N o v e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 1

Student Newspaper of Massachusetts College

of Liberal Arts

North Adams, Mass.

Volume 74Issue 7

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Index News 2-3 World News 4 Features 5 A&E 6-8 Sports: 9-11 Science 12

Letters to the Editor 13Campus Comment 13Commentary 14Comic 15Word Search 15Photo Essay 16

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SGA reveals firearm referendum timeline

Trustees approve 2011 audit and more

If approved, student vote expected to take place on Dec. 5

Public Policy lecture renamed “Michael S. and Kitty Dukakis lecture”

News, page 3 News, page 2

The criteria for academic pro-bation and suspension has been revised and is now stricter.

According to Deb Foss, As-sociate Dean of Advising and Director of the Center for Stu-dent Success and Engagement (CSSE), the first notable adjust-ment to the criteria is the change in the definition of “good aca-demic standing.” Now, all stu-dents need to obtain an overall grade point average of 2.0 or higher in order to be considered in good academic standing.

“There are good reasons to raise the bar for students,” Foss said. “The old criteria was too confusing. Now there is one standard for every student. It will go into effect this Decem-ber. The new rules will then apply to everyone’s grade point averages.”

The old criteria depended on the amount of credits each stu-dent had obtained. Freshmen who had the same GPAs as ju-niors would have been consid-ered in good academic stand-ing, while the juniors would not. Now the bar is set at 2.0 for all students, no matter what his or her class is.

Kate Heekin, Assistant Direc-tor of CSSE said she hopes stu-dents will conform to the in-crease in expectations. Heekin said if students are asked to reach a higher bar, they will strive to do so.

“It makes sense to have this as the standard,” Heekin said. “In order for students to be ac-cepted at MCLA, they need to have grade point averages of 2.0 or better. This shouldn’t change once students are enrolled here.”

Boo Bash 2011

Photo by Aaron Crawford/Beacon Staff

Students pose at the 17th annual Boo Bash, which took place Oct. 26. Local children and their families were encouraged to stop by Berkshire Towers for a costume party and trick or treating. The event was hosted by the Residence Area Advisory Boards and the Center for Service and Citizenship.

For more Halloween PHotos - see PHoto essay, Page 16

Academicprobationchanges

Gates offers insights into foreign relations

Photo by John Durkan/Beacon StaffRobert Gates fields questions from students in Murdock Hall on Tuesday.

By Chris GoodellManaging Editor

By Skyla SeamansSenior News Editor

One of the nation’s leading de-fense experts highlighted the im-portance of taking the future into our own hands as the country fac-es increasingly pressing economic and political problems.

“Americans continue to be the masters of our own fate,” said Rob-ert Gates, former secretary of De-fense. “If the United States fades from preeminence, it will be be-cause we failed, not because others succeeded.”

Gates addressed a crowded Cam-pus Center Gym Tuesday night, offering his opinions and insights into America’s foreign relations and public policy. He stated the most pressing issue facing the country today is the state of the economy.

“The real task ahead for this country is to get our finances in order,” he said. “Our problems go

much deeper than individual per-sonalities.”

Gates said political parties have become too divided, and that many political figures are becom-ing too extreme in their views. This is due in large part to the media, who often give the most attention to those with the most extreme views, Gates said.

“Every point of view, even the most extreme, has a ready vehicle for wide dissemination,” he said. “The moderate center is not hold-ing.”

In order for America to get back on track, Gates said he believes that politicians must develop strategies that will last over several presiden-cies, regardless of political party.

“Our problems are so big, none can be solved over one presidency,” he said.

Gates, who joined the Central In-telligence Agency in 1966 and has served eight different presidents, cited the Cold War as an example

of a time when political strategies were unified over several different presidencies.

When Gates first retired in 1993, the United States enjoyed a time of great economic prosperity after emerging victoriously from the Cold War. This status as a world super-power led to other countries growing disdainful of the United States, Gates said.

“In the wake of America’s victory in the Cold War, other countries resented America’s dominance and propensity for telling others what to do,” he said. Gates sug-gested that many countries, either openly or privately, even took some pleasure in seeing the United States fall victim to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Although Gates believes the United States has done well at pre-venting more terrorist attacks, he also stated that completely elimi-nating terrorism is impossible.

CHANGES, continued on page 2

GATES, continued on page 3

Thursday, November 3, 2011 News theonlinebeacon.com2

MCLA’s total assets increased by $3.2 million from 2010 to ap-proximately $37 million in the 2011 scal year, according to the latest audit report.

O’Connor and Drew, an ac-counting rm based in Braintree, Mass., and in no way a liated with the College, performed the audit. David Dilusis, who rep-resented the rm, presented the results to the Board of Trustees at the Oct. 30 meeting.

� e $37 million in assets in-cludes $8.8 million in liabilities, which are past transcactions that still need to be obliged. Dilusis said $8.8 million in liabilities “isn’t a whole lot.”

� e net assets, which is total as-sets minus liabilities, was $28.5 million in June.

Dilusis said the school per-formed well throughout both the nancial statement and internal environment reports.

“On the nancial statement, you received an unquali ed opin-ion, which is the highest level of assurance you can get,” Dilusis said. “And then on the report on internal controls, that’s where we

have the opportunity, if it pres-ents itself, to expand language on material weaknesses, which would be a shock…We didn’t ex-pand the report for anything.

“Pretty much, you have a clean internal control environment that you should be proud of and your sta� should be commended for as well.”

� e Board of Trustees unami-nously accepted the audit report with no discussion.

Public Policy Lecture renamed

� e annual fall Public Policy lecture was renamed the “Mi-chael S. and Kitty Dukakis lecture series.”

� e Dukakis family signed and pledged a 10-year donation to MCLA to pay for the Public Poli-cy lecture series.

Tuesday’s lecture with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was the rst under the new name.

Michael Dukakis was the Mas-sachusetts governor from 1975-1979 and again from 1983-1991. He lost in the 1988 presidential election against George H.W. Bush.

Foy updates the Board about the � rearm referendum

SGA President Todd Foy in-formed the Board that the SGA is working on a student refer-endum regarding the arming of Public Safety o cers.

“We believe that the Executive Cabinet as well as the Student Senate is not capable enough to speak for the entire student body on the matter of that signi -cance,” Foy said. “I’m hoping in December when we meet again I can bring the actual results of the referendum so you’ll have a bet-ter idea of where students stand on that issue.”

As of Monday’s SGA meeting, the expected vote date is Dec. 5 if the referendum is approved by the Student Senate.

President’s report

“� is has been an incredibly, in-credibly busy, full fall semester for everybody on campus,” said Presi-dent Mary Grant.

Grant mentioned many events throughout the fall semester, such as the UMass president vis-iting campus and the Center for Science and Innovation ground-breaking ceremony.

Strategic Planning

Grant stressed the importance of the four goals and values of the Strategic Planning commitee.

� e four goals are: excellence in teaching and learning, creat-ing a supportive and inclusive community, responsive and in-tentional stewardship, and public purpose and engagement.

� e old criteria made it so new students would only be suspend-ed if they ended their rst semes-ter with a GPA of 0.0. Now, the new criteria states these students would be on probation instead, as long as their cumulative GPAs are below a 2.0.

“We have to make clear to stu-dents where the bar is in terms of what we expect of each student’s academic work,” Foss said. “� e new criteria makes it clear that we expect students to have GPAs of at least average work, and we de ne average as obtaining a C.”

Another new addition to the cri-teria is the establishment of Aca-demic Warnings, Heekin said. A student with a semester GPA less than a 2.0 but a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or greater will be issued an Academic Warning. A letter will then be sent to the student and copied to his or her advisor explaining the consequences of poor academic performance.

“� ere are lots of legitimate rea-sons why a student’s GPA might dip during one semester,” Heekin said. “O� en students don’t know who the right person to talk to is;

this warning � ags students and advising services to work togeth-er for support.”

� e student will then meet with his or her advisor to create an Ac-ademic Success Plan, which will be submitted to Advising Services for review and appropriate refer-rals. Foss said the warning is like an alarm for students. � is way, both the student and the College can gain control of the student’s academic performance before it falls further.

“Academic excellence is not a 1.9,” Heekin said. “� e College wants to address the factors that are standing in the way of stu-

dents reaching a 2.0 by partner-ing with these students. We want to come up with a plan for each student to reach success.”

Advising Services has been talk-ing to academic departments to encourage them to review each student’s academic standing dur-ing advising to make sure stu-dents know they could be in a di� erent category this December, because of the change in criteria.

“� is is the transition period,” Foss said. “We want to make sure students understand if they are caught in transition that the Col-lege will give consideration to this. � e College is mindful that

the criteria is now tougher.”Students who are on academ-

ic probation can create an ap-peal from suspension. However, there are certain conditions that students may need to follow, de-pending on that student’s success plan.

� ese new conditions include: a student’s course load cannot exceed more than 15 credits; aca-demic schedules are subject to change to allow repeat courses; students must meet with aca-demic advisors and learning ser-vices; students may be required to attend academic workshops; and restrictions may be made for stu-

dents involved in extracurricular activities.

Todd Foy, senior and SGA president, said he was unaware of these policy changes and hopes the administration is making this known to students, so that they will not be blindsided if they are a� ected.

“I think that raising our aca-demic standards is honestly a good thing,” Foy said. “I think that a ‘C’ average is very reason-able and attainable. If anything, this might motivate students to seek out extra help from teach-ers, teachers’ assistants, and other learning services the College of-fers.”

� e Registrar’s o ce placed all college policies online, according to Foss. Students are able to view the new criteria on the College’s website.

“We hope faculty and students will see this as a positive change,” Foss said. “� is change will not even apply to most students. Some students won’t just meet the bar, they will exceed it.”

Students who have questions or need support can contact the Center for Student Success and Engagement via FirstClass.

Academic Probation criteria revised

By John DurkanEditor-in-Chief

Earned Credits

Revised Probation and Suspension CriteriaGood Standing

Cumulative GPAProbation

Cumulative GPASuspension

Cumulative GPA

0-30

31-75

76+

2.00 or above

2.00 or above

2.00 or above

1.50 - 1.99

1.75 - 1.99

No Probation

Under 1.50

Under 1.75

Under 2.00

CHANGES, continued from Page 1

Trustees approve 2011 audit

2012 Deals ComingGood Students Encouraged

Boardman Apartments

664-9400 - Boardmanapts@verizon.net

Thursday, November 3, 2011 News theonlinebeacon.com 3

“We can no more eliminate the risk of terrorism than we can eliminate crime,” he said.

Gates called the war in Iraq the most divisive and traumatic result of September 11. Although he believes the United States should not completely withdraw troops from Iraq at the end of the year, he is glad to see Iraq taking con-trol of its own leadership.

“Iraq’s future is truly up to Iraq-is,” he said.

One of the greatest security threats facing the United States today, Gates said, is Iran. He called the current Iranian regime dangerous and destabilizing.

“I am convinced Iran is deter-mined to build nuclear weapons,” Gates said. However, he warned against the United States engag-ing in open war with Iran.

