: the Prodrome, the Aura, the Headache, and the Postdrome.

During the Prodrome, the victim encounters a number of unpleasant symptoms. Often, these symptoms can serve as a warning that a migraine is coming; however, this phase varies in length from minutes to hours, making prediction of an imminent migraine attack less than an exact science.

Some symptoms that the sufferer may endure during this phase are irritability, fatigue and tightness of the neck and chest.

Also, a victim’s extremities will feel cold, as his or her blood leaves the hands and feet and moves to the head.

The Aura phase comes next, and is usually the most obvious pre-pain phase. The distortions and disorientation experienced during this phase are often overwhelming, especially to first time sufferers.

The aura can consist of flashing lights, spots or lines in the vision, blurred vision, hearing loss, dizziness, confusion, numbness and loss of sight.
This phase can again last either minutes or hours, and is the last warning a migraine sufferer has before the actual attack hits.

While most people associate “Migraine” with “headache,” the Headache phase of a migraine actually affects the entire body.

The pain that is endured during this portion is often impossible to understand for those that have never experienced a Migraine.

Many times, the sheer pain alone will sideline even the most stout of individuals.
True migraine sufferers, even with high-powered prescription medications coursing through their veins, are often unable to talk, think or even move while enduring a Migraine.

Migraineurs experience a wide range of ailments on top of the pain itself.
These can include extreme sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting, severe anxiety or disorientation, loss of memory, confusion, dizziness and chills.
On top of this, any sort of physical activity (even walking to the kitchen or bathroom) will vastly worsen these symptoms.

Studies have shown that the most common time for the Headache phase onset is 6 a.m., which is why many Migraineurs wake up with the Migraine, without warning, as they experienced the warning signs while sleeping and did not notice them.
A wide range of prescription medications are available for treating migraines, however, none of them are end-all-cure-alls.

Migraines often become resistant to prescription medications; I have personally gone through three different prescriptions in the past eight years alone, and my current one barely takes the edge off the attack, even if I get it on time.

Usually, people who experience Migraines on a regular basis never consider using over-the-counter medications for anything except taking the edge off of a rebound headache or to dull any residual pain after the prescription medication is used.
Migraines can last between one and 72 hours, even with the prescriptions mentioned above.

Usually, the pain does not abate until the very end of the Migraine
At that time, the Postdrome phase takes over.

Even though the pain subsides, most Migraine sufferers will experience symptoms ranging from lack of concentration, depression, poor intellect and fatigue, for up to 24 hours after the actual migraine.

Victims often describe the condition as feeling like a zombie, and abnormal cerebral blood flow can also cause strange EEG readings.

Technological devices have become one of the most popular gifts of the holiday season. Instead of getting the pair of socks you didn’t want, you’re more likely to get a jump drive that doesn’t have the hard drive space that you need or a digital camera that is only six megapixels, which is so 2005.

With all the valuable computing components that will be changing hands this season, now is the time to learn the best ways to take care of the new and fancy devices.
Often overlooked as something that can affect the performance and longevity of your computer, dust can be a major factor in determining whether your computer can play the latest 3D game, or if it will become a pile of smoking, molten slag.

Check the intake fans of your computer often for dust buildup. Using your hands or a soft cloth, wipe off any dust and fuzz from the back of the computer. Dust can prevent cool air from entering the computer, thus overheating it.

Try to store the computer in an environment that is as dust free as possible. If the area will have a lot of dust and other particles in the air (such as a workshop or garage), turn the computer off when you’re not using it and cover it with dust clothes. When the computer is not running, the fans will not be pulling in dust and other foreign particles.

Many computer stores offer a cleaning service. Professionals will clean each component thoroughly and make sure all your fans are in working order. It is recommended that you do this at least twice a year, either by opening the case yourself if you are tech-savvy enough or taking it to said professionals.
Heat is one of the leading causes of computer failures, period. As previously mentioned, dust can lead to heat buildup inside your computer, either by blocking air intakes or clogging up fans.

