Men tal Health and Wellness Event

Mental Health and Wellness Event

Cordelia Anderson, a prominent speaker and advocate for the prevention of sexual violence, spoke at Anoka Ramsey Community College’s Mental Health and Wellness event yesterday afternoon.

Students and faculty alike were encouraged to take part in the event and talk to various local agencies and organizations whose booths lined the hallways. Some of the groups included the Vet Center, which helps council and rehabilitate veterans, and the Green Dot program, whose goal is to prevent violence and assault by encouraging people to speak up. Students were given a variety of resources as well as free screening for depression, PTSD, and mood disorders.

The highlight of the event was a visit from Cordelia Anderson, a well known speaker with 35 years of experience working with abuse victims and their abusers. Anderson runs Sensibilities and Prevention Services, which offers training and consultation and works with a number of organizations dedicated to ending sexual violence.

Anderson’s speech focused on the “Demand the Change” program launched by MNCASA, the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The program’s goal is to prevent commercial sexual exploitation and sexual violence by encouraging people to speak out against it and change the way it is viewed by society.

“The reality is, we live in a sexually toxic and pornified environment,” began Anderson. She referred to a number of pictures in her slideshow, ranging from billboard ads to children’s toys, explaining that while are there a lot of sexual messages used in advertising and media today, very few of them offer a healthy view of sexuality in general and many promote gender stereotypes.

In her many years working to prevent sexual violence, Anderson focused on teaching others how to not be victimized. Today, she addresses the bigger picture of what causes these problems and why they persist.

One of the problems she discussed was how sexual violence and sexual exploitation have become normal, accepted aspects of society, making it difficult to for people to speak up or recognize it. “If it’s just the way it is, if it’s perfectly normal, we’re not gonn’a speak up,” Anderson said.

“We are a consumer culture, and sex is a commodity,” Anderson further explained. She referred to the supply and demand aspect of society as another problem. Advertising, she said, especially products geared toward men, uses women’s bodies to sell products and promote the idea of women as commodities.

Anderson also explained how industries and the media reinforce and promote sexual violence and exploitation by influencing trends and redefining what is normal and acceptable, creating expectations in both men and women and defining what their roles are in society. These kinds of messages can also be profitable. “People make a lot of money knowing how to draw us in,” Anderson said.

Because many of these ideas are rooted in today’s popular culture, change is not easy. Many people do not want to act against what is normal, even if it means letting harmful trends continue, Anderson explained. People can help change these perceptions by speaking up, becoming socially accountable, and inspiring others to change as well.

Interview with Nicole Zur

Interview with Nicole Zur

Nicole Zur has always had a passion for the written word. It was this same passion that inspired her to pursue a career in a field she loves.

Nicole’s interest in reading began at an early age, when she began to read at two years old. As a toddler, she would read to her family and babysitters for fun. Over the years, she continued to excel at reading as well as her other pastime, writing.

“Because I like to read so much, naturally, I began to love writing,” Nicole Said. She enrolled in a variety of different classes ranging from business writing and creative writing to the study of British literature. Nicole had found something she enjoyed and excelled at.

Nicole had been going to school a year in a half for a Ph.D. in pharmacy when she decided to switch majors. Many members of her family had a Ph.D. and she felt pressured to earn one herself. “Eventually, I came to accept that pharmacy really wasn't what I wanted, but what my family wanted for me.” Nicole was apprehensive about announcing her decision to her parents, fearing that they wouldn’t support her, but this was not the case. Her parents encouraged her to follow her passion and were surprised that she hadn’t pursued it earlier.

Today, Nicole is majoring in journalism with a minor in public relations. She began taking her undergrad classes this semester, and has two years left before she is finished. Nicole hopes to become a book editor and publish a fiction novel she has been working on.

Transcript

Interview Transcript:

Q:  What is your favorite hobby? 

A: I love to read. I know it sounds boring, but it's my favorite thing to do. 

Q:  What is it about this activity (or thing) that you like the most and why?

A: My favorite things about reading are that it's an enriching source of entertainment. I feel like I'm actually putting my brain cells to use, rather than wasting them staring at the television. I like that when I read, time seems to pass more slowly and makes my days longer. The thing that I like the most about reading is that it activates my imagination and inspires me to daydream about things. Sometimes, when I'm reading really imaginative books, like Stardust, I can imagine the fantastical worlds that the characters live in.

Q: How long have you been doing this hobby?

A: My mom tells me that I was two when I started learning to read. She says she was amazed, because by the time I was in preschool, I could read better than my babysitters. When I was a toddler, I used to read to my family and babysitters for fun. As I got older and spent even more time reading, I began to really excel at it.

Q: Why did you start it?

A: I don't really remember, but my mom tells me that when I was a baby, she would read to me before bed. She says that I just started associating the words she was saying with the words on the pages all by myself.

Q: What is your best memory of this hobby?

A: My favorite memory of reading is the day I read Pride and Prejudice. Yeah, I read it in one day. I was in my second year of high school. I had watched the movie and I knew that it was based off of a book, so I decided to go out and buy the book the next day. When I grabbed it, I was nervous because I had studied Jane Austen and knew that she was an author of intelligence and wit, and the language of the time period was very different from what we know today. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I grasped the content of the book easily, and I fell in love with the characters, humor, and irony. It's my favorite book to this day, and I read it once a year or so.

Q: Has this hobby influenced your choice of career (or study) or anything else meaningful in your life?

