Is Tetris Good For The Mind?

During the student meeting today, one of the Community Business College adult students made the case that Tetris is good for the brain. Some people will lump Tetris in with all video games and say that it doesn't do much good but the question here is - can the game improve your mind?

This student grew up in the 80's when Tetris was big and freshly imported from the old Soviet Union. It quickly caught on and can be found on many all-time favorite video game lists. But since that time there have been so many video games available, its popularity has settled down.

That's not to say that Tetris hasn't made a huge impact in the culture. From video game consoles, to Halloween costumes and even videos of human Tetris, it's not hard to find Tetris references. But is it really a mental exercise?

Tetris Screen Shot- Somebody Needs More Practice

For those not in the know, the game is played with shapes of four squares stuck together. They're called "tetrominoes," or in the game, "tetriminos" as opposed to two-square "dominoes." The pieces drop one at a time down the matrix  with the player able to rotate the pieces 90 degrees at a time and slide them from side to side. The object of the game is to fit the pieces together without any gaps. When a horizontal line is filled in with no gaps, it disappears, making room for more pieces to fall and scoring the player some points. The second object of the game is to keep making those lines disappear because if the whole matrix fills up with game pieces, the game ends.
As the player "beats" each level by using up the game pieces, the following level drops them faster and, thus, increases the challenge.

But Can It Change Your Brain?
Of course, this is of interest to us at Community Business College because we are all about training brains. But can Tetris make a difference in your brain? After doing a little research, some (including our stalwart student today) seem to think so.

Researchers Dr. Richard Haier, Richard J Haier, Sherif Karama, Leonard Leyba and Rex E Jung found in 2009 that when a person first starts playing Tetris, brain function and overall activity increases, and the brain's metabolism increases along with the consumption of blood glucose. This means playing the game really gets the brain going.

As players of the game get better at it, their brain metabolisms showed improved efficiency.  Even moderate playing of Tetris (half-an-hour a day for three months) seemed to boost general cognitive functions such as "critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing" and increasing the thickness of the players' "grey matter."

There's even a syndrome called The Tetris Effect for those who overdo it and play the game so much that they start seeing common everyday objects as Tetris game pieces. So, walking down the street and looking at the skyline of a bunch of city buildings triggers the mind to involuntarily imagine how those shapes might fit together as if they were Tetris objects on the game board.

So maybe there's something to this.  Most people probably don't play the game excessively and develop a syndrome but Tetris seems to definitely make some changes in the brain.

Kudos to our student for making the case that games are not always just fun but can be beneficial to our minds, too. Plus it takes your mind off of the troubles of the day.

"Publish and Sell Your E-Book" Class Starts at Community Business College

Community Business College is now offering a new class teaching students how to create, publish and sell their own e-books.

Students in the "Publish and Sell Your E-Books" course learn how to access tools to publish and sell e-books in the world's largest online bookstores. Many of these e-publishing tools are available free of charge. Students learn to utilize these tools to turn manuscripts into competently published e-books. Course participants also learn how to target an audience, select bookstores, and get their books distributed around the world via the World Wide Web. The goal is to provide students an an opportunity to get into a new technology while it is just starting to develop. E-publishing will always be a significant way people get their information in the future and now is an excellent time to get started.

Why E-books?


E-books are making a huge impact in the publishing world, with thousands of previously undiscovered authors as the bright glowing lights in its tail. Independent ("indie") authors are becoming overnight sensations in the newspapers and on Amazon.com.

There is a vast difference between paper books and e-books. With their ease of production and distribution, there's more news coming out every day showing that e-books now outsell traditionally published books around the world. This is great news for authors, who no longer need a large budget to self-publish and promote their books.

Publishing an e-book and selling it can be an excellent way for people who are struggling in difficult economic times to supplement their income. Depending on the type of e-book and the amount of time put into marketing, authors can make part-time to full-time pay from their works.

Community Business College's Lifelong Learning Classes 

The “Publish and Sell Your E-Books” is part of the non-credit skills enrichment courses offered by Community Business College to supplement its students education and to nourish an enjoyment of lifelong learning.