There are many ways for computers and other electronics to overheat. Placing a computer inside a cabinets and other such pieces of furniture that puts the computer inside an enclosed space is asking for disaster. Just like you and I, computers need air to breathe.

You should not leave your computer running if you are leaving it in an enclosed space.

Heat can also buildup inside your computer when you are putting it under enough stress. Don’t leave high-level programs running when you leave your computer unattended for a long period of time.

Next, I will mention what is otherwise known as the “computers don’t mix well with a tile floor,” rule. This may seem like a no-brainer, but most people would be surprised to hear how many shock-related failures are reported each year. The smaller the object, usually, the more durable it will be.

Your cell phone will probably react better than your brand new Dell Dimension Desktop will to being dropped on the floor. However, you should always make an effort to avoid that sort of damage in the first place. Never place computers or other devices in high-traffic areas where people are liable to run into them.
The other issue to mention is that it is difficult sometimes to know how much shock is really necessary to damage a computer.

A computer sitting on the floor that is knocked onto its side might not physically break any component, but the shock of falling can cause damage to the hard drive cylinders, and can ruin your data and your operating system, rendering the computer useless until a new drive is installed.

Of course, these rules go for “intended” shock attacks as well.

As a lifelong user of computers, I know firsthand that they can be insanely frustrating at times, especially when you, perish the thought, actually ask them to work a little bit instead of just sitting there, humming contently, while non-stressful programs such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word happily coexist.

At least once in your life (and probably many times), you will feel the overwhelming urge to belt your computer as hard as possible, because that smug little dialog box gave you another smarmy, arrogant message that was phrased more like an evil overlord talking down to his minions than a helpful operating system trying to let its users frolic in error-free bliss.

Striking, kicking, spitting on or otherwise maiming a computer or other technological device is never the best idea, despite how good it may feel.

It never does any good (despite what your uncle who repeatedly slaps the TV every Thanksgiving says), and can usually cause damage to the component in question.

A new sight greeted students when they showed up for classes this semester; Waubonsee Community College had a new logo.

Gone was the famous “Chief” symbol; instead, a new design featuring a sunrise and collegiate shield design adorned the various buildings, books and posters around campus.

I recently sat down with Paula Amenta, the Director of Marketing & Communications for Waubonsee, to discuss the new logo, the process involved in creating it, and the future of Waubonsee’s “brand identity.”

Beginning in September 2005, Waubonsee Community College started a project to “reassess the brand identity of the college,” Amenta explained. “There was a lot of inconsistency in our current designs.”

These inconsistencies manifested themselves in a variety of ways, including a vast array of different colors being used on books and flyers, as well as variations of the original “Chief” logo.

This branding process sought to consolidate all the different designs into one coherent standard; along with the new logo and tagline, the project also developed a ‘color palette’ that will be used as a standard for creating new material, to insure consistency across the board.

For years, Waubonsee has been represented by the “Chief” logo, a design that has been synonymous with “Waubonsee” since 1967.

Shortly after the college was founded in 1966, a design for the logo was created and finalized in time for the first day of classes on September 11th, 1967.
In 2003, another change to Waubonsee’s branding was made when the institutional initiative called “Learning First!” began.

The mark first appeared on WCC correspondence and flyers in spring of 2004.
The purpose of the “Learning First!” tagline was to strengthen and bring additional focus to the college’s effort to become more “learning-centered.”
While not a complete logo, the “Learning First!” design was used as a supplementary design to the main Waubonsee logo and tagline.

The Learning First! graphical element will be retired, however, the tagline and mission remain unchanged, and Learning First! will appear in place of the “Where Futures Take Shape,” subheading on some Waubonsee publications (similar to how the “Community Education” heading is used).