“An attack on Iran would be, in my opinion, a catastrophe,” he said. Gates believes that Iran may have hidden nuclear weapons that the United States is unaware of. “ e Iranians may be fanatics but they’re not stupid.”

Gates also addressed the war in Afghanistan, stating that the United States has done a better job of managing the Afghan war e orts over the past two years.

“I believe we would be much farther along [in Afghanistan] if we had not diverted a lot of our

resources to Iraq in 2003,” Gates said.

Gates noted that China now has the world’s second largest econ-omy, and is quickly becoming a world super-power.

“[China] has become a global colossus,” he said. “Much of Chi-na’s phenomenal growth has been the result of exports.”

He warned, however, that the United States must deal carefully in its relations with China.

“ e Chinese leaders are in-creasingly turning to nationalism – to xenophobia,” Gates said.

Gates stated that Americans, es-pecially young people, must take charge of their own future by giv-ing back to the country through service and becoming more edu-cated about other countries and cultures.

“Living in the freest country in the world does involve some ob-ligations of citizenship,” he said. “I think a lot of the skills we need are those taught in liberal arts col-leges.”

Prior to the lecture, President Mary Grant announced that the Board of Trustees had voted to name the public policy lecture se-ries in honor of former Governor Michael S. Dukakis and his wife Kitty Dukakis.

e Michael S. and Kitty Du-kakis Lecture Series is made pos-sible through the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust.

Parliamentarian Natasha Lee Dalton and President Todd Foy revealed their timeline for the � re-arms referendum.

On Wednesday, Foy met with Degen to discuss proper wording and to create the actual document. On ursday, the referendum was presented to SGA Advisor Jen Craig.

e referendum will be present-ed to SGA members at their next meeting on Monday, where they will have a week to look it over and suggest possible changes or amendments. On Nov. 14, mem-bers will vote to approve the ref-erendum. If passed, students will vote on Dec. 5.

SGA will declare its stance at the � nal meeting on Dec. 12 based on the results and report to the Board of Trustees on Dec. 15.

“[ e idea] was presented to the Board of Trustees and they looked at it favorably,” Foy said. “ ey want to see what students think.”

Foy repeatedly stated there is a large time constraint on this issue.

“It’s scary that the semester is tunneling this quickly,” Foy said.

Due to the time restraints, the SGA is currently trying to work around a constitutional require-ment saying the SGA needs signa-tures from 10 percent of the stu-dent body for a referendum.

Members asked if amending the 10 percent rather than suspend-ing would be possible. But Foy said that process would take about three meetings to complete and there is too much of a time con-straint for an amendment.

A� er the meeting, Foy explained that the Senate will vote to suspend

the language in the by-laws until Dec. 15 at next Monday’s meeting.

Foy also noted that the referen-dum isn’t “set in stone” because the referendum has not been approved by the Senate yet, but is optimistic that the students will vote come Dec. 5.

Two community meetings re-garding the issue of arming Public Safety will be held, one on Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. in Sullivan Lounge and another on Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. in Murdock 218.

e SGA also discussed the “don’t care” option suggested by Senator Catt Chaput on Oct. 24.

Senator Hawa Umrova said she had spoken with students who were concerned that the “don’t care” option will be used as a yes.

Senator Catt Chaput said it’s im-portant that every students’ vote be acknowledged. ose who chose the “don’t care” option would be accounted as such. “If most don’t care, how much do other two sides weigh?”

Strategic Planning

Dean of Students Charlotte De-gen presented a Strategic Plan-ning presentation at the SGA meeting on Monday. e Strate-gic Planning committee has set four goals to “organize the way we think,” Degen said.

“ e MCLA experience is dis-tinctive to other colleges,” she added. e committee looks at strengths and weaknesses the college currently has, and they also look at opportunities for im-provement and possible threats. Students are center, so their opin-ions weighed heavily in the pro-cess.

e four goals are:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Find out what we want and create an action plan to obtain it. e bike share program was used as an example. e college wanted a way for students to get to town quickly instead of using cars.

Supportive and inclusive com-munity: “ is college is di erent,” she said. “We embrace and sustain a diverse community. We value and include diverse opinions.”

Responsive and intentional stewardship: is goal accounts for the human, ecological, and � nancial recourses – a cycle of continuity with each part working together. Degen said the college must have only what it needs.

Public purpose and engage-ment: According to Degen, this goal will “Ensure access to MCLA program and recourses to prepare to be responsible and engage. Wherever you go, you bring your ability and knowledge with you.”

Other news

Students Talking About Real Top-ics, or START, will hold a meeting this Saturday Nov. 5 in Sullivan Lounge at 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Stu-dents will discuss campus spaces and construction happening on campus. “V for Vendetta” will also be shown. SGA attendance is man-datory.

e SGA approved the constitu-tion for the MCLA Society for Mu-sic. Dalton said previously only two music clubs were on campus – the MCLA Chamber Ensemble and the Allegrettos.

SGA reveals timeline for gun referendum

By Jess GamariSta� Writer

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon Sta� At Monday’s meeting, SGA discussed the timeline for the student vote regarding arming the Public Safety o� cers.

12.203

Sometimes the greatest transformations begin simply by walking through the door.

Take your first step.Take your first step.

Graduate Studies Showcase 2011 Wednesday, November 16, 4:00–7:30pm

Register now!www.umb.edu/gradshowcase or 617.287.6000

Gates talks public policyGATES, continued from Page 1

Thursday, November 3, 2011 National/World News theonlinebeacon.com4Senate passes $182 billion spending bill

Obama pushes stalled job bill

WAYLAND, Mass. — Hundreds of thousands of people across the Northeast shivered at the prospect of days without heat or lights after a freak October snowstorm over the weekend, and many towns postponed trick-or-treating Mon-day in what seemed like a mean Halloween prank to some chil-dren.

Families huddled under blan-kets and winter coats at home or waited out the crisis in shelters as utility crews struggled to fix power lines brought down by the storm. Hundreds of schools closed, giv-ing youngsters one of the earliest snow days on record.

“Such a small storm but such a big disaster,” said Marina Shen,

who spent Sunday night with her husband and dog at a mid-dle school in Wayland, a Boston suburb of 13,000 where half the homes lost power. Just a few inches fell in Wayland, and most of it had melted by Monday, but overnight temperatures fell below freezing.

“The house is really, really cold. You cannot do anything. It’s so dark, cold,” Shen said. “Here they give us a hot shower.”

From Maryland to Maine, high winds and wet, heavy snow brought down trees, branches and wires Saturday and Sunday. Snow-fall amounts ranged from less than an inch in some places to 32 inches in the small town of Peru, Mass., in the Berkshire Mountains.

The storm was blamed for at least 21 deaths, including one in Canada. Most were caused by fall-

ing trees, traffic accidents or elec-trocutions from downed wires. Eight people died in Pennsylvania alone.

More than 3 million homes and businesses in the Northeast lost power at the height of the storm. By Monday night, that number was down to about 2.2 million.

Some of the same areas were hit hard by the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene just two months ago, but in many places the utility damage was worse this time. The trees had yet to lose their leaves and captured all too much of the snow.

“The leaves on the trees have made whole trees and huge branches come down, which have taken down more wires,’’ said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. “It’s a huge challenge for everybody.’’

TRIPOLI, Libya — A U.S.-edu-cated engineering professor with little political experience is Lib-ya’s new prime minister, a choice that suggests the country’s inter-im rulers may be trying to find a government leader palatable both to the West and to Libyans who distrust anyone connected to the former regime.

Abdurrahim el-Keib was cho-sen late Monday by Libya’s Na-tional Transitional Council, with 26 of 51 votes. He is to appoint within two weeks a new interim government that will pave the way for the drafting of a constitu-tion, as well as general elections.

He replaces outgoing interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, who had pledged to step down after victory over Moammar Gadhafi’s regime

Jibril was increasingly embat-tled in his last months in office, attacked by Libya’s Islamists as too secular, and by others as a former Gadhafi regime adviser who spent most of the country’s 8-month civil war outside Libya while revolutionary forces were fighting Gadhafi’s troops on the battlefield.

Jibril has won credit, however, for his role in helping secure international support for the revolution from Western powers, such as France and Britain, who led the push to give the upris-

ing the NATO air support that played a key role in Gadhafi’s defeat.

The previous interim govern-ment was an impromptu group of activists and former regime officials who defected after the uprising against Gadhafi erupted in mid-February.

El-Keib, who now lives in Trip-oli, said he would ensure that the new Libya will respect the rule of law. “We guarantee that we are after a nation that respects hu-man rights, and does not permit abuse of human rights. But we need time,” he said late Monday after being elected.

He said he would listen closely to the wishes of the Libyan peo-ple.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is using a new re-port on the income gap between the richest Americans and every-one else to continue pushing for passage of his stalled $447 billion jobs bill.

A report this week by the Con-gressional Budget Office found that average after-tax income for the top 1 percent of U.S. house-holds had increased by 275 per-cent over the past three decades while middle-income households saw just a 40 percent increase in their post-tax income. Those at the bottom of the economic scale saw their income grow by a mere 18 percent.

Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address that he would pay for his jobs plan with an added tax on people who make at least $1 million a year. But Senate Republicans blocked action on the bill, a blend of tax breaks for businesses and pub-lic works spending, because they oppose much of the increased spending and the surtax on mil-lionaires.

“These are the same folks who have seen their incomes go up so much, and I believe this is a con-tribution they’re willing to make,” he said. “Unfortunately, Repub-licans in Congress aren’t paying attention. They’re not getting the message.”

Obama is now trying to get Congress to pass the individual components of the bill. But Senate Republicans also blocked action on the first of those measures, $35 billion to help local governments keep teachers on the job and pay the salaries of police officers, fire-fighters and other emergency ser-vices workers.

Saying the country can’t wait for Congress, Obama has begun tak-ing unilateral steps that he says will encourage economic growth. The actions do not require con-gressional approval.

On Friday, Obama directed government agencies to shorten the time it takes for federal re-search to turn into commercial products in the marketplace, to help startup companies and small businesses create jobs and expand their operations more quickly. He also called for creation of a cen-tralized online site for companies

to easily find information about federal services. He previously had announced help for people who owe more on their mort-gages than their homes are worth and for the repayment of student loans. The White House also chal-lenged community health centers to hire veterans.

“We can no longer wait for Con-gress to do its job,” Obama said. “So where Congress won’t act, I will.”

The CBO report, based on IRS and Census Bureau data, was re-leased as the Occupy Wall Street movement spreading across the country protests bailouts for cor-porations and the income gap highlighted by the report. The Occupy Wall Street protesters call themselves “the 99 percent.”

In the weekly GOP message, Il-linois Rep. Bobby Schilling urged Obama to support the “forgotten 15” — measures that Schilling’s party says would help create jobs by blocking various energy and environmental regulations and streamlining administrative pro-cedures. The bills, passed by the Republican-controlled House, await action in the Democratic-run Senate.