The classes are designed to be informative and enjoyable.
New classes start every month. Many are entirely Web-based with comprehensive lessons, quizzes, and assignments. A dedicated professional instructor facilitates every course; pacing learners, answering questions, giving feedback, and facilitating discussions. Online instructors have special relationships with their students. A Penn State World Campus instructor has said that sometimes what students learn from online courses goes beyond the subject matter.


One advantage of taking an online course is it reinforces good time management skills and organizational skills. "Anything in life worth doing is worth doing well, and anything worth doing is worth scheduling," Turgeon has been quoted as saying. Students learn to discipline themselves, develop problem solving skills, and how to schedule and prioritize time

To learn more, contact the Community Business College admissions office at (209) 529-3648 or visit the school’s website at http://www.cbcwebcollege.com/ebook.htm

Christmas Season End

As we close the twelfth day of Christmas (AKA “Twelfth Night”), we close out the Christmas season. It’s also the Epiphany or otherwise known as the 12 Drummers Drumming day.
Community Business College celebrated the season of holidays by sending out Christmas cards. Mailing cards seems to be a lost art these days and the tradition is threatened by electronic versions sent by e-mail. Although some e-cards are pretty impressive, but they're just not the same.
Our postmaster told us that along with bills and checks not being sent by mail anymore, Christmas cards aren’t being sent out like before. Instead of being one of their busiest times, the end of December tends to be slow for them.
On hearing that, we rushed to get out a batch of Christmas cards in the mail. Here's a sample of the snowman of words we sent out:

Why Christmas Cards?
There is something special about getting something in the mail sent from one person to another. So much of what comes in the mail is sent my a machine. When you get a Christmas card from someone you know, you have a pretty good idea that somebody touched at least once.

Even the photo cards which are so popular these days offer something a Facebook post just can't match. One of the interesting ways these cards fit in with the traditional greeting cards is when they are saved from year to year. The family photo cards show the changes that have occurred from year to year. It adds a nice poignant touch to those holiday feelings.

Mixing the traditional with the new is what we like to do.

Would you like a Christmas Card?
Send us an e-mail to ChristmasCard@communitybusinesscollege.edu to be put on our list for next year.

Twas The Night Before Christmas at Community Business College

Twas the night before Christmas, when all thru the school;
Not a computer was running, every mouse was left cool.

Job seekers were nestled, all snug in their beds,
With visions of great jobs and fantastic salaries, dancing in their heads.

When in the job placement office there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But St. Nick and his sleigh, with all his reindeer.

More rapid than eagles he brought something to work,
And with him he brought new job openings all typed up by his clerk.

The job openings were placed very carefully on the tree,
They were sure to fill new hires with a winter-time glee.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
He took off to look for more jobs as he left me to doze.

But I was sure I heard a voice exclaim as he faded from sight,
Happy job hunting to all, and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Community Business College!

Want to check out pictures of the CBC job placement tree? Check out our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.347447848602522.100364.100000119297771&type=1&l=f2b1c3aee9

The Edibile Arrangements Grand Re-Opening

Edible Arrangements had their grand re-opening/ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday. The ceremony was sponsored by the Modesto Chamber of Commerce. As a Modesto community college, Community Business College tries to attend as many of these grand openings as we can. They are excellent opportunities for the school to gauge new hiring opportunities and what the businesses climate is in town. So we were there and what follows is a report of how it went.

The Edible Arrangements store is a bit of a “re-opening.” The franchise was sold a couple of years ago and the current owners picked it up after having successful stores in other places.

We’ve had to arrangements delivered to Community Business College and by far the most popular item was the chocolate dipped pineapple followed by the chocolate dipped strawberries. The grapes on a stick went well too. The honeydew melon and the cantaloupe add nice color to the arrangement but were by far not as popular as the other pieces for snacking in the office. It certainly brings out the chocolate lovers from staff and students.


At these events you can always learn something new about the business or the industry. Tim, the manager at Modesto’s Edible Arrangements says they always tries to buy its fresh fruit locally for as long as they can. Then, as the cooler months arrive in the Central Valley, they switch to Arizona and Texas. After those states complete their harvest, they import their fruit from Peru. The arrangements are popular for dieters (at least some of what you're eating is healthy fruit) and people trying to send someone something different, other than flowers.

