the smcc beacon 2-17-2015

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Other World Arts & FeaturesArts & FeaturesOp & Ed Sports

February 17, 2015Volume 12Issue 10

Ticket to Mars Pass on the Pipe(line) Metal Up Your A** Student Film: At Arms Length Red Hot Seawolves

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Student Senate’s Referendum DismissedFaculty Senate Chooses not to take up Divestment Issue

By Erik SquireEducation Major

Last semester, the Student Senate held a campus-wide referendum in which

hundreds of students voted. The wide-ly supported referendum proposed that The Maine Community College System (MCCS) divest from all fossil fuels, a policy

initiative drafted by Alpha Chi Nu, SMCC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. If successfully enacted, Maine’s community college system would be the very first in the nation to accomplish this feat. After the initiative was passed in the Student Senate, and passed as a referen-dum, it was brought before both the Facul-ty Senate and the MCCS Board of Trustees. It is still waiting to be addressed by the Board of Trustees, but was entirely dropped from the Faculty Senate’s agenda by an 8-4 vote. To explore the reasoning behind the Faculty Senate’s decision, The Beacon conducted several interviews with those in

support and opposition of simply discussing the initiative. First, as a backdrop to the issue, The Beacon asked Alpha Chi Nu (ACN) Presi-dent Jason Glynn to explain a little about the divestment initiative. Our honors society does a research-based service learning project each year that betters the college or larger community. 2014 was the hottest year on record, and in 2013, carbon levels in the atmosphere were measured at 400 parts per million for the first time. Our climate is changing, and we are adding to it. The burn-ing of fossil fuels is clearly linked with climate change. Our Honor Society believes we should

send a message that we care about our environ-ment via our Maine Community College System’s investments. As a chapter, we gathered hundreds of signatures, passed a resolution through our Student Senate, held the first referendum SMCC has had in a decade, and have partnered with numerous organizations. We have met with the BoT’s CFO, received the endowment portfolio and Investment Policy Standards, and already have extrapolated how many fossil fuel investments our college owns. Divestment is simple - it’s the oppo-site of investment. People can initiate change, but money makes change.

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Community Café Significant Day for SMCCWorking From The Bottom Up

By Garrick HoffmanLiberal Arts Major

When SMCC President Ron Cantor announced what was dubbed the

“Community Cafe,” students, faculty and staff alike immediately acknowledged that this was a unique opportunity for them to share their insights, criticisms, and input on the state of SMCC and its future. “ The Community Café is a gathering of friends & colleagues-- students, faculty, staff and dedicated community members talking about student success,” Cantor said. “Imagine the entire college community in productive conversation, free from distrac-tion. We are talking about creating SMCC’s future. ...While a few things might be beyond our control, it’s up to us to shape SMCC’s next three years. We will think outside the box. There are no sacred cows. NO bad ideas…just us building on 68 years of success in ways that rise to the challenges of the next three.” On Friday, February 13, the Commu-

nity Café took place, with almost every seat being filled inside the HUB gymnasium. Over a hundred individuals attended, and the atmosphere of the room was both spir-ited and lively. Each table sat four different individuals in their respective roles: stu-dent, faculty staff, and community member. The event was structured in such a way that resembled a round-robin: each group conversed at their table for a half hour, after which three of the attendees would disperse and “cross-pollinate” to other

tables to form new groups. Each individual at the table was empowered to contribute to a discussion, ultimately in an attempt to answer two principal questions: “What does student engagement look like to you?” and, “Given your current role at SMCC (student, faculty, staff, community mem-ber), how do you feel you can contribute to student success?” The responses were placed on small and large sticky notes, with the small notes placed in a “Suggestions” envelope and the

large notes placed on blank, elongated banners posted on the gym bleachers for everyone to view. Upon completion of the five table discussions (including an intro-duction and two rounds for both of the questions), the attendees were given the opportunity to stand up and speak about their experience that day. In a response to the event, President Cantor remarked, “Wow! What a wonder-ful, important day for SMCC. Congratula-tions and thank you for being such an im-portant part of it all. While this afternoon’s Community Café is still fresh in our minds I would appreciate any feedback or insights you might share. In keeping with our guide-lines, let’s continue to be open and honest.” The Community Café proved to be a constructive and significant day for SMCC, allowing all the demographics to attend a day-long discussion for SMCC and its future. As President Cantor stresses, we need pragmatic solutions, and in interest of fairness, transparency, and empowerment, we need these solutions and insights from the bottom up rather than from the top down. The Community Café gave us that opportunity.