By Andrew Taylor Associated Press

By Darlene SupervilleAssociated Press

By Rami Al-ShaheibiAssociated Press

By Bob Salsberg Associated Press

New Prime Minister appointed in Libya

Snowstorm wreaks havoc in Northeast

WASHINGTON — The Sen-ate has approved must-do leg-islation to fund the day-to-day budgets of five Cabinet agencies, kick-starting long overdue work to add the details to budget lim-its agreed to by President Barack Obama and congressional Re-publicans this summer.

The bipartisan 69-30 vote came on a $182 billion bundle of three bills to fund programs including transportation, space exploration, housing subsidies and the FBI for the 2012 budget year that started a month ago.

Under the budget pact enacted in August, lawmakers have to cut about $7 billion (or less than 1 percent) from the more than $1 trillion budgeted last year for

the daily operations of federal agencies. Such cuts are too small for tea party conservatives but would come in addition to sav-ings from benefit programs like farm subsidies and Medicare expected from a deficit “super-committee’’ later this month.

The budget limits, however, mean large cuts to programs like community development grants to local governments and subsi-dies for cities and towns for new equipment and less for the hir-ing of additional police officers. Highway funding would be held at last year’s levels, save for $1.9 billion in emergency help for states to rebuild from natural disasters.

Tuesday’s vote was a step for-ward for the moribund appro-priations process on Capitol Hill.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Features theonlinebeacon.com 5Eating healthy on a budget and in a hurry - it’s possible

By Mary RedstoneFeatures Editor

The freshman 15. The late-night pizza binges. The leftover pizza for breakfast. There are a lot of eating habits associated with col-lege life that are far from healthy, regardless of if we enjoy them or not. While a little food that’s bad for you is okay every once and a while, what are you going to eat the rest of the time? And when you find that healthy thing to eat, how are you going to afford it? Or even worse, how are you going to find time to make it?

BREAFKAST – IT’S NOT JUST FOR

BREAKFAST ANYMORE

If it’s acceptable to eat leftover dinner for breakfast, then why not eat breakfast food for dinner? Or, for that matter, why not any time of the day?

A lot of breakfast foods are high in vitamins and nutrients that you need since they’re supposed to be the start of your day.

Yogurt is not only high in vita-mins and the probiotics you need to maintain healthy digestion, it is also low in fat – so low sometimes there isn’t any at all – and cus-tomizable to fit any taste. Adding fruits and grains to the yogurt not only increases the flavor but also adds nutritional value and helps you to make you fuller longer.

Eggs are also a breakfast food high in nutrients that works for any part of the day. They are a complete protein, meaning they contain all the amino acids in proportions necessary for a prop-er diet.

A single egg contains between 50 and 60 calories, three to four grams of fat, and five to seven grams of complete protein. While it was once believed that eggs would raise cholesterol, nutri-tionists have recently debunked this myth; one to two eggs a day paired with a low fat diet does not raise cholesterol levels.

Always keep a box of cereal at hand. While the sugary cereals are always a favorite, for reasons of nostalgia and flavor, it’s better to go for something less like candy.

Sugary cereals can give you that sugar rush to get you through that boring class, but you’ll crash hard once it’s over. A cereal with more protein and more grain will not only make you stay full longer, but it will also make you feel better.

With the addition of milk to the cereal, remember that whole milk has a high fat content (3.25 percent). Not only is lower fat content milk healthier in the long run, it is also higher in other nu-trients than whole milk.

While soy milk does not contain dairy and is highly beneficial to those with dairy allergies, it can contain the same amount of fat as milk unless a low-fat soy milk is purchased.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

We all know the feeling of those 10 to 15 minutes in between class where you’re so hungry you could eat the entire contents of the C-Store. However, you always find yourself standing in front of the cases and shelves in the C-Store in a fit of indecision.

Whatever you do, don’t pick up that candy bar and put down the chips. If you’re heading to a class that allows you to eat at your desk, try for one of the big salads. How-ever, watch for the ratio of iceberg lettuce to more mixed greens; iceberg has very little nutritional value, while mixed greens like spinach and mesclun greens have higher value. You do not want to pay for a salad that will give you little nutritional value because you will find yourself hungry again very shortly.

Also, premade sandwiches are a good choice as long as they aren’t

loaded with mayonnaise and highly salted lunch meat.

If you’re in a rush and you can’t eat a meal in class, it’s best to find small meals, or snacks, that are high in protein; the protein will help you feel full until you can get to a real meal.

Hummus is low in fat and high in protein and often comes paired with crackers and pretzels in a small container suited for on-the-go eating. Like eggs, hummus is a complete protein and is beneficial both on its own and paired with other foods.

Cheese sticks are also good for quick consumption and are high in protein, but they are also high in fat and should only be eaten in moderation.

If you’re not worried about be-ing hungry again soon but need to just make it through a class or two, then carbohydrates might be a better choice. However, some carbohydrate-full food will give you more fat than you can burn off by sitting in class. The best of all worlds, as well as being cheap and quick, can be found in meal bars like Cliff, Odwalla and Luna bars. They contain enough pro-tein, carbs and fats for a whole meal as well as B vitamins and fruits and grains.

CAREFUL WITH THAT SNACK, EUGENE

Put down the Doritos and put the lid back on the Helluva Good.

I know, it’s tasty; trust me, I’ve been there before. Snacking is one of the hardest eating habits to cut back on, but it’s a lot easier to sub-stitute bad snacks for good ones.

Peanuts and almonds are not only one of the cheapest snacks you can buy, but they’re some of the healthiest. While nuts may be high in fat, they are naturally free of trans-fats and actually can help keep arteries clean. They also con-tain 25 percent more protein than any other nut. The problem with snacking on peanuts lies in its caloric content; a few handfuls of peanuts can be up to 200 calories. The same can be said for peanut butter; while a healthy snack on its own or paired with toast or cel-ery, it can quickly pile up calories.

Almonds contain all the health benefits of peanuts, but they also contain high levels of vitamin E. They also contain a kind of fat which is linked to lower counts of LDL Cholesterol. Phytosterols can also be found in almonds, which has been linked to lower-ing cholesterol.

Popcorn, when made correctly, is a healthy snack as well. When air-popped or popped in low-fat oil on the stove, it contains few calories and fat and is high in fi-ber. Try to avoid microwave pop-corn; it can contain numerous un-desirable chemicals as well as lots of sodium and fats.

Again, hummus is a really

healthy food packed with nutri-ents and proteins that your body needs. As a snack, simply dipping some carrots, celery, bell peppers, or crackers into the hummus can give you the energy boost you need, make you feel full, and will end up costing you less money in the long run than a $4 bag of po-tato chips and dip.

DRINK UP

Soda is bad for you and there’s no way around it. All the high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors cause prob-lems with blood glucose levels. They are also highly acidic, and too much can affect the way your body reacts to other food, includ-ing lowering metabolism.

Fruit juices can be just as bad for you if you don’t know where to look. Some are loaded with extra sugars and aren’t even en-tirely juice; this can skyrocket the amount of calories contained in the juice. While organic, all-juice beverages may cost more, they are a higher concentrate which means you can add water to them and make them last longer.

Scientists are discovering that coffee is a lot healthier for you than they once thought. Any-cream or sugar added to the cof-fee, can turn it from a drink low in calories and fat to potentially a whole meal’s worth of calories if you have a drink like a frappuci-no. Tea can put you in a similar situation; plain tea is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients, but something like a chai tea, full of cream and sugars, can add many unnecessary calories.

The best, cheapest, and healthi-est thing for you out of all these things is water. If you’re hungry and can’t get to food right away, drink water. If you’re thirsty, drink water. If you feel kind of funny and you don’t know why, you probably need more water.

And when in doubt about what to eat or drink look at the label. If the calories are too high or the fats are in the double digits, odds are you don’t need it. If sugar, or high fructose corn syrup, is the first ingredient and you can’t pro-nounce the majority of the list, you probably don’t need that ei-ther. It doesn’t hurt to do a little research into your food; after all, you wouldn’t throw any old gas into your car, so why should your own fuel be any different?

Cheng Zhang, a Chinese ex-change student, rolls out of bed and rubs her eyes, checking the time. “Ugh, class soon. I think I am sick,” she said.

This is a common feeling among students this time of year. One day they feel completely fine, and the next morning they are strick-en with something that feels like the plague.

“You can try your hardest to pre-vent yourself from getting sick,

but it’s usually inevitable,” said Jody Tierney, Director of Health Services. “Everyone is living close to each other and sharing every-thing in college.”

Though our flu season is usu-ally around January and February, she advised students to wash their hands constantly throughout the year. Health Services has placed hand sanitizers at different loca-tions around campus for those who don’t have time to get to a sink.

Tierney said Health Services holds a flu clinic every year, which

started in early October. The first week they administered 150 doses. Students with asthma and diabetes were contacted first, and then it opened to all students. It was opened to the entire college staff after the first week.

The junior class council has made an effort to battle the flu season by creating a flu kit for stu-dents.

“The letters for the flu kits were sent out to parents earlier this week,” said Lizzy Mullen, Presi-dent of the Class of 2013. “A com-pleted flu kit costs $8.00.” Order

forms are due back from parents by November 11th.

According to Mullen, the kit will include: a disposable ther-mometer, tea, chapstick, hand sanitizer, cough drops, salt pack-ets, a fever reducer, and facial tis-sues all packaged into an MCLA mug. Mullen also said there will be a surprise item included with the kits.

Since there is only so much you can do once you get the flu, what can be done about classes when you are feeling miserable?

“You cannot get a note from Health Services as an excuse for

an absence,” Tierney said. She suggested students talk to their professors when they feel ill, be-cause most professors won’t want students in class in a sick state anyway. She said this procedure is a simulation of life and can teach students how to communicate with professors.

“In the real world, employees will only get a few days of excused absence from work; after that, a doctor’s note will not cut it as an excuse,” Tiereny said. “Students are being prepared here for the future.”

Flu shots and kits ready for upcoming flu seasonBy Holly JohnstonSpecial to the Beacon

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon staffEating healthy in college doesn’t have to be time-consuming and expensive.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 A&E theonlinebeacon.com6

Water Is Rising: Music and Dance

amid Climate Change

November 15th 7:30pmChurch Street Center Auditorium

An 1877 Steinway grand piano used by many Motown musicians will be restored by former Beatle Paul McCartney.

The Detroit News reports the pi-ano will be picked up Monday from the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit and shipped to Steinway & Sons in New York for restoration. The work is expected to take up to five months.

McCartney told museum officials following his July concert at Com-erica Park that he wanted to help in the restoration after he learned the piano no longer could be played.

Steinway & Sons has to assess the piano’s condition before a cost can be determined. Company executive Ron Losby told the newspaper in a statement that the piano will be re-stored in the “same New York fac-tory where it was originally built.’’

‘Field of Dreams’ property sold

Local dance theater featured in documentaryBy Nora Weiss

Staff WriterThe Williamstown Film Festival

came to an end at Mass. MoCA on Friday, showcasing a documentary about Jacob’s Pillow called “Never Stand Still.”