Of course, one of the best parts about the grand opening was, in addition to meeting a whole bunch of friendly people, the free samples. There is nothing like a chocolate-dipped strawberry to make your day a little better.

If you’d like to see pictures of the ribbing cutting ceremony, they will posted in next month’s Modesto Chamber of Commerce Progress magazine, the online version of which can be viewed here.

College Offers Cyber-Monday Deal

The lifelong learning community education department at Community Business College is now offering a Cyber Monday discount of 12% off of any class to help launch the "Mastering Public Speaking" class.

This is an instructor-led, 6-week course where students learn to speak confidently and persuasively to both large audiences and small groups. The course helps students master the art of verbal and nonverbal communication, find out how to overcome their fear of public speaking, learn how to organize and deliver a short or long speech effectively, and practice techniques for communicating with ease and skill in any setting from a meeting to a job interview. The skills learned in this skills-enrichment program translate to other parts of life where communication is important.

By making the classes available online and by blending them into the campus-based programs, the college is offer the best of both worlds to “Mastering Public Speaking” students. Through expert-designed lessons, experienced online instruction, and interaction with fellow students, participants in this course gain valuable knowledge at their convenience. They have the flexibility to study at their own pace combined with enough structure and support to complete the course. Students can access the classroom 24/7 from anywhere with an Internet connection.

The next class starts on December 14th, 2011 and enrollments are being accepted now. New sessions of the course run each month. The public speaking course lasts six weeks. A dedicated professional instructor facilitates every course; pacing learners, answering questions, providing interactive feedback, and facilitating discussions amongst the class participants.

The discount offer starts on CyberMonday, November 28th, 2011 and lasts throughout the following week. To learn more, visit the school’s lifelong learning website at http://www.cbcwebcollege.com.

Military Spouse "Thank You For Your Family's Service" Scholarship

Most people understand what a sacrifice the members of the military take on when they sign up for armed forces duty. Military service personnel take a big chunk of their lives and turn it over in service of their country.

As we wrap up Veterans Day 2011, it's a good time to reflect on what these people do and why this day is so much more than just a 3-day holiday weekend.

The annual Veterans Day parade had a lot of people this year, especially given the cloudy weather and the chance of rain. The overcast clouds, however, added to the poignancy of the setting as we contemplated the sacrifices made by service personnel. One bakery was handing out free gourmet mini-cupcakes to any current or retired service member and other vendors were offering special discounts for members of the military services as well.

It's important to recognize not only the service of the individual members of the military themselves but also the families of the military, as well. Because they aren't always in the headlines, it is sometimes easy to forget what family members sacrifice. Military families are constantly on the move, which makes it difficult to establish long-lasting friendships with neighbors and classmates because spouses and children never know how long they will be in one place before being transferred to a new location and starting over.

Community Business College recognizes the importance of military spouse education and the challenges that come with achieving higher education due to constant moves and expenses. That's one of the reasons why Modesto's Community Business College supports veterans and families to help them on the path to a successful, portable career through the "Thank You For Your Family's Service" scholarship.

The "Thank You For Your Family's Service" scholarship was established in 2009 to help more people get full value of their education efforts and to try to help more military spouses than might be otherwise served.

The privately-funded scholarship program, coupled with the Department of Defense MyCAA funding program helps spouses of active duty service members get the training and job placement assistance they need for portable careers. Depending upon their choice of training programs, military spouses can qualify for up to 100% of the tuition and costs to be covered by the combination of funding programs. From Project Management certification in conjunction with the Project Management Institute to Medical Billing and Coding, military spouses have a wide range of opportunities from which to choose.

In order to be eligible, spouses register with the Military One Source system. The training programs must be "job ready," for which Community Business College's vocational (both on-campus and online) training programs qualify. Spouses of recently returned veterans have 180 days from their de-activation to remain eligible.

As part of its overall efforts to bring more training opportunities to military families, the "Thank You For Your Family's Service" scholarship is one of the reasons why Community Business College in Modesto has earned the designation of the Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs Magazine for three years in a row.

Thanks again to all who serve our country.

For more information, check out the school's website or write to MyCAA@communitybusinesscollege.edu.