A: Yes, it has. Because I like to read so much, naturally, I began to love writing. I took many, many classes to study the art of writing, from business writing to creative writing. I also took classes to study modern novels as well as a few classes on British literature, dating around the Romantic and Victorian eras. After taking all of these classes, I decided to change my degree. I had initially planned to go to college for a Ph. D. in Pharmacy, and I decided to change to a major in journalism with a minor in public relations. I want to do something that I love and that I excel at. I also decided to start a blog back in August, and I have about 250 followers now. I write book reviews and poetry, as well as simple blog posts about whatever I feel is important to speak to. I'm also working on a fiction novel that I hope to publish some day.

Q.) Is there a favorite genre of book that you like to read? 

A: Yes, my favorite genres are science-fiction and historical fiction. I'm not a fan of science-fiction as in "spaceships and intergalactic travel" but more like Neverending Story-esque, or Lord of the Rings. I like historical fiction because I'm very interested in history. I'm also a huge fan of myths, lore, and imagination, so when history is combined with something more imaginative, I feel that there's nothing better.

Q: Where are you currently taking your classes for your journalism degree?

A: I'm taking a business communications class for my PR minor and I'm taking my first journalism undergrad classes this term, which include communications classes, a journalism class, and a class about the constitution. It seems that the constitution doesn't have much to do with writing, but it actually does. I have to spend a lot of time learning about what's legal in the world of writing, and where these laws came from and how they will affect my job.

Q: How long have you been working on your journalism degree? Are you close to graduating?

A: I'm not close to finishing. I just started my undergrad classes this semester, so I've got about two years until I'm finished. Fingers crossed.

Q: How far along where you in your pharmacy degree before you decided to switch majors? Was it a hard decision?

A: I was about a year and a half along, which isn't too bad, considering it's a 6 year degree and I would have spent another year or two in residency. I had chosen pharmacy because my family is full of people who have Ph.D. degrees, and many of them are actual doctors. I was under a lot of pressure to get a degree in the medical field because it's such good money and there's great security. Eventually, I came to accept that pharmacy really wasn't what I wanted, but what my family wanted for me. Announcing the change to my family was hard, I was nervous as all hell. I thought that my mom and dad would be really upset, but in actuality, their responses were surprisingly accepting. Both of them said that they were surprised that I hadn't chosen a career path that followed reading and writing in the first place. After I told them, they weren't just accepting; they were rooting for me. My mom said "well, duh. You're so good at writing!" and my dad said that it made the most sense because writing was my strongest passion and skill.

Q: What do you plan to do with your journalism degree? (work for a local newspaper, be a news reporter?) What do you think you would like to write about?

A: I don't actually want to become a reporter. I'm hoping to become a book editor some day. That's my dream job. 

Q: What is the fiction novel you plan to write/publish about? Was it influenced by what you read? 

A: The novel I plan to write about is a novel of historical and religious fiction. It was absolutely inspired by my favorite genre of reading. I started with a simple and rather undeveloped kernel of an idea and I did a boatload of research. I spent hours and hours poring over religious texts. After I had learned a lot about what I'd been researching, I spent about an hour trying to force myself into my writing mode, and next thing you know, nothing could stop me. When I really get into it, the ideas all come together. When I get started, I always worry that I won't have enough ideas to keep contributing to the plot, but once I get going, they just don't stop. Granted, I spend twice as much time editing my work as I do writing the first draft. Sometimes I cut whole pages, sometimes I add a little. 

Q: When did you decide to start writing and why?

A: I've always written. I have a natural ability. I've always been told that I'm skilled, not just by friends and family, but by my teachers too. I didn't even realize it until I started taking college classes to hone my skills, but until recently, I was still rather underdeveloped. I've learned a lot, and the things I learn are interesting and it makes me want to write even more because I have serious confidence in my skills now. Even if I fail and make no money in the field later, I'm learning about and making an attempt at something I really love. I don't think I'll ever regret that. I started getting serious about writing about a half a year ago, when I came forward and told my family that I want to make a career of it. I'd always written for fun, but I never took it seriously or used as much effort as I could have. Now that I know it's what I want to do, I try with all my might to write well. I think it's working... so far.

Story 3

Injured Bicyclist Released From Hospital

Marsha L. Taylor was released from the hospital Tuesday after a bike accident left her in the hospital with multiple injuries.

The accident occurred while Marsha was in Pine City after her U.S tour. She was taking a ride on 72^nd Street when a car hit her from behind and she was thrown from her bike. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital.

Marsha suffered multiple injuries from the accident including a mild concussion, a broken neck, arm and pelvis as well as six broken ribs. “They were especially concerned about the broken neck,” she said. “One doctor said I had what they called a hangman’s fracture. She said it was a miracle that I wasn’t paralyzed.”

A few weeks later, doctors discovered that Marsha was also suffering from internal injuries. Her intestine was perforated, and her liver and gall bladder were also damaged. These complications had caused her skin to turn bright orange. “When my mother saw me, she said I looked like a Halloween pumpkin.” Marsha went back to the hospital and now has to attend rehabilitation three times a week.

Marsha, 37,  has been riding bikes since she was in college. While looking for work, she often killed time waiting for interviews by riding her bike. She eventually became involved with other riders and participated in many races. “Since then, it’s been a major part of my life. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without bicycling,” said Marsha. She has ridden over three-thousand miles so far this year and participated in the annual Governor’s Bicycle Tour and a U.S. Tour that has taken her across the United States

Her attitude toward biking has not changed since the accident. “I still want to ride,” she said. “If I could, I’d be out there right now, but it’s hard to ride a bike when you have to use crutches.”