TIME magazine has called Jacob’s Pillow “the hub and mecca of danc-ing,” something that both Mass. MoCA and Williamstown Film Festival set out to collaborate on. Narrated by Tony-award winner Bill T. Jones, audience members are told the story of how Jacob’s Pillow was created and how it grew into the center of dance that it is today.

The documentary goes through the experiences of famous dancers whose lives changed for the better while at the Pillow, and younger dancers who currently are enrolled in classes. The progression of dance as a culture grows with these danc-ers who profess their success is due to Jacob’s Pillow and its creator Ted Shawn.

Directed by Ron Housa, “Never Stand Still” goes into detail of how dancer Shawn bought abandoned farmland in 1931 to transform the land into a place of dance. Many of those interviewed throughout the film expressed the concept of the clear space within the nature of the Berkshires. What else is there to do but dance?

Founded in 1998, the William-stown Film Festival became the ‘last’ art form to break out in the Berkshires, as there was already visual art, music, and dance. Many

residents of the Berkshires felt film needed to be a part of Western Massachusetts and finally closed the gap on the art forms. Soon, the festival was incorporated as a non-profit organization and Wil-liamstown Film Festival became a part of the Berkshire culture. It has continued its tradition of premier-ing new films ever year, much like “Never Stand Still.”

Since 2000, the Williamstown Film Festival and Mass. MoCA have continually combined efforts

to host the art of the independent film. As this film is the pair’s 23rd time joining forces in the name of collaboration, the admiration for all things Berkshire is something that catches. “Never Stand Still” cel-ebrates the life and progression of Jacob’s Pillow. Audience members in MoCA’s Hunter Center on Fri-day witnessed this world premiere with clips of early dancers and the journey of hopeful dancers on their way to becoming successful.

Known for being an interna-

tional dance center, stage, and per-formance space, Housa captures the spirit and magic that is Jacob’s Pillow in “Never Stand Still.” The documentary takes the idea of fall-ing in love with dance and applies it to those who don’t see the need to move their feet. The feeling of want-ing to be better and to continue the positive influence from doing something you love holds the doc-umentary together. It gives a whole new meaning to Jacob’s Pillow: you don’t have to dance to love dance.

McCartney restoring Motown piano

Associated Press

The sprawling eastern Iowa corn-fields made famous by the movie “Field of Dreams’’ are being sold to a company that will preserve the site’s baseball legacy, the owners an-nounced Sunday.

Don and Becky Lansing said they have accepted an offer from Mike and Denise Stillman and their com-pany, Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which will develop the site near Dyersville as a baseball and softball complex. A purchase price was not disclosed.

“We worked hard to maintain its wholesome allure, and our success says a lot about our nation’s love af-fair with its national pastime,’’ Becky Lansing said in a statement. ``It tru-

ly is a special place.’’ The land has been in Don Lan-

sing’s family since 1906. The couple put the property up for sale at $5.4 million in May 2010. The parcel includes the two-bedroom house, baseball diamond, six other build-ings and 193 acres (78 hectares) mostly cornfields from the movie.

The film, released in 1989, was based on the book ``Shoeless Joe’’ by W.P. Kinsella and starred Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. The site has been a popular tourist desti-nation ever since.

The Lansings said earlier this year that they had gotten several inqui-ries about the site but were commit-ted to finding a buyer that would preserve its legacy.

The Stillmans’ plan for the property includes preservation of the existing

buildings and development of “All-Star Ballpark Heaven,’’ described as a complex including fields for base-ball and softball tournaments and an indoor training facility. Go the Distance plans to offer tournaments for teams of players ages 18 and younger, professional-style training and skills competitions.

“We understand the impact that demographics, market trends and the economy will have on baseball and those who love the game in the next decade,’’ Denise Stillman said. ``... We are thrilled to continue the `Field of Dreams’ legacy.’’

As for the Lansings, they’ll live a few miles (kilometers) away and make visits to the site, “especially in summer when the corn is high. That’s when the field is most magi-cal,” Don Lansing said.

Photo Courtesy of uncraate.comThe ‘Field of Dreams’ in Dubuque County, Iowa.

Salsa Dura Dance PartyNOV. 5

8 p.m.

With La Excelencia

Mass MoCA

Photo Courtesy of Williamstownfilmfest.com‘Never Stand Still’ rounded off the Williamstown Film Festival.

By Timberly RossAssociated Press

Online at:theonlinebeacon.com

Thursday, November 3, 2011 A&E theonlinebeacon.com 7

The official kick-off of the new series titled, “Tricks of the Trade: Culture-Making,” begins Nov. 8 at MCLA Gallery 51. This series of 19 interactive seminars will be held across Berkshire County through May 2012. The monthly seminars will provide inven-tive topics and ground-breaking speakers to ignite the evolving conversation between art and community, including unex-plored opportunities and ideas for the artists and creatives.

Now in its seventh year, “Tricks of the Trade” offers a series of three seminars each month in North Adams, Pittsfield and Stockbridge. These events are free and open to the public.

November kicks off with “Arts in Education,” which will explore a wide range of opportunities in theater, music and visual arts for school systems and non-profit organizations.

Laura Thompson, director of exhibitions and education of Kidspace at Mass. MoCA, will be a panelist speaker. She will dis-cuss her several community ini-tiatives and diverse experiences in the field. Elizabeth Baker, 21st Century Community Learn-ing Centers grant coordinator, will share her comprehensive knowledge about public school enrichment, and educating with the arts through her experience with after-school programs in the Berkshires.

Other topics will include De-cember’s “Reuse of Spaces for Creative Purposes,” which will highlight opportunities to be found by reusing sacred and pri-vate space, such as empty store-fronts and churches. Many of

these spaces have the potential to be turned into a creative busi-ness, art studio, gallery, or per-formance space.

Jessica Conzo, director and co-founder of Alchemy Initia-tive, will discuss her process to re-purpose an old church into a thriving community with artist studios, events and workshops. An artist lecture/discussion will be led by Michael Oatman, an installation and collage artist exhibiting at Mass. MoCA. He will speak about his repurposed air-stream trailer installation, “All Utopias Fell,” a fictional tale of a solar-obsessed scientist who crash-lands back to earth. Visitors to this work may walk though his intricate laboratory and peculiar living quarters.

In January, the topic will be “Creative Residencies Based in Communities,” with local and national opportunities, as well as how to successfully restructure a residency application.

The month of February con-tains “Integration of Art and Community,” which will include

round-table discussions about art, community and local poli-tics. Mayors and city councilors of Berkshire County will be in-vited, as well as community in-novators such as Susan Cross, curator at Mass. MoCA, and San-dra Newman, founder and ex-ecutive director of Community Access to the Arts.

March will feature “Political Art,” which includes a series of remarkable artist lectures hosted by Denise Markonish, curator at Mass. MoCA.

April is the month for “Envi-ronmental Art,” including the controversy surrounding local river art projects and opportuni-ties for environmental residen-cies. The artist lecture/discussion will be with Jane Philbrick, an outdoor space and installation artist exhibiting at Mass. MoCA, with her work, “The Expanded Field.”

In May, the topic will be “Public Art,” which will discuss the op-portunities for artists to visually enrich an entire community, as well as the funding and process.

‘Tricks of the Trade’ to feature 19interactive seminars at Gallery 51

Press Release

Photo Courtesy of Jon Secor‘Tricks of the Trade’ begins Nov. 8th at Gallery 51.

Pitcher’s Mound Pub

Open 7 days a week

Now offering:

FREE WIFI!FREE Mound Bound

sticker with a College ID

Every Thursday Night is TRIVIA with “THE MACHINE”

21+ ID after 10 p.m.

Pitcher’s Mound

In today’s world of social net-works, pictures are everywhere. Some people are so passionate about pictures that they are driv-en to take the perfect picture. Ben Mancino has had that drive since he was in seventh grade.

Mancino’s style really started to develop when he purchased a macro lens for his camera, which allows the photographer to take extreme close-ups without the pictures losing focus.

“My first camera had a zoom, so ever since then I have been all about close-up shots to re-ally bring the subject into focus,” Mancino said.

A sophomore Arts Manage-ment major at the College, Mancino is a devoted nature lover. When he was in middle school he asked for a camera for Christmas, and he hasn’t looked back. His high school in New York only offered a class in film photography, so Mancino took

his talents to MCLA and the beauty of the Berkshires.

You might see Ben in the Cam-pus Center or Bowman Hall selling his pictures; it is his only source of income from them.

“I don’t sell pictures I wouldn’t buy myself, and I’m real particu-lar about my pictures.” Mancino explained.

Mancino advances his skills whenever he can. He has won photo contests with the Times Union, an Albany area newspa-

per, and plans to intern with a studio photographer this sum-mer.

Photography isn’t as easy as it may sound to some. A “shoot”

could last anywhere between an hour and three hours, usually romping through the woods around campus to find what Mancino describes as “anything that really catches my eye, that I feel the need to capture with my camera.”

After a shoot Manci-no cycles through all the pictures and some-times finds none he likes; other times, there may be upwards of ten keepers.

“It’s really hit or miss; it depends on time of day,” he said. “Some-times I’ll go back to the same place and photo-graph the same thing in a different light day after day until I get it perfect.”

Mancino’s advice for amateur photographers hoping to become better is simple: “Experiment with different settings and just don’t give up.”

Professors and other profes-sional contacts are good, but Mancino says that developing your own style and techniques before being introduced into others’ styles is key.

“If you don’t have a style and

then someone tells you how to take a picture one way you might never develop your own way,” Mancino said.

You can find Mancino’s pho-tography at BTMphotography.blogspot.com.

Sophomore makes money through passion for photographyBy Andrew Hodgson

Staff Writer

Photo by Andrew Hodgson/ Beacon StaffBen Mancino is a student photographer at MCLA.

“Sometimes I’ll go back to the same place

and photograph the same thing in a

different light day after day until I

get it perfect.”

Every Thursday and FridayDJ Jon

Saturday November 5thDJ Jon

Saturday November 12thDJ Elixer

Saturday November 19thJungle Works

Night Before Thanksgiving Bashwith DJ Fuzion

Photo Courtesy of Jonathan Secor“Tricks of the Trade” begins Nov. 8 at Gallery 51.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 A&E theonlinebeacon.com8Editor’s Picks

Concerts in your area this November

New Releases

Beginning ursday, Oct. 27, MCLA’s Gallery 51 presents “Pho-tos of the Undescribed,” by Ben Ripley.

Ripley’s work uses a variety of ac-tual and re-conceived 19th centu-ry photographic processes whose physical presence stand in contrast to the idea of an in nitely repro-ducible digital image, according to MCLA Gallery 51 Manager Ven Voisey, curator of the show.