Danni OlsenDan ModificaNick Miller Jason Glynn


THE BEACON • February 17, 2015 OnCampus

Equipped with some insight on the initiative, The Beacon reached out to Fac-ulty Senate President Dr. Chuck Grego-ry. He is a 23-year SMCC veteran and a full-time faculty member of the Science Department. He teaches a diversity of science classes: Anatomy & Physiology I & II, Oceanography, Ecology, Marine Botany, and Seatime. As Faculty Senate President, Dr. Gregory put the divestment item on their agenda, offering the group the opportunity to discuss whether or not the issue should be taken up by the Senate. When asked what lead him to this decision and why he supported keeping it on the agenda, he replied: As Faculty Senate President I was ap-proached by a student, Saman Baghestani, who showed me a version of the divestment policy from the Student Senate. I reviewed it, made a few edits, bounced the edited version off of a few faculty colleagues, and added it to the Faculty Senate’s December meeting agenda for review and comment. Being a science instructor I have been following the climate change issue for some time. I often have class discussions on climate change and its effects on the biosphere: atmospheric warming, ocean acidification, etc. My students seem eager to learn more as I stress that this issue is already having a direct impact on my genera-tion, and will definitely have a profound impact on their generation. In addition, my brother is part of a legal team petitioning the US Supreme Court to have the federal government establish climate change strategy as part of the federal ‘public trust’ doctrine. Gregory explains his thoughts on why the Faculty Senate chose not to take up the issue The SMCC Faculty Senate is undergoing a resurgence after a hiatus of many years. As a result, our agenda is chock full of ‘local’ aca-demic issues in need of attention - establishing a representational Faculty Senate, editing By-Laws, enhancing advising, restructuring academic programs, realignment of Academic Divisions, budgets, etc., etc. I feel the thought of dealing with an issue destined for the MCCS Board is beyond our current capacity, and, ultimately, a distraction from these pressing campus issues. To get a broader picture, The Beacon spoke with English Professor Paul Trahan, likewise a member of the Faculty Senate. Trahan has been an adjunct faculty member for nearly 11 years and served as the Chap-ter President of the MCCS Adjuncts Union MSEA Local 1989 for over 4 years. In the interview, Trahan addressed his

personal support of the Student Senate’s referendum Climate change and humanity’s involvement in it are proven science. The Student Senate took the unprecedented step of supporting divestiture and I felt that not only should they be commend-ed, they should be supported. If not in academia, where can this discussion take place intelligent-ly? “Politicized science is dangerous” – Michael Crichton. When asked why Trahan believed the divestment issue wasn’t taken up by the Faculty Senate, he responded: The majority of Faculty Senators present did not feel as though divestiture is an appropri-ate issue to debate in the Faculty Senate forum. I couldn’t disagree more. The Faculty Senate is clearly the place where intellectual pursuits and academic responsibility merge. Our discussion that day was a mini-debate about debating or not debating the issue itself. A number of the Faculty Senators felt that divestment is a political issue; like most things involving people with different views, it can be. Personal relationships are, in a sense, political. However, putting overt politics aside, it is my be-lief that endorsing the Student Senate’s reasoned and thoughtful position was important and not to do so was an abrogation of our, the Faculty Senate’s, responsibility. Remember, a resolution endorsing divestment is non-binding to the MCCS Board of Trustees. What was proposed had important, symbolic meaning. It was intended to bring awareness and generate debate by those who actually control the financial well-being of the community college system. If the Rockefeller Foundation – created by fossil fuel monies – can divest itself of its fossil fuel holdings and invest in renewable energy, why not the MCCS and the University of Maine Sys-tem? Multiple Ivy League colleges are divesting. My understanding is that the SMCC Student Senate is the first community college body of its kind nationally to take the action that it has. They should be praised and supported for their commitment. The Beacon also interviewed Faculty Senate member Professor Daniel Abbott, one of the eight who voted against putting the initiative on the agenda. Abbott has taught in the Architectural and Engineering Design department at SMCC for 26 years. He teaches technical graphics, comput-er-aided design, and mechanical design classes for majors SMCC’s department and for students in the integrated manu-facturing and composites programs. He also teaches advanced coastal navigation on campus as a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. When The Beacon asked Abbott why hechose not to take up the divestment issue, he explained: I voted against joining the Student Senate

because I don’t see this as an issue that falls within the purview of the Faculty Senate. My vote on this issue is separate from my personal concerns about the effects of carbon on climate. I’ve been a strong advocate of alternative fuels since 1972, when I converted my Ford Falcon to run on propane. As to what Abbott speculates as being the reason the Faculty Senate turned the initiative down, he states, “I think divest-ment was seen as a partisan political issue that is not related directly to teaching.”Finally, Abbot wanted to share his sen-timent about the campus continuing its pursuit to become more environmentally responsible, he replied: SMCC has a history of addressing envi-ronmental issues when educating technicians in heating, building construction, automotive technology, composite technology, horticulture, and design. I have spent a lot of time and money over four decades advocating for the use of less-pollut-ing alternative fuels and educating students to enter fields in which technology can be developed to address such problems. I hope those concrete ef-forts are not overlooked in the passionate debate that will no doubt continue about this issue. We asked Alpha Chi Nu President Jason Glynn aboutthe Faculty Senate’s deci-sion, this is what he articulated: I believe that our governing bodies should collaborate and work together on issues that the students clearly care about and support. Despite having the support of numerous forward-think-ing Faculty Senators, it was wrongly politicized, so they regrettably decided not to even discuss the issue. However, their vote wasn’t as disappointing as the reception that we received there. It is clear students aren’t welcome in their clubhouse and they shut the door of collaboration in our faces. As to the next step for the divestment initiative, Glynn answered, Thankfully, we are well beyond the Faculty Senate. Our proposal has already made it to

