Brandon K. Watson
News Editor

Aimed at bringing awareness on sex communication to collegiates, the Sex Signals Supplemental Program took place on September 7 in the Activity Center.

"Many people don't know what rape is," Kelly Hayes, who co-hosted the program with Kyle Terry, said.

Using a combination of comedic antics and role-playing, Hayes and Terry frequently caused roars of laughter throughout the audience, while emphasizing how thin the line is between consensual sexual relations and rape.

Sex-Signals, a creative theatrical program of Chicago-based Catharsis Productions, tours colleges across the country promoting rape prevention and sexual communication.

Hayes and Kelly said that after growing accustom to performing in front of college audiences in excess of 300, NIACC's smaller crowd enabled them to interact more efficiently.

"It's good to have an audience that is smaller...you get better interaction with the people," Hayes said. "People can see that you're talking to them specifically."

With numbers of sexual harassment and rape cases occurring on college campus throughout the country, Sex Signals also informed students on how alcohol is related in a high percentage of these occurrences.

Another area discussed was gender-role stereotypes that the hosts said can lead to rape.

Men, who are usually stigmatized for aggression and assertiveness in relationships sometimes are mislead by a woman's friendliness or flirtation according to the presentation. "Men and women have very different ways of talking about sex," Terry said.

The event concluded with an open forum, in which students and the hosts exchanged viewpoints on dating and ways to avoid rape.

Students in sections of Children's Literature have chosen NIACC's award winning books for three different categories.

Approximately 50-75 traditional and non-traditional education majors have voted on the Best Picture Book, Best Upper Level Chapter Book and the Best Multi-Cultural Book for the year.

Best Picture book:

The winner of this category is Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco.

It tells the touching story of two Union soldiers, both young boys, who make friends and help each other survive.

Unfortunately, they are caught as marauders and taken to Andersonville Prison. Most students claim they like it because of its human side of the Civil War and for deep importance of the ending.

Runners up in this category included The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and the classic The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

Upper level chapter book winner:

This race was tight this year, but the all time winner was the ever-popular Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

Brian is sent to the Canadian woods to spend the summer with his dad, but ends up in the forest alone, with his hatchet, and must survive.

A suspense-filled well-written book that students in Children's lit like to revisit and talk about.

Runners up in this category are The Giver by Lois Lowery, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Holes by Louis Sachar, and The First Part Last by Angela Johnson.

Finally, the multi-cultural winner is Eperanza Rising by Pam Nunoz Ryan, a great story about migrant workers in America and the love of family. Students like the inspirational message given in the book.

The runner up for this category was The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender.

Each year students from all sections of Children's Literature (educ 201) pick, from the large variety of books they read, the best of the best so that others on campus, future teachers, parents, avid readers, and lovers of kids, can know what is worthwhile for kids to read.

This activity is sponsored by Karen Regal, instructor of the course, and this is the sixth year the awards have been given.

North Iowa Area Community College offered "The Constitution of the United States: A Living Document," an examination of the oldest written document governing any existing present-day nation, facilitated by John Schmaltz, Monday, September 19 in Forum 200 of the Beem Center from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The free public forum commemorates Constitution Day, which is held on September 17 of each year.

"George Washington, the chairman of the convention that adopted our Constitution in 1787, said that ÔThe Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon.' "I concur with our first president and hope that the Constitution is the guide the nation and its people never abandon as well," Schmaltz, NIACC political science instructor, said.

"The Constitution of the United States: A Living Document," provided par-ticipants an opportunity to take a Constitution Test as well as discuss the political genius of the plan that allows an eighteenth-century document to adapt to a changing world. Free copies of the Constitution were also given out.

NIACC's presentation of this forum coincided with classroom activities covering the Constitution, and it also complied with the new federal law requiring every school that receives federal funds to provide students with a program on the Constitution.

The new law, fathered by Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, was partially instigated due to society's declining knowledge of the Constitution.

According to the National Constitution Center, a recent survey of 600 students found that students have a greater knowledge of pop culture than the Constitution.

The forum was offered free of charge to the public through the NIACC NOW program.

Brandon K. Watson
News Editor

At a time when there is a national shortage of nurses, the NIACC nursing program is reeling in reams of prospective students.

With the options of earning a Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) or the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) over 500 applicants apply annually, NIACC Health Division Chairperson Donna Orton said.

However, the rejection of applicants which sums up close to 390 denials is often a result of applicants who have not met the required prerequisites and entrance criterion.

"In all honesty, some of the students denied aren't eligible yet because they haven't met the basic criteria needed," Orton said.

As a member of the health division committee that gets prospects' applications, Orton said that applicants can earn a maximum of seven points for academic credentials, such as prerequisites and grade point average.

Not possessing previous experience in the academic fields of chemistry and biology is largely one of the reasons why those initially seeking admission are denied, Orton added.

Job Outlook

The Associate Degree in Nursing program, which recently had 480 students apply for only 80 slots, takes precedence over the Licensed Practical Nurses program, primarily due to entering salaries.

According to Orton, the average salary for graduates of the ADN program range between $38,000 and $42,000. That's compared to $36,449 for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).

She also noted that job placement rates are extremely high for those who complete either the LPN or ADN programs.

Data recently released from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics revealed that expected job growth for registered nurses (RNs) will grow at a rate faster than that of all other occupations through 2008.

Growth in the median age of the U.S. population has spawned the need for more quality nurses.

Moreover, minorities and males, Orton said, are a hot commodity in the nursing fields today. "There is a real push nationwide to get minorities and males in nursing," she said.

Non-Traditional Students

Noted for its rigorous curriculum, the ADN program at NIACC has many non-traditional students-with an average age of 28 years old.

Orton cited that this is a result from students having to juggle school and their personal lives.

"There are a lot of students in our program that have families and other obligations that the traditional student doesn't have," Orton said.

Accordingly, she said this is one reason why it takes most students three to four years to complete nursing programs.

Brandon K. Watson
News Editor

Internationally renowned mind reader, hypnotist and psychic entertainer Robert Channing made his second appearance on the NIACC campus in the recreational room of the dormitories on Monday, September 19 as part of the homecoming activities.

Channing, who enthralled the packed audience, used his psychic guile and trickery to predict futures, tell past events and identify random objects. He did this with his eyes covered by two coins, seven layers of duck tape and a jet-black blindfold.

With the assistance of two volunteers, Channing randomly selected index cards that contained personal information of those attending and began to identify the person by giving a clue to the event that the individual listed on the card.

"Fat Boy?" Channing asked. "Yeah, that's me," said NIACC freshman Andrew Hudson, who's alias is "Fat Boy."

Channing then asked Hudson to inform the crowd about why his funniest memory was about a bicycle. Flabbergasted, Hudson then explained how he fell off a bicycle as a child in front of his entire family in Hackensack, NJ.

The audience, which was astonished the majority of the evening, went frantic as Channing had a student place his eyeglasses on the ground only for the person to begin to move under his instructions.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP) commonly known as the "sixth sense," is the backbone of Channing's antics, which churns both believers and skeptics.

But Channing, 37, has seen his fair share of both groups since developing his routine at the tender age of five-years old.

"I actually bent metal in my mind, I was bending metal and forks with the power of my mind, just from concentration at the age of five-years old," said Channing, who has worked with celebrities such as Faith Hill and John Travolta.

"It was weird," NIACC freshmen Elly Meyer said about the abstractness of Channing's performance. " It was shocking that he knew people's gender and names."