“Photography is a challenging medium because of its prevalence in visual language and culture,” Voisey said. “Its use in advertis-ing alone presents the average city dweller with hundreds, if not thousands, of photographed imag-es a day. I see Ripley’s critical sen-sibility and his use of medium and process as metaphor as a counter-approach to the predominant di-lutive and o� en misleading use of the photographic image.”

e show includes the photo-graph, “River Journey,” which Ri-pley created by shooting in onto a negative that is 100 feet long and 2 feet high, spooled across a giant 19th century brass lens. About 75 feet long, “River Journey” is a re-cord of an exposure in a giant cam-era mounted on a boat traveling down a river.

e handmade boat – also on display for this exhibition – that Ripley used to create this photo-graph is partially made of recycled banners from Mass. MoCA.

“ e photograph was exposed continually as the boat travelled,

and the image carries records of the motion of the boat and the op-erator,” according to Ripley. “ e wavy lines and changes in the ex-posure of the photograph disrupt the idea of an objective image while at the same time provide a more accurate record of the cam-era’s point of view.”

Ripley explained that part of the attraction of photography, lies in the quest for accurate reproduc-tions as the lm passively records the objects that are presented to it.

“ e experience of the viewer, however, is not that of an objective witness. Ideas of context, illusions, the viewer’s own thoughts, memo-ries and unique perceptions a� ect his or her experience of work more than the artist,” Ripley said.

In “ e Onomasticon I,” Rip-ley uses scrap wood covered with a tiny, handwritten repetition of

the word “one.” is photograph traces the path of the artist’s hand and attention over the wood. e viewer is given the opportunity to follow the same path, and the choice to pay attention to or ig-nore whatever parts of the piece he or she wishes.

“Stages of Trust” features a col-lection of four counting ma-chines. When a machine registers motion, it produces a photograph of the word “one,” and begins a new exposure of the word on the next photograph. e viewer’s in-teraction provides beginning and end points for each photograph.

According to Ripley, the longer it takes for the machine to recognize the presence of another person, the more deeply the word one is etched into the paper. e photo-graphs are records of the connec-tion between the two viewers.

Like many other moments of social protest in American histo-ry, Occupy Wall Street is not only garnering the support of people in the streets, but also people in recording studios.

A few musicians have thrown their support to the occupy movement, including American rebel rocker Tom Morello who has zigzagged throughout major cities to play for protestors, and folk legend Pete Seeger who at 92 years old, marched with protes-tors along the streets of Manhat-tans Upper West side.

While music may not be able to topple governments or capi-talism, it could be considered a transcendent musical genre; its role in American music runs deep. Here is a look at some great moments in American protest music:

Pete Seeger: “Bring them Home”

“Bring em Home” was writ-ten as a simple anthem calling foul on the aggressive nature of American war policy in Vietnam. While an obvious anti-war song, Seeger stayed patriotic in this tune, declaring, “If you love your Uncle Sam, bring them home, bring them home,” and, “If an army invaded this land of mine,

you’d nd me out on the ring line.”

Bob Dylan: “� e Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”

While this tune has the trade-mark musical elements of many of Dylan’s early 60’s tunes, “ e Lonesome Death of Hattie Car-roll” takes a lyrical approach that is jarring in its factual presenta-tion. In four verses, a 22-year-old Dylan puts on display the injustices of America’s legal sys-tem, and the social discrimina-tion that it protected, telling the story of the murder of a 51-year-old African-American mother of 11 at the hands of a drunken 24-year-old tobacco farmer Wil-liam Zanzinger. Zanzinger would only serve six months of jail time. “William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll with a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring

nger,” Dylan crows.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: “Ohio”

A� er seeing the horri c Life Magazine pictures of dead pro-testors at Kent State University, Neil Young wrote Ohio, a song that achieved mainstream suc-cess while containing vehement-ly political lyrics. Using Richard Nixon’s name speci cally along with his “tin soldiers” was what David Crosby referred to as “the bravest thing I’d ever heard.” e declaration of “soldiers are cut-ting us down” proclaimed a di-vide amongst the government and the people, and highlighted an American paranoia that few could deny. As the tune fades the screams of “how many more” and “Four…why?” is a haunting and emotional homage to the four students killed that day.

John DemingA&E Editor

Jungle Work

Two of the most popular shows on television have lost their front man: “The Office” lost Steve Carell (it was time for a regime change) and “Two and a Half Men” lost Charlie Sheen (because of bad blood and Ti-ger Blood). While the former was an innovator for American television, the latter found him-self one of the surviving mem-bers of comedy’s gilded age of laugh track. One thing can be said for both: they’ve lost more than their fair share of luster, and laughs.

While these programs were different in style and premise, the leading actors share a fairly similar story. Both were the bread and butter of a concept, and without them their shows are lackluster attempts at the quality they once had.

Here and there I have caught an episode of “Two and a Half Men,” and while its not my cup of meat, I respect it and under-stand its success. It’s a show you can air re-runs of before prime-time, and the humor was spe-cific to the Frasier, Seinfeld, and Drew Carey style that uses just enough adult humor and ‘crass’ jokes to appeal to all ages. But when you build a show around the humor of only three person-alities and the biggest one leaves the show...well, lets just say your not going to be ‘winning’ much longer. But Charlie Sheen’s cir-cus of a spiral into unemploy-ment was far from the write-in departure of Michael Scott.

Steve Carell left “The Office” like Tony La Russa left the Car-dinals: on top. Literally the foun-dation (and regional manager) of “The Office” retired, and left behind a cast of willing and able familiar faces to carry on that brand of humor. But “The Of-fice” was built around the ev-ery-day antics of Michael Scott, and the crisis management that ensues. While I believe that Ed Helms is a phenomenal talent, implementing his rein over the rest of the gang seems forced at best, and the employees seem lost as they are weekly hypno-tized by James Spader.

TV is something I enjoy. I have ‘my shows’ but I also have the attention span of a fifth-year senior, and a sense of humor developed after many years of listening to Howard Stern. I’m losing my patience with an old favorite, and I can’t respect a show that self-implodes.

Musicians join Occupy movement

Furthur: Featuring Bob Weir and Phil LeshWhere: Mullins Center, AmherstWhen: Nov. 6th:8 p.m.How Much: $37.50- $69.50

Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones Where: Calvin eatre, NorthamptonWhen: Nov. 10How Much: $35--$45

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Where: Club Helinski, Hudson, NYWhen: Nov. 5How Much: $35--$45

Lou Reed & Metallica:

LuluAvailiable Oct. 31st

Warner Brothers/Vertigo Records Costs: $19.99

Tom Waits

Bad as Me

Availiable Oct. 21st

Anti- Records

Costs: $19.99

Photo gallery opens at Gallery 51Press Release

Photos courtesy of presscdn.com & babyboomeradvisorclub.comTom Morello (left) and Pete Seeger (right) are among the musicians supporting the Ocuppy movement.

By John DemingA&E Editor

Photo courtesy of Jonathan SecorBen Ripley’s “Photo’s of the Undescribed” is on display at Gallery 51.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Sports theonlinebeacon.com 9

By Robert BeauchesneSports Writer

Dan Saunders roams around his side’s defensive zone, making plays on the ball as well as setting up his teammates for the attack. His position takes a toughness, discipline, and an understanding of the game. He must process in-formation and make good deci-sions. Saunders provides the type of heady play that does not show up in the scorebook.

Saunders grew up in Tewksbury, Mass., a small but sports-crazy town in the eastern part of the state. While at Tewksbury Memo-rial High, he played soccer for the Redmen. Saunders admits that his high school team was not the best.

“We did not win many games my junior and senior year, and I felt embarrassed,” Saunders said. “I had always played the game very physical, but after that I played with a chip on my shoulder.”

This style of play drew interest from Coach Adam Hildabrand.

“I had not heard of MCLA until Coach Hildabrand contacted me before senior year,” Saunders said. “I had not even heard of North Adams, either.”

Coach Adam Hildabrand, a for-mer player at the college, brought him onto the squad because he liked how physically and aggres-sively Saunders played the game. Dan admits that playing college soccer seemed a little odd to him at the time.

“Honestly, when I came to MCLA I was useless,” he said. “I did not have a position I could play. Really the only thing I could do was hustle and be a junk yard dog out there.”

“Coach talked to me and ba-sically told me he liked what I brought to the table,” Saunders continued. “The first two years were a little tough, because I was still trying to develop my techni-cal skills and playing time was

hard to come by. Luckily I devel-oped a group of friends that are basically like brothers to me.”

Saunders has lived with Tommy Duplisea, Austin Sniezek, Liroy Ozinci, and Gary D’Annunzio since his freshman year.

“We really have been friends through it all,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we wanted to kill each other, but we always ended up laughing.”

Saunders’ first year was a learn-ing experience. He appeared in six games for the Trailblazers, play-ing the position of back. The team was full of upper classmen and playing time was hard to come by. This did not discourage Saunders, who treated every practice like a game situation.

“Going up against guys like Raul Escobar and Ben Twomey was good for me,” Saunders said. “They were very physical players and I wanted to follow them. I fig-ured that going hard in practice helped me.”

In Saunders’ junior year, the team looked to make a run at the MASCAC conference tourna-ment. This was Saunders’ oppor-tunity to help his team.

Men’s soccer’s Dan Saunders stays strong on field and off

Women’s volleyball concludes 2011 season with defeat

By Kaitland HagerSports Writer

“Expect the Unexpected.” That simple phrase was the motto of the 2011 Women’s Volleyball team this past season.

Senior captain Hayley Gunder-sen would call the season “educa-tional”.

“There were many obstacles that we had to overcome this year,” she said. “From Hurricane Irene mak-ing us leave part way through pre-season, to the gym floor condi-tions not always to our advantage, or to people having injuries and not being able to play. As a team we learned to come together and persevere even though the odds were not on our side,” she added.

Throughout it all, the ‘Blazers stood tall.

“They lifted to the challenge,” Coach Amanda Beckwith said.

Beckwith, in her fifth season as head coach, challenged the team by adding extra tournaments to the schedule and building team chemistry between a group with new players out-numbering re-turners two to one.

The team didn’t just have to wor-ry about physical and mental ad-versity. Other obstacles appeared

in their path.At the beginning of the semes-

ter, Hurricane Irene caused a campus-wide evacuation of pre-season athletes and all other stu-dents, faculty and staff. Despite losing a weekend of crucial time, the ‘Blazers still managed to get their fair share of team bonding.

Camping, a ropes course and a river crossing activity were just a few of the different activities the ‘Blazers participated in to bring them together as a team. It didn’t stop there.

“As the season went on, the team came together each time someone got injured, or if someone decid-ed they had to leave,” Gundersen said.

Though the ‘Blazers finished their season with less-than-de-sireable statistics, there were still highlights that outshined their team record.

They had a successful six game winning streak over a week-and-a-half period, defeating confer-ence rivals Mass. Maritime and Salem State.

Senior captain Kayla Bromback, a force on the court since her freshman year, surpassed the all-time MCLA kill record, finishing the 2011 season with 258 kills.

She broke the previous record held by Christina Kidd, class of 2010, during the volleyball team’s now-annual Dig Pink event, to raise money for the battle against

breast cancer.“It is always a joyous event and it

was thrilling,” sophomore Kelley Bryant said. “It was a good game; we always seem to attract a crowd

and raise good money for breast cancer.”