the MCCS Board of Trustees, and we are on the Finance Committee and Board’s agendas in the coming months. However, we intend on sending out the same Survey Monkey referendum question to all faculty and staff, to gauge their thoughts on an individual level. I’m confident that the majority of faculty supports this, and they shouldn’t be held hostage by the few that have power. Glynn added these words as a final thought Although the Faculty Senate politicized this heavily, it is not a political issue. This issue is environmental and societal. I want to leave this world better than I found it. Something has to be done. We should get on the right side of history and become the first community college system in the nation to divest. The Last Word: All three Faculty Senate members were asked the question, “Would the proposition be taken up if it were revised?” Below are their replies: “As President, I don’t mind revisiting the issue, but I will need a lot more support from my Faculty Senate colleagues.” – Pro-fessor Gregory “I would hope that it would be; I’m cautiously optimistic. A Faculty Senator has suggested that the question be opened to all SMCC Faculty members. I’m supportive of the idea. Still, we were elected Senators to represent the Faculty and to take a stand when required. Part of that responsibil-ity is to address issues that directly affect the college community, especially where we can individually and collectively effect necessary change. In this case, divestment and the future of our planet.” – Professor Trahan “Revised or not, I would not support a proposal to pressure the board of trustees on any investment decisions.” – Professor Abbott

Referendum Dismissed(Continued from Page 1)

Student Interviews Contemplations on the Snow

By Tayler Chretien

While out and about around cam-pus, I asked students to give their

thoughts on the massive amounts of snow we have accumulated. In detail, these were the inquiries I made: How much more snow do you think we are going to get within the rest of winter? When you were a kid, what was your absolute favorite thing to do on a snow day? And do you prefer hot cocoa or tea to warm up? Haley Gregoire enjoyed making snow-men and watching movies with her family. She prefers hot cocoa. Justin Smith predicts another two feet of snow. When he was little, he made a tube trail behind his house to go tubing. He enjoys hot cocoa.

Savannah Barnes used to build snow forts. She loves hot cocoa. Grace Davis likes to stay in, read books, and drink hot cocoa to stay warm.Carina Rose Cameron thinks we’ll get another six inches. She also enjoys reading and hot cocoa. Veronica Meserve says, “At the rate we have been getting snow, I feel we are due for at least a couple more feet.” As a child, she used to love going sliding and making snow angels. She actually prefers iced cof-fee. As for me, I predict we will be having four more feet (hopefully I’m wrong). As a kid I loved being outside. I enjoyed sledding, building forts and snowmen, and making snow angels with friends. I like both hot cocoa and hot tea to warm up, but if I had to choose one, I would pick hot cocoa with extra mini marshmallows.

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Art Director Alexander Brooks Graphic Designers Cody Cook Michelle Lessard-Terry Digital Media Editor Jennifer Lague Managing Editor Garrick Hoffman Photo Editor Nickolas Evan Acker Sports Photographer Nickolas Evan Acker

SECTION EDITORS Arts&Features F.A. Coletti Op&Ed Garrick Hoffman Other World Rebekah Marin On Campus Erik Squire Sports The Beacon Staff

CONTRIBUTING Jason Glynn WRITERS Danni Olson Dan Modifica Ashley Berry Tayler Chretien Patrick Doyle Ian Ziller Sean Moore Wayne Lawson Nick Miller

ADVISERS Chuck Ott Rachel GuthrieSO

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THE BEACONFebruary 17, 2015 • OnCampus

ELP, SWC, and ME (Legislators)By Erik SquireEducation Major

Bless your hearts SMCC; you’ve made it through the first month of the semester.

I’m no cliché writer, so I’m not even going to mention the snow (except right there). Even though it may have been an unpro-ductive few weeks for some, because of the all the $&*#, some have still shoveled their way into doing some pretty interest-ing things. The Emerging Leaders Program and Student Welfare Committee conducted their first meeting of the semester, and SMCC has arranged to host meetings with some of Maine’s State Representatives. Get ready fellas, because this is going to be more interesting than a unicorn named Charlie, or even a duck who likes grapes; THIS IS NEWS! The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is swinging into its second semester after a successful run in the fall, now with even more students. As is obvious from the title, ELP is working with some of SMCC’s talented and proactive individuals to equip them with some valuable experience, critical thinking, and leadership skills. To start things off, the program had students take a survey online that helped determine their top five leadership strengths (quite accurately, we might add). The emerging leaders were then placed in three separate groups based on their qualities. Over the course of the spring semester, each group will develop and enact a plan to better the SMCC community. To give an idea about the projects these groups are undertaking, The Beacon got some insight from team two. This team is looking at the struggles that students age 22 and under are facing when they come to college, particularly the students who live in the resident dorms. Statistically these students are at a higher risk of dropping out during their first year and they’re also less likely to be achievers in academics. As a frame of reference, there was a survey completed in 2011 showing that the aver-age GPA of students living in Surfsite was 1.98. With this knowledge in mind, team two is going to explore the causes behind the students’ problems, and then endeavor to address these issues. Some ideas they are already looking into are: Creating an app that informs students where they have to be, giving them tips on life as an adult, and notifying them about important dates and events. The other idea is creating a preemp-tive film to present to high school students informing them of some of the normal challenges they will face as a college stu-dent. In other news: The Student Welfare Committee (SWC), of The Student Senate,

is up and running and they’re addressing some major issues affecting the campus and its populations. Some of the big things they’re tackling are academic prosperity, parking (of course), sustainability policy, and the marketability of the college. In the first session The SWC set out to make a list of prevalent challenges and the very root of each of the problems. During the next session they plan on strategically addressing and providing solutions to the issues they’ve come up with. They have also picked up two new members, Maam Fall, and Lorelei Hipkins, who is now the Secretary of The SWC.

