Palm Beach Community College - Galleon Yearbook (Lake Worth, FL)

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(c era mi cs The popularity of the ceramic classes offered at ]C extends beyond the campus and its students. An ever- increasing number of residents in the community also attend the classes here. According to Patrick W. Slatery, the instructor of ceramics, about sev- enty-five percent of the students in his present night class are from the community. Offered in the Art Department are two classes instructing students in the art of ceramics. The basic techniques of wheel throwing and hand building are taught in Ceramics I, with empha- sis on free-form modeling (preformed molds are not used). The technique known as pinch forming is used to make such items as cups and bowls. Starting with a small ball of clay the s tudent pinches it to about one-eighth of an inch thick while forming the desired object. This technique is generally used in making small container shapes. For larger container shapes the student may use the coil method. Beginning with a ball of clay a little larger than was used in making the pinch pots, the clay is rolled, with an outward motion with the hands, into a long rope of clay about a half-inch in diameter. After this is done the stu- dent then makes a disk of clay to use as a base. Attaching the coil to the base it is then wrapped around the disk placing each coil on top of the other until the desired height is reach- ed. This method is very useful for building flower pots and vases. Another basic technique of hand building is slab-forming. Probably the best use of slab-forming would be in building square of geometrically sha- ped pots. The clay is first rolled out to resemble a slab, then trimmed to look like a folded-out-box. The sides are then brought up and welded using the fingers, making it smooth and seamless. In using these techniques students also learn about clay and its forgiv- ing qualities allowing the potter to make recoverable mistakes. Though glazes are not mixed by students in Ceramics I, the student does become familiar with different glazes and their effects. In Ceramics II emphasis is placed on kiln stacking and mixing glazes. The student may now choose his own direction expanding his creative abili- ties as far as he chooses to go using any technique or combination of tech- niques learned in Ceramics !. Attention should also be given to the quality of our ceramics depart- ment and the equipment available to the students. Says Mr. Slatery, The Ceramics Department is as strong an area as any area of the Art Depart- ment. We have ten potter ' s wheels, two electric kilns and the newly aquir- ed use of a thirty cubic foot gas kiln which enables the user to control the mixture of gas and air allowing stu- dents to use a wider variety of glazes and higher firing temperatures than were possible with just the electric kilns. Mr. Slatery added that he hopes in the near future glass-blowing and tech- niques involved in stained-glass will be added on the courses list. Bob Freeman

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)C LIFK! Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students to- day. This is a sign that the college life isn ' t an easy one to handle. With all its hectic schedules, tests, home- work, jobs and home life, how many students can cope with these frus- trations and stresses on their own? Many can ' t so they turn to some kind of drug for help. Often it ' s a pre- scribed drug, but is this the answer? Dr. Bortnick, an assistant professor in the Mental Health Technology pro- gram here at Palm Beach Junior Col- lege, doesn ' t think so. He feels that our society is too drug dependent. There are drugs to wake up a person, to put him to sleep, to relax him, etc. People get the idea that they can ' t control their feelings or behavior; they need a chemical to do it. That is why Valium is the most widely pre- scribed drug in the world. People get uptight so they take it to relax. They attempt to treat a psycholo- gical problem with medicine. It ' s a non-medical problem but they ' re using a chemical to treat it. This is what he considers a chemical cop- out. You can teach yourself to relax by what is called muscle relaxation. People can put themselves into a very ( Mental Health deep, pleasant state of relaxation with- out a chemical. In his classes, he stresses the behavioral approach; peo- ple can learn to alter their behavior to deal with stress so they don ' t need medicine. They don ' t need to depend on a pill or a drink. The change can be learned just as you can learn to do anything. But like anything else it takes practice. Dr. Bortnick believes that things and people don ' t upset us; we upset ourselves by the way we react to a situation. Some people might say that they can ' t help overreacting, it runs in their family. This is just an excuse the person has put into their mind. Dr. Bortnick tries to get people to recognize the irrational messages they are sending themselves and to change them, to challenge them. This is the main point of taking the Mental Hea- lth Technology (MHT) program to get the education and training. The MHT program has been at JC for about five years now, and there are about 50 full-time students. Their curriculum deals more with the psy- chological aspects of emotional pro- blems than the medical aspects. They learn about human behavior, and what techniques there are for helping peo- ple to change. They are taught how to conduct interviews, how to lead group sessions and how to give individual counseling. These students learn what psychotherapy is all about and are trained to work in mental health clinics, hospitals, schools and in alco- holism and drug abuse treatment fa- cilities. All of them work under the supervision or direction of a psycho- logist, social worker, or other trained personnel. The Mental Health Tech- nology two year program has the curriculum that provides both educa- tional information and actual in-ser- vice training for the student to help others and to cope with their own human behavior. Ruth Whitten

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)C LIFK! G.P.A. ) Many students do not understand the grade point average system (GPA), therefore it is the hopes of this pub- lication to clarify it in this article. It ' s really very simple. Quality points are figured like this: A = 4 quality points per semester hour. If you receive an A in a 3 hour course you will have a total of 12 quality points. (Note: B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0). Once you have figured your quality points divide them by the total num- ber of credit hours that you have attempted. It is important to remem- ber that if you withdraw or are with- drawn from a class you receive hours, credit and quality points. Therefore it does not affect your grade average. Audits are recorded in the same manner but you are still al- lowed to attend the class. (Note: you may only withdraw or audit a class by filling out the appropriate form in the registrar office.) if you fail a class, the hours attempted are recorded on your tran- script but you will not receive any quality points, consequently your gra- de average will be lowered. If you repeat a class because you received a D or F, your first attempt is erased from your average. The C.L.E.P. test and other exams can be taken to earn credit but you do not receive any hours or quality poi- nts, just credit. I hope this has made G.P.A. clearer for you. Please remember that a 2.0 average is needed to graduate. If you would like this explained further, see the councelor for your major. Colleen Logan PALM BEACH JR COLLEGE (F.C.C.P.A) On October 13, 14, and 15 the editorial staff of the Galleon went to Gainesville for the Florida Community College Press Association convention. The convention concisted of three days of workshops on such things as feature writing, photography, adver- tising, newswriting techiques, editor- ial writing, a critiquing of publications was held, and a luau by the hotel pool. One of the most interesting hap- penings was the banquet which fea- tured speaker Ranan Lurie an inter- nationally known political cartoonist. Mr. Lurie gave his views on graphics in publications and answered questions. The convention ended with a con- tinental breakfast during which awards were presented for the best publica- tions, the Galleon won eight of these awards. Chuck Andersen