VOLLEY, continued on Page 11

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon StaffDan Saunders worked hard to earn his position on the Blazers.

“I had always played the game

very physical, but after that I played

with a chip on my shoulder,”

Saunders said.

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon StaffThe Blazers won the volley but it wasn’t enough to keep SUNY-IT from winning the game.

SAUNDERS, continued on Page 11

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Sports theonlinebeacon.com10

By Brendan FoleySports Editor

The women’s Trailblazers have had a long, strange season. Plagued by injuries, the team opened the season with a five-game losing streak, giving up 14 goals while only answering with three of their own.

But the season was not doomed to be nothing but loss and failure, as the Blazers found their footing and began to fight back. In the team’s next two games, the girls scored four times and did not al-low a single goal from the opposi-tion.

The remainder of the season has followed an up-and-down path. The team has finished with final overall record of 6-10-1 and a MASCAC conference record of 2-4-1.

Head Coach Deb Raber looks back and refuses to take a nega-tive perspective.

Sitting in her office with her faithful dog curled up in front of her desk, Raber explains that there are many positive aspects of the seasons.

Raber said, “Because of injuries,

the younger members of the team had a tremendous amount of playing and experience.”

She continued, “This season showed the importance of us stay-ing together and working towards a common vision in the face of adversity.”

Raber believes that there is no-where for the team to go but up next season. “Those women who are on the injury list will be that much more motivated to return,” she said. “We didn’t have the best season according to the record, but that is a strong motivator for the returning women.”

The team’s final game was held on Saturday, Oct. 29, against Bridgewater State. Bridgewater is the number one team in the MASCAC conference. The game went scoreless into the second half, when Bridgewater managed to put one past Trailblazer goal-tender Jen Wehner. This single goal proved to be enough to finish the Trailblazers, who were unable to answer the goal.

Deb Raber said, “As a coach you always think that there is some-thing that you can do better.”

For the season, the Trailblazers

scored 13 times on 178 attempts on net. Their opponents managed to score 27 times off of 372 shots on net.

Junior Brianna Bresett led the team in goals, scoring three times

throughout the season. Follow-ing close behind were sophomore Brianna Dandurant, freshman Janelle Stannard and freshman Lindsay Roy who put up two goals apiece.

The MASCAC conference fin-ished with a three-way tie for first between Worcester, Westfield and Bridgewater.

Intramurals first session endsBy Kayla Koumjian

Sports Writer

Intramural sports finished their first session of the 2011 fall semes-ter last Thursday. Team Sim won in a nail biter for the dodge ball championship and the undefeated team Moes won in cornhole.

Now, with the first session over, intramural is starting its second with more sports than last. These sports are Kan Jam, 3-on-3 basket-ball, floor hockey and co-ed vol-leyball.

“We also have a Flag Football Tournament on Sunday, Novem-ber 6th,” said men’s soccer coach and director of intramural sports, Adam Hildabrand.

“We usually have a flag football league, but with the lack of par-ticipation last year, we decided to have a tournament instead to raise interest,” said co-supervisor John Ripepi.

During that same day, there will be a powderpuff tournament for girls sponsored by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. There will be food and drinks pro-vided for anyone who goes.

Hildabrand and his supervisors are trying to improve student par-ticipation the second session from the last one.

“Our attendance for session I was down from last year, but the product we put out there was bet-ter,” said Hildabrand. “Our goal was to put out a quality product so new students to intramural would have a great experience and sign

up again.”Last session there were 22 stu-

dents participating in cornhole and 70 participating in dodge ball.

Ripepi agrees with Hildabrand, “We need to continue to have good support from our students as the intramural program’s sole purpose is for students recreational time,” he said.

Hildabrand is optimistic about the increase in participation for the second semester.

“Historically there is always a big jump in participation in the second session,” Hildabrand said. “Students are more settled in and more in tune with what it going on, mid way through the semester.”

Ripepi also believes more stu-dents will participate saying, “There will be more sports and two of them are the most popular.” The two sports Ripepi is referring to is floor hockey and 3-on-3 bas-ketball.

Another reason for an increase is because fall sports will be over in time for the second session. This means fall season athletes will be eligible to participate.

Ripepi feels intramural sports is a good way for students to break free from the stress of classes and school work. “It’s fun and a good way to get away from work for a little while,” he said.

Intramural sports is also a great way to stay active. With the weath-er getting cooler, many students become more lazy and sluggish.

“Even with the harsh winters we have, the gym is always open for

students who want to play sports,” said John Ripepi.

Any student is welcome to par-ticipate and is encouraged to have their friends join as well. “Intra-mural doesn’t just have to be for athletes. We have games anyone can play,” Ripepi said.

Rosters for the second session were handed in on Nov. 1. These

rosters were located and handed in at tables outside of the cafeteria and inside of Bowman Hall.

“We’ve also been utilizing First-Class,” said Adam Hildabrand about getting the word out for sec-ond session. “We placed table tents strategically across campus too on top of putting up the usual bulletin board posting.”

“The most effective way we can advertise intramural is through email on FirstClass and tabling around campus,” said Ripepi.

Be sure to check outside the caf-eteria and Bowman Hall to sign up or learn more information about intramural. It is for anyone who wants to join.

Women’s soccer team finish up-and-down season with loss at Bridgewater

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon StaffThe cornhole championship was held in the Venable Gym on Thursday, Oct. 27.

Photo courtesy of MCLA.eduThe 2011 Women’s Trailblazers overcame physical and mental adversity in their pursuit of a winning season.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Sports theonlinebeacon.com 11

framingham salemwestfieldbridgewater worcestermass. maritimeMCLAfitchburg

worcester westfieldbridgewaterfitchburgframinghamsalemMCLAmass. maritime

Standings(As of Press Time)

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Soccer

Volleyball

westfield framinghamworcesterbridgewater MCLAsalemmass. maritime

6-8-311-6-010-6-16-7-37-7-22-12-15-10-13-12-1

5-1-15-2-04-2-13-1-32-2-11-5-11-5-11-5-0

13-2019-1212-168-21

12-223-170-28

All Conf

12-4-113-3-1 11-6-110-5-2 8-8-17-7-36-10-12-13-0

5-2-05-2-05-2-04-3-03-3-12-3-22-4-10-7-0

All Conf

All Conf6-05-14-23-32-41-50-6

Brendan FoleySports Editor

Women’s Basketball

11/16 @St. Joseph 7 p.m.11/22 @Becker 7 p.m.11/27 Williams 4 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

11/15 Sage 7 p.m.11/18 vs. Suffolk@Endicott 8 p.m.11/19 TBD @Endicott 4 p.m.

Farewell to FaithWell, it had to happen eventually.The Patriots got old.I know, I know, we all knew this

day would come, nothing gold can stay, blah blah blah.

The Patriots are currently tied for first with the Buffalo Bills with a record of 5-2, so there’s no rea-son to hit the panic button on the season just yet. There isn’t some magical switch that can be flipped to change the team from “OHMY-GOD THEY’RE AWESOME!” to “garbage.” Or, if there is, I haven’t seen it. Probably something we should look into, though.

No, the real loss is the sense of optimism, the sense of superior-ity that, for a time, every Patriots fan felt watching the team run into Gilette.

For a couple of years there, the people of New England had an unerring faith in the Patriots and that magical combination that was Belichick and Brady. I remember watching a playoff game with my Dad where the Pat’s were playing pretty sloppy and getting run up and down the field. Dad didn’t blink, insisting that the Patriots had a plan that would end up in victory.

The Patriots lost that game, but even then the sense of faith re-mained.

Really, it was Camera Gate, a stupidly-named, stupidly-reported on, largely manufactured contro-versy that marked the beginning of the end. All of a sudden our Pa-triots weren’t indestructable. They were people. People who made dumb mistakes, people who occa-sionally made the wrong call. They were fallible.

They went undefeated in the reg-ular season, but the sense of unim-peachability was gone.

The Patriots will probably have a strong season. They will more-than-likely finish with a winning record. They will probably wind up in the playoffs, heck, they might make it all the way to the big game this winter.

But the faith isn’t there. The un-shakeable belief that we are the best, that we will triumph over all comers, thatt’s been shaking.

Nowadays, the fans of the New England Patriots will have to live week to week, game to game to see if the Patriots will win. The crowds will just have to be satisfied that they have a very goodteam, possi-bly a very great team, and one that will win many, many games, but not EVERY game. A team, not an unstoppable locomotive made of pure victory.

And maybe, just maybe, we’re all better off that way.

For Coach Beckwith, there wasn’t a particular instance in the season that stuck out for her. Rather, it was the entire season, with the girls buying into the team philosophy.

“We [the coaching staff and re-turning players] have to teach the new kids why we have team rules, a team grade point average and why we have to learn,” Beckwith said. “We broke things down, modified and readjusted team goals. We realized we were being challenged.”

She continued, “We have been very close knit all the way through. We had the team cama-raderie we needed this year and definitely the talent to back it up,” “We were not used to playing next to another on the court. But as the season went on the team became more familiar with one another and we were able to play great as a

team,” Gundersen added.There’s hope that the ability to

play great as a team will continue. On the backs of Gundersen and Bromback’s leadership, the wom-en’s volleyball team will carry their solidarity and energy level into the coming seasons.

“The upperclassmen understand me and the team philosophy,” Beckwith said. “They were quick to transfer that knowledge to the new kids.”

Gundersen agreed. “Knowing that I am someone that some of the freshmen look up to, I’d say that is pretty successful. I think that with the past four years, I have left my legacy at this school. Whether it is large or small, I think I left something,” she said.

With a majority of the team re-turning next fall, Beckwith has her work cut out for her. A coach of structure, Beckwith embraced the fun, young and sometimes silly personalities of her fledgling

team and kept them focused. For-tunately, for her and the returners, they were her strongest, most ex-perienced recruitment class. They understood the college game and

the fast pace it set and had no choice but to rise to the occasion for a starting position.

“The future is bright,” Beckwith said.

Volleyball loses final game of seasonVOLLEY, continued from Page 9

He made a big jump, starting 13 games and appearing in two more. He worked hard to gain possession of the ball, and to chase down opposing players and stop scoring chances.

“I like the wide open spaces that soccer has. I love being able to chase down my opponents and get to loose balls.” Saunders said when talking about his role on the team.

MCLA only allowed 19 goals in that campaign.

Saunders’ last game was some-thing of a surreal moment. It was an unforgiving Berkshire County day as a sharp wind whipped across the field turf. Although the Trailblazers were out of playoff contention, they refused to give Bridgewater State and inch.

Saunders has good memories of that match.

“I just really played with to-

tal adrenaline and emotion. It got pretty chippy out there but I know I played as hard as I could,” he said.

After MCLA, Saunders says that he will probably go back to Tewksbury and hopefully coach soccer as well as work full-time.

SAUNDERS continued from Page 9

Saunders fights for position

Photo by Dennise Carranza/Beacon StaffThe volleyball team joined hands as they faced the final game.