Finally, in our last news segment: SMCC is inviting its students to advocate on behalf of the college. Our school has been, and is still, in the process of setting up meetings on campus between state legislators and students. The hopes of these interactions is to let the state know how much we appreciate our education, talk about how we’re benefiting from our college experience, and how we need the continued support of our representatives. Don’t worry if you missed out on the first few meetings; these gatherings are happen-ing up until March 6th. For information on dates and times,

contact Clarke Canfield at: [email protected]. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to meet your legislators and help SMCC! That’s all the superlative news for this week. ‘Til next time, SMCC.

The Student AdvocateAn Interview With Xiu

Wayne LawsonBusiness Major

Xiu (“call me ‘Shue,’” she asks) grew up in rural China. Her childhood and

early adulthood were devoted to hard work with her family. At 16, Xiu was obligated to work in a factory, to produce novelty items for sale by an American corporation, and to help pay the cost of sending her brothers to high school. After her brothers graduated, Xiu began remedial studies to enter high school, herself, when her father’s health declined and so she was obligated to help the family cover medical costs by entering into an arranged marriage with an Ameri-can – a purchased, mail-order bride in what is barely distinguishable from human-traf-ficking. Xiu was pregnant with her first of two children before coming to Maine to live in her husband’s home. Her marriage dissolved with her husband’s addictions and increasing abusiveness, forcing her to live in a shelter for battered women. And this is where Xiu’s story begins. Xiu grew up in a culture in which duty to one’s family overrides duty to one’s self. Xiu was a woman in a world that values men above women, to a slightly greater extreme than our own. She labored heavily, not merely so she could survive, but so her brothers could prosper more easily. When her father fell ill, Xiu was, effectively, sold to an American man. In a developmental period in which most American young adults develop their identities as individual human beings, Xiu was little more than a servant to her family’s needs. But as a result of her last act of duty to her family in Chi-na, Xiu was freed to become an individual of her choosing. While staying in the shelter with her children, Xiu attended adult education and worked to earn her high school diploma.

Xiu entered SMCC and now aspires to be-come a chemical engineer in environmental sciences, and to set the best example she may for her children. She often quotes Nelson Mandela – “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world!” Xiu offers a wonderful model for her children, and for everyone. Her story is quite dramatic, and one can easily be mislead by the extremes of her life into believing that her life is no more than a story; but Xiu is a real human being, the same as all of us. The alleged Free World demonstrates every day how little we need descend to devolve into a culture that deems some humans to be worthy only of servitude to others. In spite of the derisive response from society, we continue to think

that the vast numbers of young women are aberrantly foolish for concluding that their purpose in society is to cater to, and to glorify, men. Xiu’s extremes are only so because they differ a little from our own. Xiu will contribute to society more effectively as a unique individual. She will contribute a greater model of strength through adversity for her children. But how easily could her contributions have been lost had she remained a man’s purchase in New England – a place where freedom for the individual is so prized, and the underdog is greatly celebrated? How many other contributions do we deny our world, because we deny so many the opportuni-ties to realize their potential? Because we deny them the right, freedom, and safety to develop into unique individuals?

mailto:[email protected]


THE BEACON • February 17, 2015 OtherWorldThe Science Watchroom

By Jason GlynnPolitical Science Major

The Science Watchroom is back!! There have been numerous advancements and

breakthroughs in science since we closed out the last semester. This addition will look at two possible life-changing break-throughs: telomeres and antibiotics. As a former biological sciences major this stuff is close to my heart. Firstly, researchers at Stanford Univer-sity Medical Center have turned back the aging clock in cultured cells by lengthening their telomeres. Telo-what? Let’s give you some background info on telomeres. We all know that life’s code lies within DNA, and this DNA is bundled up in chromosomes that contain your entire genome. Telomeres are the end caps of these chromosomes. They serve to protect the DNA as the chro-mosome is repeatedly copied; however, this doesn’t always work so well. Up until about 30 years of age, your body produces an en-zyme called telomerase, and this works to sort of rebuild these protective end caps to fight against degradation. After around 30, you make less telomerase, and your chro-

mosomes consistently lose DNA as they are copied; thus, you age and many cells die. In fact, this can be witnessed by the famed cloned sheep: Dolly. Dolly was cloned from an older sheep, and began to age far before her time, because the chromosomes that were cloned were already degrading. Now, the breakthrough and why it’s important. Using modified RNA, research-ers can quickly and efficiently lengthen these telomeres, effectively turning back the clock on aging. “Now we have found a way to lengthen human telomeres by as much as 1,000 nucleotides, turning back the internal clock in these cells by the equivalent of many years of human life,” according to Helen Blau, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford. No, we will not all be immortal – yet. So far the use has been strictly experimental, since when telomeres are degraded cell division slows or stops, this makes research difficult. “This new approach paves the way toward preventing or treating diseases of

aging,” said Blau. “There are also highly debilitating genetic diseases associated with telomere shortening that could benefit from such a potential treatment.” I don’t know about you, but I want to get me some of that. Now on to antibiotics. I’m sure you’ve all seen stories about how bacteria is consistently evolving and becoming increas-ingly antibiotic resistant. Well, Maine is fighting back!