Waubonsee’s program to develop this new brand was multi-layered; first, a Brand Identity Commission (BIC) was formed to oversee the entire process.
This committee included 15 members, ranging from faculty and administrators to staff and student representatives.

Scientific Verdicts, a strategic communication and research company, was hired to conduct interviews and gather opinions from a wide variety of sources, including students, graduates, community residents and local employers.

Thirty-one in-depth interviews were conducted to establish common themes, and then these concepts were tested on over 700 people; included in this second test were 122 mall-intercept surveys, 250 online staff/faculty questionnaires, as well as nearly 400 Waubonsee students.

The BIC chose Scientific Verdicts because of their vast experience in the area of community college branding.

“[They had] worked with virtually every community college in northeastern Illinois,” Amenta explained, “We recommended them because they have a level of knowledge, insight and expertise that can not be found anywhere else, and this proved to be very important [to] our process.”

At this point, another company specializing in implementing branding strategies was contracted to produce actual mockups of possible designs and then study student and faculty reaction.

Moveo Integrated Branding worked with WCC’s Institutional Research Department to survey 500 students (chosen from a cross-section of transfer classes, adult education and vocational classes), as well as 325 staff, faculty and administrators.
“The majority of those surveyed preferred the [sunrise design],” Amenta stated. “The [shield and fire design] was also popular because of the strong shield design, so we combined the two designs for the best of both worlds.”

The entire branding process cost roughly $125,000, with $40,000 being spent on Scientific Verdicts’ analysis and the other $85,000 going towards Moveo’s strategy for implementing the design, as well as the actual, physical implementation and distribution of the design on tangible items such as books, catalogs and the Waubonsee website.

Amenta says that it is important to note that “no new dollars were spent on the brand identity project,” because the existing Marketing and Communications budget was modified to accommodate the new project.

As shown, each part of the logo represents a different area, from the strong collegiate shape of the shield to the “early dawn” of the sunrise.
The latter pays homage to the college’s namesake, Pottawatamie Indian Chief Wah-bahn-se, as Wah-bahn-se’s name means “early dawn.”

Twilight of the Past, a science fiction thrill ride from Waubonsee graduate Michael Parziale, takes the reader on a journey into the world of Newl Rift.
Rift, the leader of the powerful nation of Gutra De, must survive assassination attempts, a world on the brink of global war and traitorous allies as he struggles to recover his lost past and unite the warring factions.

I had the honor of interviewing the author of this book, Michael Parziale, about his time at Waubonsee and his future writing projects.

Ian: What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Michael: I always wanted to create my own “world,” so after thinking up some ideas and putting it all together I finally wrote it into a novel!

Are any of the characters in the book based on people you know in real life?
A couple minor character names are a variation of names from real life, but other than that no other names or personalities came from anyone I know.

Did you base any technologies on current sci fi classics? I think I might have seen some lightsabers.

One of the characters, Efil H. Taed, uses a heat sword, which could be said to be similar to a lightsaber (but it has a non-retractable solid blade, it does glow though!). But I did try very hard to create unique technology for the world of Aldurea.

How did you approach the dilemma of introducing your audience to the level of technology present in this universe?

I tried to explain what I thought needed explaining and not bog down the story with useless techno-babble. If I described it, I felt it was important to know.

When did you first start writing the book and how long did it take you to complete?
I started writing the book over two years ago, but once I got most of the ideas and plotting down on paper it took around 6 months to write. Editing took a couple more months after that.

What was your major at Waubonsee?
I pursued an associates of science (general science emphasis) at Waubonsee.

Any favorite classes and/or teachers at Waubonsee?
Although I don’t think I did to well in the class, Biology 2, taught by Mr. Ward, was by far one of my favorites. I also enjoyed my English classes taught by Mr. Funchion.

You mentioned the Waubonsee writing center in your book; how much help were you able to get from them and do you recommend other students utilize the service?