Men’s soccer season finishes on down note with Bridgewater loss

By Brendan FoleySports Editor

The men’s Trailblazers soc-cer team finished their season with a disappointing loss against Bridgewater State. The team fin-ishes their season with an overall record of 5-10-1 and a MASCAC conference record of 1-5-1.

Head coach Adam Hildabrand said of the season as a whole, “We’ve had mixed results. We showed promise in the preseason but we just weren’t consistent.”

One of the biggest things that Hildabrand will take away from the season is the importance of confidence in a team’s play.

“[We] need to develop inner confidence. [We] need to be able to handle setbacks. But, we also need to be able to handle success. We need an even keel.

A number of reoccuring prob-lems have plagued the team, in-cluding an inability to capitlize on scoring oppurtunities, and a high number of fouls. MCLA racked up 13 yellow cards over the course of the season.

“That is a huge issue, fouling in our own half,” Hildabrand said. “That’s out of panic sometimes.

We create our own problems.”The coach also expressed frus-

tration with the lack of scor-ing. “There were times when we pounded on other teams and still lost.”

He elaborated, “In soccer, there are times when you win statis-tically but lose where it matter most: on the scoring line.”

Another issue the Blazers have run into is size. Hildabrand said, “Not enough of our guys are over six feet tall, or at least play like they are six feet tall.”

Hildabrand believes this size is-

sue may feed into the penalties, as the team’s fouls are more notice-able.

The coaching staff is now also staring down the loss of nine outgoing seniors from his squad. However he believes there are ex-citing prospects coming up.

“We have a 32 man roster,” he said, “even with the loss of those nine guys. There are some very exciting players and I am looking forward to seeing them play.”

For goals, the team was lead by Joseph Mecca and Jake McCall with three goals each.

Photo courtesy of MCLA.eduThe men’s Trailblazers end with an overall record of 5-10-1.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Science theonlinebeacon.com12

The Sustainability Committee, also known as the Green Team, met Friday afternoon to discuss a realistic date for becoming carbon neutral, as well as ways the campus could reach carbon neutrality.

James Stakenas, vice president of Administration and Finance, said they could look at a 10 per-cent reduction every five years based on different aspects, such as controls, conservation, solar, biomass, construction, new so-lar, new technology, and new ideas. He said that MCLA has limited but appropriate resourc-es.

“Let’s not throw it at a solu-tion,” he said. “Let’s use it to build a solution.”

When the campus first tried to reduce their carbon footprint, they did so by controls, lighting, and conservation.

“I think that controls and con-servation got us where we are now,” Stakenas said.

At the moment, Stakenas ex-plained they are looking at for-mal biomass to burn on cam-pus to provide energy, as well as additional solar, renewable fuel, and a biomass entity at the

new warehouse. They are also considering what the new Cen-ter for Science and Innovation building is going to bring to the table.

Stakenas said he would be in-terested in looking at calcula-tions for carbon neutrality as they are generated if any phys-ics, math, or business students were interested. The chosen date to become carbon neutral by will be submitted on January 15, 2012 in a Greenhouse Gas Report.

“What’s important is what changes over the next two

years,” Stakenas said. “We focus on that.”

The Green Team also discussed their role on campus and how according to a description in the MCLA Climate Action Plan from 2009, they were a combi-nation of educational role, over-seeing the sustainability com-mittee, and informing campus.

“I think that the role was all that together,” said Caroline Scully, sustainability coordina-tor and chair of the Green Team.

They were also known as an action work group that works to bring down carbon footprint

and educate campus.Scully suggested that the

Green Team role could include supporting projects done by the Environuts, students, and other groups, as well as providing sup-port to students, faculty, and staff about sustainability ideas and tasks.

Scully also mentioned doing more research with other insti-tutions about the topic but that every institution is different.

“There has to be a MCLA so-lution,” Scully said, adding that it was about making the right choice for the College.

Developing a document that would clearly state the purpose of the Green Team was suggest-ed and Scully said that creating a mission would be really valu-able.

This week in science, astrono-mers have discovered TW Hy-drae a new-born solar system containing enough water va-por to fill all of Earth’s oceans a thousand times. The system was discovered by a team using the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, a telescope orbiting 930,000 miles above the Earth.

Solar systems form when gi-ant molecular clouds, which are gravitationally unsound, break apart into smaller, denser clumps that collapse to form stars. As the disk collapses and contracts, it begins to spin fast-er and faster, like a figure skater who holds her arms close to her body to spin more quickly. This spinning produces an accretion disk that feeds the central star, but it also produces a flat region perpendicular to the star, the

way pizza dough thins out when it’s spun.

The material in the accretion disk will eventually form plan-ets, comets, and asteroids, when the central star cools enough for the gas and particles to con-dense into rocks and dust. This is the stage that TW Hydrae is at now. Well, 175 years ago.

TW Hydrae is an orange dwarf star about 10 million years old and 175 light-years away. This is just about the age that planets and comets will start forming in the star’s accretion disk. This is something like how our own So-lar System formed somewhere around 4.5 billion years ago. “The detection of water sticking to dust grains throughout the disc would be similar to events in our own Solar System’s evo-lution, where over millions of years, similar dust grains then coalesced to form comets,” said Michiel Hogerheijde of Leiden University, the lead researcher

of this study.Finding water in space is not

rare; there is water in moons like Europa and Enceladus, as well as in the Kuiper Belt (where icy objects like Pluto reside, in the outer portions of the Solar System). Halos of hot water vapor have been found in the accretion disks of other ear-ly solar systems, as well. This water vapor, however, is on the edge of the disk where it is cool, and where it can coalesce into icy comets.

When TW Hydrae finally forms planets, there is a good chance there will be a large amount of leftover water vapor, which will form into comets and, subsequently, crash into rocky, arid planets. This can create vast oceans on planets that are cool enough to keep the water, and massive enough to have an atmosphere to hold the water in. Just like Earth.

Scientists studying TW Hy-drae hope that its similarity to our Sun will allow them to un-derstand how our own Solar System came to be. According to Göran Pilbratt, an astrono-mer working on the projectt, “Here we are studying the ‘raw material’ for planet formation, which is fundamental to an un-derstanding of how planetary systems such as our own Solar System once formed.”

By Ryan BarleySpecial to The Beacon

New solar system discoveredThis week in science

Green Team seeks carbon neutrality By Nicole Knapp

Staff Writer

Photo by Will Casey/Beacon StaffJames Stakenas spoke with the Green Team about MCLA car-bon neutrality goals on Friday.

Village Pizza

Boardman Apartments2012 Early Signup Incentives

664-9400 - Boardmanapts@verizon.net

413-664-4134 or 413-664-688951 Eagle St.

Open 7 Days a Week Late NiteMon-Thurs 11am-2amFri-Sat 11am-3amSun 11am-1am

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Next meeting:

Thursday, Nov. 10,Murdock 321

3 p.m. to 4 p.m.(New time)

No meeting on Nov. 11(Veteran’s Day)

New satellite to monitor weather, climate change

Associated Press

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – After a yearslong delay, an Earth-observing satellite blasted into space on Oct. 28 on a dual mission to improve weather forecasts and monitor climate change.

A Delta 2 rocket carrying the NASA satellite lifted off from the central California coast. Skies were clear and there was little wind.

“It was a thrill to watch the bird go up this morning in the beauti-ful clear night sky with the stars out there,’’ Mary Glackin of the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration said at a post-launch news conference.

The latest satellite is more ad-vanced and carries four new in-struments capable of making more precise observations.

NOAA meteorologists planned to use the information to improve their forecasts of hurricanes and other extreme weather while cli-mate researchers hope to gain a better understanding of long-term climate shifts.

Besides collecting weather in-formation, the satellite will track changes in the ozone, volcanic ash, wildfires and Arctic sea ice.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Campus Comment theonlinebeacon.com 13

Editor-in-Chief John Durkan

Managing Editor Chris Goodell

Senior News Editor Skyla Seamans

Sports Editor Brendan Foley

A&E EditorJohn Deming

Features EditorMary Redstone

Photo Editor Cara Sheedy

Copy Chief Ed Damon

Business Manager Tatyana Gorski

Ad ManagerJen Smaltz

Web Editor Caleb Hiliadis

The Beacon is published Thursdays during the academic year and is distributed free to the College community. The Beacon is funded by the Student Government

Association, the English/Communications department and from ad revenues.

Contact information:

News desk number: 413-662-5535Business number: 413-662-5404

E-mail: Beacon@mcla.eduWeb site: www.theonlinebeacon.comOffice: Mark Hopkins Hall, room 111

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Letters should be kept to 500 words or less

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The Beacon

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How were you affected by the recent snowstorm?

“It made me not want to go out on Saturday and it made me not want to go out at all. I stayed in and played video gamess.”

- Kevin Orcutt, 2014

“It made me mad. I’m from the south, I hate snow. It made me have to put on my big boots and roll up my jeans in order to not be soaked from the slush.”

- Peter Swanson, 2012

“I like the snow but not in Octo-ber. Now I’m sick and it’s nice out because the weather changed too fast.”

- Ashley Franco, 2012

“I freeze my butt off when I go out to smoke a cigarette and walk-ing to class becomes a hazardous experience.”

- Nicolette Dacus, 2014

“The snow doesn’t affect me too much, but it does make it hard for me to get to my job at the infor-mation booth going through all the snow. Other than that I just don’t like snow.”

- Andre Sheffield, 2013

“It didn’t really affect me at all. I liked it. It gets me excited for Christmas.”

- Mara Thomas, 2015

Compiled by Cara Sheedy

Letters to the Editor

twitter.com/BeaconMCLAfacebook.com/MCLABeacon

Online at:theonlinebeacon.com

I am a senior at this quaint in-stitution and am currently liv-

ing off campus. I was disappointed when I found out that students and faculty cannot enter the cafeteria unless they have a meal plan or pay up to $8.50 a meal. I under-stand that due to the ongoing con-struction and future plans for the campus, new rules and regulations

are set in place, but this should not hinder students.

For me, the cafeteria is a place where I can grab a bite to eat or sit down and enjoy my meal, but now my options have been taken away. The Student Government Asso-ciation is under action to make a decision. Although I may not be a majority vote, if other students like

me feel the same about this issue, then something needs to be said and done.

I propose that a compromise should be made, because stu-dents in general pay a substantial amount to attend MCLA. Food should not be a constant bother or worry. Or, we could return to the old system of purchasing food due

the conveniences for students and faculty. Hopefully, students and others reading this would think twice and consider taking a stand.

Thank you for your time and at-tention.

Sincerely,Roberta CampbellClass of 2012

Cafeteria policies need reform

As you’ve might have heard by now, I’m running for

North Adams City Council.  I’ve loved North Adams since I came on a tour of MCLA and went to lunch at Brew Haha with my mom in the fall of 2008.  It has a low cost of living, so much cul-ture, and it’s one of the most beau-tiful places I’ve ever seen.