There have been few breakthroughs in an-tibiotics in recent years because of the inability to grow microbes in the lab; only a dismal per-

centage of them can be grown in normal cultures. Moreover, only an estimated 1% of microbes have been identified, and the majority of that minority can’t be grown on common nutrient mediums in a lab environment. Until now. Researchers from a team led by Northeastern University’s Kim Lewis have found a novel way to replicate a microbe’s environment in the lab, and this has led

to the first antibiotic breakthrough in 25 years. Soil-dwelling microbes have long been thought to be a potentially rich source for new drugs, but they are notoriously difficult to grow in a lab. The new method isolates microbes in a device called the iChip, which can then be embedded in the same soil they naturally grow in. A new drug, Teixobactin, was isolated from Maine’s own muddy marsh soil, and has been very effective on staph infections in mice. Staph infections are known to rapidly evolve and develop superb antibacterial resistance, but this new drug attacks the cellular walls, which is difficult to develop resistance to. What’s more important than the new drug is the ability to study even more new microbes now that they can be grown in a lab. According to federal data, approxi-mately 23,000 deaths per year and mil-lions of illnesses in America are attributed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the last 20 years only 5 new antibiotics have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is about time we had a breakthrough, and due to this new method, it looks like there are many more to come.

“No, we will not all be immortal...

...yet”

Dying to Play Dying LightBy Nick Miller

Communications & New Media Major

In an all-ditch effort to make a zombie game that stands out form the rest, Warner Brothers and partner Techland

have worked together to create an all new experience exclusive for the next generation of gamers. The premise of Dying Light is pretty basic. You play as a renegade government operative sent into the quarantine zone, the fictional Middle Eastern city of Haran to recover a file from a terrorist mastermind that contains the cure for the zombie virus. Within ninety seconds of arriving in the quarantine zone your character is ambushed by raiders (classic Mad Max post-apocalyptic style) and is bitten by an infected moments after firing your gun. Talk about one bad way to start your mission, right? And if it wasn’t for the story’s female lead, Jade, a leader of the group of survivors known as “The People of The Tower”, your character would surely have died. Ironically, the game has come under critique from the feminist community, prominently Anita Sarkisian, who runs the blog “Feminist Frequency.” She has accused Techland of making the game a stereotypical “Damsel in Distress” story where your character is out only to protect Jade from the zombies and terrorist threat. If you actually play the game you will see that is far from the truth. In fact, Jade saves the main character more often than he saves

her! Dying Light combines parkour aspects from games like Mirror’s Edge to give you more of a real life feeling system for avoiding the infected. It reminds us of the later games of the Far Cry series in terms of handling, exploration, gunplay, and survival. Ammo and firearms are scarce for the first 20 hours of the game, which leaves you stuck with melee weapons at the start, ergo, Dead Island (perhaps the most similar zombie game to Dying Light at the moment). But it’s done much more sincerely than Dead Island was. It gives you reason to care about non player charac-ters, it gives you motive to use your wits rather than to run right into battle, machine gun ready, mowing down every-thing in your path. It makes the game challenging but in a way that makes you wish to continue to learn from each mistake and build your character into the ultimate undead fighting warrior. The controls are a bit different than a traditional shooter, aimed more like first person shooter controls from the days of the original Xbox and the Playstation 2. Dying Light is exclusive to Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC and is definitely recommended to the hardcore gaming crowd who love nothing more than a good fight and a good scare.


THE BEACONFebruary 17, 2015 • OtherWorld

Mars OneA One Way Ticket to Isolation

By Rebekah MarinLiberal Arts - English

This weekend while breathing all by myself thanks to my functioning organs

and this sweet thing called “oxygen” (which Mars has almost none of), I found myself reading an article published by Popular Sci-ence titled, “Why Thousands Of People Are Willing to Die On Mars.” The article talked about a company called Mars One, led by Bas Lansdorp and co-founder Arno Wield-ers, who are planning a privately funded one-way excursion to not just space, but Mars. The duo believes they will be able to fund a trip costing millions by securing a deal with a TV producer and airing a reality show out of the selected people’s life on Mars. Are people really interested in living the remainder of their lives out on the unfamiliar, uninhabited planet? You bet. Just like people wanted to fly planes, sail across oceans, and land on the moon, there are over 200,000 willing applicants for the Mars mission. The company has been holding conferences where the aspiring “Martians” have been able to meet and discuss their desire to go to Mars. Many of them simply expressed the desire to go because it’s their dream. They don’t seem to have any interest in running away to find something more substantial, or to abandon their families on Earth; they are just willing

