Lack of Advising

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College undergraduate advising seems to have gone completely out the window. The one place college undergraduates are supposed to be able to go for advice, guidance, support, and help is almost utterly useless now. It's nearly impossible to even get in touch with an advisor, let alone find somebody that has an inkling of what is going on or can even help you.

When I first tried to visit the psychology undergraduate advising a few weeks ago I was appalled to discover that all the doors were locked and all signs of life was gone at four thirty in the afternoon on a Monday afternoon. A few days later I tried again, arriving shortly before four and I still found the building deserted. Obviously, meeting with an advisor was going to be a difficult task so I decided to call and make an appointment. Wrong idea there. After calling three times and getting no answer, I resorted to the trusty Internet. Would you know that out off all the methods I tried, an email is the one that worked? It took over a week to get a response, but it was better than what I gotten in the past.

Once I had some body's attention, I thought the process would be easier and I might actually get somewhere. Completely wrong again. This was turning into a nightmare. All I wanted was some advice on graduation and to be sure I was on the right track and taking the right classes to ensure my graduation in May. It is not rocket science! I soon discovered the pyshcology undergraduate advising office is only open from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon and that they do not make exceptions or try to help the students with life outside of school.

After being very discouraged and fighting an unnecessary fight, I came to realize that all of it was pointless. The horrible "advising" that I received was nothing more than common sense and things I was already aware of. I could have avoided everything and just spoken to a professor for advice regarding a career choice.

Media's "A-Twitter" About Privacy and Ethics

In the news:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5790930&page=1

An abcnews.com article (above) ran September 12 about an issue that has the media in a flurry. A Colorado reporter chose to cover the funeral of a 3-year old boy in real-time, using Twitter.

Twitter is a social networking site that is unique in that the updates provided are 140 characters or less. It's like they took the "what are you doing" section of Myspace or Facebook and made it it's own animal. The website has a cheerful aqua background with a bubble motif. It's fun-looking and many people "twit" funny things they think of throughout the day.

Martin Kudlis was a 3-year-old boy who was tragically killed when a pickup truck crashed into the ice-cream shop Martin was in. His funeral was September 10th.

I guess because we're a morbid country, reporters were allowed into the funeral service, reportedly by the family. Some might ask the family's motivation in allowing media coverage of their young Martin's funeral. More might wonder why a Colorado journalist thought it would be a good idea to "tweet" the funeral.

This decision, made by Berny Morson of Rocky Mountain News (and allegedly supported by the paper itself), has caused a hubub in the media world, with ethical, human decency, and the tenents of journalistic integrity being called into question.

If you have a Twitter account, you can go right to the "scene of the crime"
http://twitter.com/RMN_Berny

If you don't, here is a look at one of the posts, captured by UK blogger Laura Oliver:

Some have said that Morson's "tweet" of the funeral was cutting-edge and up-to-the-minute with the proceedings, so that people who wanted to know what was going on had an advantage. Others have asked what the difference is between having someone cover the funeral real-time and write about it after they left. Personally, I think that Morson's actions crossed the line of decency and propriety, and that Twitter is a tool best left for things of a less serious nature.

What do you think?

Company Profile

Vitality Wellness is a full-service fitness and wellness center devoted to achieving the fitness and health goals of our clients. We are located in the West End of Richmond, Virginia.

Internal Operations:
Tiffany is our CEO, and in addition to overseeing the high-level operations of the business she is in charge of our community affairs and charitable giving, and she consults with our outside marketing firm and makes advertising and marketing decisions.

Kristy is our Chief of Administration. She oversees all aspects of human resources, to include payroll, benefits, customer service, recruiting and staffing, and employee training and development.

Elizabeth is our Chief of Finance. She handles investor relations, corporate treasury, and oversees the accounts payable and accounts receivable departments (a team of 2 total).

Service Offerings:
Willie is our Head of Fitness. He oversees everything regarding the fitness aspects of the company - outlined below.

Natalie is our Head of Wellness. She oversees everything regarding the wellness aspects of the company - outlines below.

The Fitness Division:
Vitality offers back-to-back fitness classes from 6AM to 10AM, and from 12PM to 10PM. Fitness classes offered are standard aerobics, step aerobics, hath yoga, bikram yoga, ashtanga yoga, pilates, spinning, water aerobics, and kickboxing. We have 10 full time board-certified fitness instructors and a network of over 30 part-time board-certified fitness instructors. Fitness classes save water aerobics are in individual studios with aerobic flooring.

The Cardio Center is equipped with 18 elliptical trainers, 24 treadmills, 6 upright cycles, 6 recumbant cycles, and 6 Wii Fit stations. All cycles are equipped with game consoles, all treadmills and elliptical trainers are equipped with personal televisions. In addition, all cardio equipment save Wii Fit stations have pre-programmed educational recordings for the client's listening pleasure.

The Iron Center has all Nautalis equipment and free weights, plus a staff of certified Personal Trainers on staff to personalize the client's program and ensure that clients use equipment correctly and safely.

The AquaFit Center offers an Olympic-sized swimming pool with open lanes for laps, and scheduled water aerobic classes.

In addition, Vitality has 2 basketball courts, 4 racquetball courts, 2 outdoor tennis courts, 1 outdoor soccer field, an indoor/outdoor volleyball area, and a rock climbing wall. Intermural basketball, soccer, and tennis programs are offered for both children and adults. Dodgeball and kickball leagues are available for adults.

The Wellness Division:
The Wellness Wing offers a lap pool for physical therapy, steam rooms and sauna rooms (connected to the AquaFit Center through the locker rooms), and a physical therapy center with Spinulators and other physical therapy equipment. 4 physical therapists and 4 massage therapists are on staff full time. 1 doctor of Chiropractic is also on staff full time in the Wellness Wing.

The Nutrition Center prepares all the food for the Vavavavoom Snack Bar (located on the main level), and staffs 4 full-time nutritionists who offer personalized nutrition plans and offer cooking classes on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Vitality Gold:
In certain situations, our female clients choose not to exercise in the Cardio Center. That's why we offer Vitality Gold: a smaller version of the Cardio Center for a more intimate and private exercise experience. This service costs slightly more than our standard membership package.

Other Amenities:
Vitality has a fully-equipped Children's Center that offers entertaining and educational programs while our clients make the most of Vitality's fitness and wellness offerings.
Vitality's Vavavavoom Snack Bar offers healthy, balanced meals for the whole family. The customer can call ahead to order, come work out, and take home fresh, delicious, healthy food for dinner.

We're excited to bring this one-of-a-kind health and wellness center to the Richmond area.