I am a Political Science & Public Policy Major with minors in Eco-nomics and American History.  I am in my 3rd year as a SGA Sena-tor-At-Large.  I’ve been on the E-Boards of Political Science Club, MASSPIRG, History Society, and Hoosac Hall Advisory Board.  I have also worked with many other clubs and organizations on and off campus.  I am not positive about what I am going to do with my life after graduation, but I am fairly sure I’d like to do whatever it is here in North Adams.

I had an internship in Mayor Alcombright’s office this summer and learned more about the city than any class could teach me.  I went through past documents and sorted out ones from before 1995 to be stored in the basement.  I filed current papers, compiled the budgets, assembled the coun-cil papers, and answered phones.  I had previously thought about running for council after gradua-tion, but I realized during my in-ternship that I have resources and influence as a college student that I will never have again.  I know the material, the process, the his-tory, and the people.  I’m ready for this now.

For those of you who may not know, MCLA has administrators representing us on many groups in city governance and we also have seats of the North Adams Youth Commission for students. 

However great the representatives are in these areas, administrators have a very different perspec-tive than the students and North Adams needs to stop thinking of MCLA students as “youth” of the community.  We are citizens.  We spend our money here, we live here, we work here, this is our home away from home; for some graduates, it becomes home.  Stu-dents, faculty, and staff of MCLA comprise of about 10 percent of North Adams’ population.  We need more efficient representa-tion in the city and I plan to pro-vide that. 

I hear students complain about North Adams nearly as much as I hear them complain about MCLA.  Whether it’s the “lack of things to do,” the drug problem, or the small population, students have opinions about how to bet-ter North Adams, they should

be heard.  If North Adams OR MCLA are to thrive they need to work together a lot more and I want to serve as a catalyst for co-operation and progress.

If you are registered to vote in North Adams, please get out to Saint Elizabeth’s Church on St. Anthony Drive (the church next to the Big Y Shopping Center so you can take the shuttle) on Tues-day, Nov. 8 and vote for me, Cath-erine Chaput, for North Adams City Council.  Polls close at 7 p.m. and make sure you bring an ID! 

If you’d like to help me in my final days of campaigning, please email me at cattchaput@gmail.com.

Yours Truly,Catt ChaputMass. College of Liberal ArtsClass of 2013cattchaput@gmail.com

Student running for City Council

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Opinions theonlinebeacon.com14

Bill Gates recently joined the long list of super-rich Ameri-

cans who support increasing taxes on the wealthy. With support seemingly coming from all sides – the rich, the middle-class, and the poor – it begs the question: why is nothing being done?

A recent article in the Huffington Post stated that 68 percent of mil-lionaires would support a tax in-crease for those making more than $1 million. Of course it’s impos-

sible to know if these sentiments are sincere or just a lot of talk, but the fact remains that support for increased taxes on the wealthy is growing. I’m guessing if we polled non-millionaire Americans, the number of those who support in-creased taxes on the wealthy would be far higher than 68 percent.

Warren Buffet, a billionaire, has been incredibly outspoken about increased taxation of the wealthy, leading to a clause in President Obama’s deficit reduction plan called the “Buffet Rule.” Under the Buffet Rule, Obama is urging Congress to implement a mini-mum tax on those making at least $1 million.

Even Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve (and a Republican), believes that the tax cuts for the wealthy imple-mented during George Bush’s pres-idency should be done away with.

Some believe that super-rich icons like Gates and Buffett are just talking, and they should put their

money where their mouth is. Crit-ics seem to think if they really cared so much, they would just write a $1 billion check to the government and call it a day. Gates and Buf-fett, and many of America’s other super-rich, already donate millions and millions of dollars to various charities. Would that money really be better spent by giving a blank check to the government?

The solution is taxation. By in-creasing taxes on the wealthy we can keep better track of who is paying how much, and where that money is going. This isn’t about letting the rich support the rest of the country; it’s about those who make the most paying the most.

Increasing taxes on the wealthy isn’t “class warfare,” as House Speaker John Boehner said. Class warfare is letting 99 percent of the American population struggle while one percent, the one percent making the most money, reaps the benefits of tax breaks.

Shoot ‘em up films can be en-tertaining, but in real life guns

cause a lot more problems than they solve. Thankfully, Germany, and all of Western Europe for that fact, has stringent gun laws.

The German government re-quires a permit for every gun anyone wants to possess. Attain-ing a permit is a very difficult and expensive process, and includes a clause that requires one to prove they need the gun. To transport a firearm, it must be in a locked box and unloaded; the only people able to carry handguns are licensed se-curity guards and personnel for politicians.

The German police (Polizei), more often than not, do not carry guns. Sure, they may have them in their cars, but when you see them doing rounds by foot, they almost never have a side arm. Often, they don’t have anything more than handcuffs on their waists.

This is quite different from the United States where every on-duty police officer carries a hand gun. The officers would argue more criminals carry guns in the United States than in Germany, therefore

making their job more dangerous, and to be fair, they could have a point.

However, Massachusetts is not Virginia, where any American citi-zen can purchase a handgun once every 30 days as long as they have not been convicted of a felony, have no pending misdemeanor cases, or have no restraining orders. In Massachusetts, the gun laws are far more restrictive. A study re-leased on October 24 by the Center for Violence Control, a non-profit organization based in Washing-ton D.C., says “states with restric-tive gun laws and low rates of gun ownership have lowest rates of gun related deaths.” Additionally, the study compiled the gun-related death statistics; Massachusetts rat-ed second lowest in the country for gun related deaths.

Interestingly, with the second lowest rate of gun deaths in the United States, our public safety of-ficers would seek to use our tuition money to fund arming themselves. It is especially interesting because the North Adams Police Depart-ment is a one-minute drive from the MCLA campus, and they most certainly have guns.

Don’t say you don’t care

John DurkanEditor-in-Chief

Commentary

Editorial

Remember folks – the point of a referendum is to deter-

mine support for or against, not apathy or indecision.

For the past two weeks, SGA Senator Catt Chaput suggested that the (cross your fingers, there’s plenty of paperwork to be done) student referendum regarding the arming of Public Safety officers should include a “don’t care” option.

She said she suggests this so students who truly don’t care can voice their opinions saying so. And maybe she mistakenly said “don’t care” for “don’t know, really unsure, can’t make up my mind on this rather difficult is-sue...et cetera.”

First, let’s address the don’t care crowd – if you really don’t want to interest yourself in the com-

munity around you and involve yourself in the decision-making process, you happen to live in a free country where not exercis-ing your right to participate in democratic votes is allowed. Or if you simply don’t care about an issue that will at very least affect you in the short-term (like hav-ing an armed force at your col-lege at the price of student fees), it’s you’re call. Just don’t vote.

Now if you care about the issue, and can’t make up your mind, look at it this way – in life, you have to make choices. This issue isn’t an easy one, but needs stu-dent direction so (hopefully) the administration acknowledges it, whether for or against. They’ll do what they want for sure if the students say, “Well, I don’t know...”

But at this point, you have a month to figure this out. The sources to learn more are avail-able. There are two community meetings next month – Nov. 16, 3 p.m., Sullivan Lounge and Nov. 17, 11 a.m., Murdock 218. Go to theonlinebeacon.com and search “firearms.” There are ar-ticles covering this issue going back to May, and there’s even opinions in the comments sup-porting firearms at MCLA and a column titled “Just Say No” by a very colorful looking character who doesn’t agree.

You’re a college student. You should be able to look things up and make an educated decision based on critical thinking.

One key part of MCLA is the strong community. Be a part of it, don’t just not care.

Bring disc golf to MCLA

It’s time to tax the rich

Chris GoodellManaging Editor

Tano HolmesForeign Correspondent

Tano Holmes writes weekly for

The Beacon from Heidelberg, Germany,

where he is studying abroad.

More guns, more trouble

FINANCIAL AID ANNOUNCEMENTAVOID A HOLD ON YOUR SPRING REGISTRATION!!

Please check with the Financial Aid Office and Student

Accounts to make sure your paperwork is complete.

Contact us on the Lobby level of Eldridge Hall or call us at 413-

662-5219, Monday through Friday,

8:30am – 5:00pm

What a wonderful sport disc golf is! On an ideal day,

you and some pals hike through the woods while participating in a fun, sometimes competitive match.

If you’re not familiar with disc golf, here’s a quick explanation. It’s similar to golf – you have a goal

(a metal basket with chains) you try to make in a certain amount of attempts for par. Unlike golf, you use discs. (Not Frisbees, but a little similar. Each golf disc is uniquely built for a certain throw, but I’ll spare you an explanation for that.)

Most courses are either 18 or nine holes. There are tournaments and even professional leagues.

Any ways, the sport is rather easy to learn (difficult to master). With a good group of friends, it makes an easily enjoyable day.

It’s a pretty cheap sport to get into. Some discs cost under $10, usually never over $20 (depends on plastic types, but again, I’ll spare you on the details). You can use a single disc for a long time and it pays off fast. (Unless if you get a plastic addiction, but if you hit that point then you know you love it.)

Unfortunately, the closest course

worth going to is all the way out in Conway, Mass.

North Adams and the surround-ing area can make a wonderful spot. Florida or Savoy mountains come to mind. Or maybe a nine-hole course up in the woods near the Zavattaro Athletic Complex?

Start-up isn’t necessarily cheap, but student and local volunteers can cut down on labor expenses. Baskets can get sponsored. A do-nation box can collect funds too.

There could be Intramural and charity tournaments. The possi-bilities are endless. We would just have to start.

Other schools have courses. UMass Amherst is currently work-ing on an 18-hole course on cam-pus. A fun, cheap outdoor sport can make MCLA more enjoyable during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Interest is growing in this game, let’s jump on board.

Thursday, November 3, 2011 For Fun theonlinebeacon.com 15

By Aurora Cooper

Shakespearean Word Search: Hamlet

Word Search courtesy of puzzles.ca

AMBASSADORSBARNARDO

CASTLECHALICE

CLAUDIUSCORNELIUS

DEATHDENMARK

DUELELSINORE

FORTINBRAS FRANCISCOGERTRUDE

GHOSTGRAVEDIGGERSGUILDENSTERN

HAMLETHAUTBOYSHORATIO

KINGLAERTES

MADNESS MARCELLUS

MELANCHOLYMESSENGER

MURDEROPHELIA

OSRICPOISON

POLONIUSPRIESTPRINCEQUEEN

REGICIDEREVENGE

REYNALDOROSENCRANTZ

SKULLSWORD

THE PLAYERSTRAGEDY

VOLTEMANDWINE

YORICK

To view previous comics

by Aurora Cooper,

visit: theonlinebeacon.

com

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Photo Essay theonlinebeacon.com16

Above left: Trick or treaters stand inside the entrance of Berkshire Towers during Boo Bash.

Above right: Senior Ali Johnston dressed as Winnie the Pooh.

Bottom: Students stand outside the decorated Berkshire Towers entrance.

Happy Happy Happy Halloween!Halloween!Halloween!Halloween!Halloween!Halloween!