to make a sacrifice in the name of further-ing humanity’s understanding of what’s out there. For someone like me who has only been out of the United States twice in her life, both times traveling to Canada (it feels like that shouldn’t even count as out of the US), I can’t imagine that some of these ap-plicants have been to every country, or even every continent on Earth. How can they be willing to give the possibility of those expe-riences up for one they will only be able to share with the three other predetermined individuals? I wouldn’t call them insane, selfish, or any other slew of things that seem to have left the mouths of the critics. I just simply cannot fathom leaving, knowing that I would never return. It feels a little bit like a real-life Inter-stellar situation to me. The four chosen indi-viduals will communicate through recorded videos and live out their time on Mars exploring the uncharted territory. What they might discover I can hardly dream of. However, some of the applicants have barely lived through a quarter of their life on Earth and they’re willing to bid adieu to everything they know and love. The chosen individuals are supposedly all going to be from different continents, which should make the journey more interesting. But as humans we are incredibly social beings; we all thrive off of human interaction, and not the kind coming through a TV screen. Of course there are people who are more introverted, so maybe those people are the ones volunteering for this mission. As the

days wear on you’d think that even the most introverted person would start longing for human interac-tion with different people. If it were my excursion, I think I’d wait until the possi-bility of coming back home was available. It’s nothing short of amazing though, that there are people out there willing to take the trip. If all goes as planned and the reality show starts sometime this year to show-case the training process, you can guarantee I’ll be tuning in.

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THE BEACON • February 17, 2015 OpEd

Wealth Inequality: Then and Now

By Ian ZillerPolitical Science Major

Today we have a very high wealth inequality in our society; however, it is not the highest inequality rate

that we have ever had. The wealth inequality was very high during the 1920s. This was probably because there were no social programs in existence during the 1920s. It was not until the 1930s when Franklin Roosevelt was elected president that the government began to do more in terms of helping the poor. One of the reasons why there was large-scale inequality was because there were no social programs, but it also has its roots in the industrial revolution. With the industrial revolution people stopped living off the land and started working in factories and this led to much higher inequality. Today we are living in a soci-ety where inequality is the worst since the 1920s, and although we do have problems, it is in no way as bad as it was in the 1920s. Even though we have inequality and poverty, in no way do we have a situation where there are no programs that once didn’t exist. So finally the poverty and inequality have increased and have become worse than any time since the 1920s. Certainly we need to look at our programs and make sure that we are doing the best to help people and being the most efficient about it.

The Keystone XL PipelineWhy the Environment Should be our No. 1 Concern

By Ashley Berry

“Because if you haven’t seen a raise in a decade; if your house is still twenty-five thousand, thirty thousand

dollars under water; if you’re just happy that you’ve still

got that factory job that is powered by cheap energy; if every time you go to fill up your old car because you can’t afford to buy a new one, and you certainly can’t afford to buy a Prius, you’re spending forty bucks that you don’t have, which means that you may not be able to save for re-tirement. ...You may be concerned about the temperature of the planet, but it’s probably not rising to your number one concern.”

This was part of President Obama’s speech at a fundraiser in 2014. He was speaking to a room full of donors, many of whom came to lobby the President on the many issues regarding the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline. The President argued that the majority of Americans are not the people in that room, that they are members of the working class who are trying to make ends meet. When everyday life is a struggle, it is difficult to think about the big picture, but we need to or we could be headed for a global disaster. Global warming is not just the big pic-ture, it is the biggest picture and it needs

to be our number one concern. The proposed 1,700 mile expansion of the pipe-line would carry 830,000 gallons of tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas daily. Tar sands oil, or bitumen, is extremely dangerous for several reasons. During the refining process, three to four times more carbon dioxide is released than in the refining of traditional oil. Also, since tar sands oil sinks instead of floats, it is much harder and more costly to clean up. If there is any doubt in the matter just ask the resi-dents of Mayflower, Arkansas who are still feeling the re-percussions from a 5,000 gallon oil spill in 2013. The tar sands gushed into a residential neighborhood, through a creek and culverts settling in its final resting place of a marshy lake. Residents of the town still say they can smell the oil after a heavy rain and are convinced that it has leaked into a nearby lake. Many people who live near the spill are still experiencing health problems and have reported headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and difficulty breathing as a result of the contamination from the spill. Just the possibility of a spill similar to this should be a very serious deterrent. Expanding the pipeline would be like playing Russian roulette with our environment and our health. It would cause irreversible damage that no amount of money could fix. With 2014 being the hot-test year on record, it is becoming clear that there needs to be an aggressive push towards renewable energies and as far away as possible from oil projects. Those in favor of the expansion argue that it will create jobs that the U.S. desperately needs. While the U.S. desperately does need jobs, there are far better ways to create them. A push to increase the use of renewable energies will create these jobs and increase access to renewable energy that is desperately needed. The expansion seems like the best idea to create jobs and boost our economy but it is merely the easiest and most convenient option. After all, the jobs and economy boost will not do anyone any good when our drinking water becomes poisoned, sea levels rapidly rise, species be-come extinct and the earth is no longer able to support us because of our own ignorance.

The Poor Middle Class

Wealth Distribution by Population (2012)

Wea

lth

The Rich

The 1%

Graph Reference: “Wealth Inequality in America” (youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM)

Keystone XL Pipeline protest in Washington, DC

Departing Maine Community College System (MCCS) President John Fitzsimmons recently wrote a letter to all MCCS employees regarding his departure. The Beacon’s faculty adviser received the letter, and both he and the editorial staff, after a discussion, subsequently decided to publish it to honor Fitzsimmons’s tenure as president.