One word describes the Waubonsee Writing Center: Awesome! They helped me an unbelievable amount (WCC Writing Center was also thanked in the novel if you don’t believe me). Most of my help came from Char Landmeier, what a great, great help.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Actually sitting down and writing it. Once it was done though, editing it was a pain too. And now that it’s released, marketing it is a pain too. Really it’s all a pain, but also amazingly rewarding and fun.

What was your favorite part of writing the book?
I enjoyed all the action. I love fight scenes!

Did you have anyone working with you or helping you edit the book?
Friends and family helped with the editing. And of course WCC Writing Center helped tremendously with getting me going with the first novel.

One of the challenges of writing a book in a “new universe,” as opposed to an already established one such as Star Wars or Star Trek is technology (which we have already discussed), and names. You did a great job (in my opinion) on creating names of people and places that were interesting and appropriate, but not crazy enough that they were impossible to read. Care to share your secret?

I wanted to make the world, Aldurea, very unique, yet realistic. Nothing in the story is completely ‘way out there’ or anything like that. I tried to give the characters realistic dialogue and the problems in their lives genuine ones that anyone could relate to.

You have a sequel planned for the book. Did you always intend on making the story span multiple books, or did that change while you were writing it?

I knew that one novel wouldn’t be enough to encompass the story. As of now it’s planned to be a trilogy (although that could change since the third novel isn’t plotted). The second installment (Twilight of the Past: A Slave of Sorrow) is about 1/4 done.

A new day is dawning; I, however, cannot see it. My prison is very hot and the sun does not lend me the light of its rays. You see, the barriers across the mouth of the tomb prevent anything from reaching me.

I sit in a dark corner of this tomb and ponder my situation. How has it come to this, I ask myself. I am occupying this dark and cramped prison with fifteen of my fellow scribes, staring at the barren walls and stagnant pools of water in desperation. My eyes have become those of a troglyte; I cannot remember what the sun looks like.

Once before, it was not like this. Although this cave may be all that future members of our guild ever know as our home, we were once respected members of the kingdom, granted residence in the castle itself.

Members of the community frequented our residence, and great bay windows provided us with a spectacular view of the countryside.

For many years we had served the populace faithfully as the scribes of the kingdom. As a voice of the people, we recorded the events of the land as they happened, spurred passionate discussions of worldly issues, and even organized events and festivals for the townsfolk to attend.

Our reward appears to be unrepresentative of the services we have performed for this commonwealth. The sun cannot even reach the deepest sections of our tomb, and simple petitions for needed amenities have gone unanswered.

Many villagers have no idea where we are. Moved from our home while the town celebrated the end of Week de Finals, many of our most faithful readers will be shocked to see our former abode now occupied by an artist and her disciples, who were, ironically, also evicted from their home by masons deeming their former place of study uninhabitable.

A shaft of light suddenly penetrates the gloom as someone slides aside the barriers at the entrance of our prison. Perhaps some townsman has graciously ventured up the mountain to speak with us!

Alas, it is not true; it is a member of our wayward band of exiles returning from yet another fruitless quest to persuade the royalty to allow us back into the kingdom, or perhaps a quest to bring more supplies for our scribes
A sudden burst of clicks and snaps beside me remind me that I’m not alone; another poor creature labors beside me in the ever-deepening darkness, struggling to complete our monthly publication amid the cramped darkness of our residence.

Our entire band was exiled to this forsaken tomb. We pleaded our case before every magistrate in the land, only to be thwarted at every turn. Our belongings were dragged from our humble dwelling and cast into the blackness in which I now sit.

But through all of this, our guild has retained the unbreakable resolve for which we have become famous. We may be locked away from civilization in our overcrowded and stifling warren, but we will not be deterred.

No amount of political maneuvering, forgotten work orders and bureaucratic nonsense can silence us.

We will continue to provide the populace of this fair kingdom with the best possible service; we will write and publish important news, entertaining features and fiery opinions. We are, and always will be, a voice of the people.