THE BEACONFebruary 17, 2015 • OpEd

Good News, Bad NewsCoal Warriors & Rising Levels of Agreement to Combat Climate Change

By Garrick HoffmanLiberal Arts Major

“Jobs” and “economy” are words that, despite their degree of truthfulness and

merit, have essentially become thought-ter-minating clichés, and no one seems to use these words more than the League of Climate Change Doubters, also known as the GOP. Many of the doubters, including prominent Kentucky Senator Mitch McCon-nell, actively defend the coal industry, saying that Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is a declaration of “war on coal.” Special interests, much? Another prominent climate change doubter, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, wrote a book titled, The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Fu-ture. In addition, remarking on global warm-ing, Inhofe was quoted as saying, “God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is, to me, outrageous.” Thankfully, a recent New York Times article has presented the general public with some degree of reassurance. The article presents poll results from a Stanford University study, which illustrates that “Americans are less likely to vote for candidates who question or deny the science of human-caused global warming,” and that an “overwhelming majority of the Ameri-can public, including half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming.” However, despite the increase in Republican support - no doubt a positive sign - “47 percent of Republicans still said they believed that policies designed to curb global warming would hurt the economy.” The fallacy with the “economy” and “jobs” defense is that it’s neglecting the fact that with a new energy sector comes new jobs and an economy thriving from new industry. It’s also declaring that protecting the Earth from further carbon emissions and destruction is not worth the loss of jobs. Furthermore, it’s a profoundly myopic point of view, even if combating climate change can or will damage the economy within multiple coordinates. Ironically, our fossil fuel-dependent economy is already show-ing signs that it can cannibalize itself: with carbon emissions potentially contributing to ocean acidification, we are actively en route to atrophy Maine’s fishing industry – that is, if it’s not already underway - which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars every year. What jobs will exist in the midst in an apocalyptic world of climate cataclysm? One can only envision the coal plants being swept away by hurricanes. Then again, most of the climate change doubters or individuals who are apathetic towards the issue won’t see what the future has in stock if no action is taken - or they “receive huge sums of money from...the fossil fuel industry, and they are not going to stand up to the people who contribute to their campaigns,” as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, said. A new energy industry means that the archaic jobs - such as the ones in the coal industry - will become obsolete, and many people who have known that trade for the majority of their career would either be (temporarily) out of work or would have to be re-trained altogether; further, the econo-my might be injured, but only to ultimately unfold a quasi-reformed economy. Indeed, Senator McConnell’s home state of Ken-

tucky would take a considerable blow, as it is “one of the country’s top coal producers, and coal generates over 90 percent of the state’s electricity,” according to a related New York Times article. But anyone who knows business knows that you need to break a few eggs if you want to make an omelet - that is, you need to make sacrifices and investments if you want a successful outcome. So just what is it about coal, specifically, that is so threatening? Here are some facts about it, presented by the National Geo-graphic: It’sthedirtiestoffossilfuels.Weburneightbilliontonsofitayear,withgrowingconsequences.…Coalprovides40percentoftheworld’selectricity.Itproduces39percentofglobalCO2emissions.Itkillsthou-sandsayearinmines,manymorewithpollutedair. Additionally, we can examine whether the coal industry truly is a pillar for jobs. Sociologists Shannon Elizabeth Bell and Richard York conducted a significant study on the coal industry in West Virginia, titled, Community Economic Identity: The Coal Industry and Ideology Construction in West Virginia, pub-lished in 2010. The findings were jarring and they illuminated the economic and envi-ronmental impacts of the coal industry that otherwise go unseen: The$3.5billioncoalcontributedtoWestVirginia’sgrossstateproductin2004representedonly7percentofthetotalgrossstateproduct,rank-ingbehindretailtrade($4.0billion),

realestateandrentals($4.6billion),healthcareandsocialassistance($4.8billion),andgovernment($8.4billion).Verylittleofthiscoalsever-ancetaxactuallygoestothecoalfieldtowns,whichmustbearthebruntofthenumeroussocial,economic,andenvironmentalinjusticesrelatedtocoal-miningpractices.ThetownofSylvester,forinstance,whichsitsnexttotheenormousElkRunCoalPreparationPlantandamountain-topremovalcoalmineandbeneathanenormousslurryimpoundmentwiththecapacitytohold769milliongallonsofcoalwaste,receivedonly$701.42incoalseverancetaxduringthe2006–2007fiscalyear. ...CoalemploymentinWestVir-giniahassteadilydeclinedsincethe1940s.Thisreductioninminingjobshascausedamassiveexodusfromthestate:Since1950,WestVirginiahasexperiencedanetout-migrationof40percentofitspopulation.In1948therewere131,700coalminersinthestate,whilein2006therewereonly20,100.Healthcare,hospitalityservices,retailtrade,professionalandbusinessservices,andlocal,state,andfederalgovernmentwereeachfarmoresignificantemployerswithinthestatethancoal.Joblosseswereclearlyduetotheongoingprocessesofthetreadmillofproductionwhereworkersarereplacedbymachines.Changesincoal-extractionpractices

meantthatthesameamountofcoalcouldbeextractedinthetwenty-firstcenturybyemployingonlyone-sixththeworkersrequiredinthemid-twentiethcentury. ...Amorerecentcoal-slurry[atoxicbyproductofcoalwashing]disasteroccurredin2000inMartinCounty,Kentucky.Theimpoundmentcollapsed,spilling250milliongallonsofcoalwaste(20timesgreaterthantheExxonValdezoilspill),pollutingmorethan70milesofWestVirginiaandKentuckywaterways,killingwildlife,andrazinghabitat.Homesweredestroyedbythethick,blacksludge.Althoughtherewaslittlena-tionalmediacoverage,theEPAcalledit“oneoftheworstenvironmentaldisastersinthehistoryoftheSouth-easternUnitedStates.” Although this may seem like an isolated case in West Virginia, we can nonetheless speculate on whether these facts are similarly mirrored in the home states of Mr. McCon-nell and Mr. Inhofe. If we were to continue to attach to the whole jobs and economy argument, how could we ever phase out our dependence on fossil fuels? How could we ever see a renew-al in our energy industry? How would we ever shatter the status-quo in the interest of cleaner, renewable energy - the very energy that has the potential not only to generate our power efficiently, but to help produce a prosperous economy as well?

Letters to the EditorDear Editor,

The Faculty Senate met on January 26th to bring about the Maine Community Col-

lege System fossil fuel divestment proposal. The meeting was attended by us: the Student Senate President, Daniel Modifica; the Student Senate Vice President, Danni Olsen; and Honor Society President, Jason Glynn. The Faculty Senate was recently resurrected after lying dormant for some time, one of their newly stated objectives is “To make recommendations to the Governance System and Administration with regard to academic affairs, the academic environment, and insti-tutional development.” It’s a shame that they don’t follow it. SMCC’s first referendum in a decade was held last fall, and 85% were in favor of divestment, and naturally we sought the sup-port of our Faculty Senate – to no avail. The UMaine System has just voted to divest from coal, and we have even partnered with the group that has led the charge there: Divest UMaine. We attended the meeting because they were due to address the Student Senate’s resolution calling for the Maine Community College System to divest from fossil fuels. We have the chance to become the first community college system in the nation to divest from fossil fuels. Obviously, this is an important issue to us, and the student body. We have the support of hundreds of individ-uals and numerous organizations. Students, professors (staff and adjunct), administra-tors, and community members all see this as a noble issue that should be addressed.We sought them out because we wanted a chance to work with them and build a better future for students that inherit this beautiful campus. According to a recent report pub-lished by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, SMCC lies in the “danger zone,” and our coastline is particularly vulnerable to erosion caused by rising sea levels, which itself is caused by climate change.

Climate change is real and exacerbated by burning fossil fuels. Hell, the US Senate just passed a resolution that was an amend-ment to the Keystone Pipeline bill, by a 98-1 vote, stating “climate change is real and not a hoax.” There is little that garners a 98-1 vote in our US Senate today. If they didn’t like our proposal, it could’ve been discussed, not ignored. If you are on a governing body in our school, and we are asking you to look at an issue that involves institutional development – as stated in your body’s mission statement – then this is an issue that deserves your attention, and at least a discus-sion. This is not the first time our divestment issue was discussed by the Faculty Senate. It was very briefly brought up by them last fall, and we, the students, were essentially ridiculed. So, naturally, we decided to attend this meeting, and hopefully be allowed to speak our part and gain support from our faculty. Unfortunately, that is not at all what happened. Upon entering, it was clear that students weren’t welcome. The Faculty Pres-ident announced that it was in their bylaws that students weren’t even allowed – unless invited. After a vote allowing our presence, the mood was soured for us as it was clear we were not wanted there. Paradoxically, we heard them rant about how the admin-istration should be more open during the budgetary process, yet their clubhouse is closed to others. Our Student Senate is open to students, faculty, administration, and even the community. This is not the administra-tion’s college, or faculty’s, or student’s, it is all of ours. Our governing bodies should be as inclusive and work together. There should be crossover, maybe even a standing Student Senate rep to the Faculty Senate and vice versa. And they should address matters that are important to the student body and institutional development. They rushed a vote – to discuss whether or not they should discuss – our referen-

dum, resolution, and proposal. It was clear that there was a core group of Senator’s that wanted to rush this to a close. Despite not wanting to hear from us, Jason Glynn briefly spoke as to why they should at least discuss the issue. They asked no questions of the students, and seconds after he spoke it was voted down. Unfortunately, many of our faculty supporters couldn’t attend this meeting; whether that was by design is unknown. Those present claimed they “didn’t think it was in our best interest to discuss something so political,” and any further discussion was killed by a 7-4 vote. If they are worried about political cover, they can merely use the students; after all, it is our initiative. The most insulting part came imme-diately after the vote, with five minutes left to the meeting. A lady senator asked, “Can we excuse the students, now?” Why? So you can talk us down again when we walk away for caring about our future and thinking that you should, too? Ironically, after our issue they were to discuss the President Fitzim-mons resignation – a clearly more politically divisive issue, and one that clearly matters little in the long run. We will get a new President; we won’t get another planet. Needless to say, this experience has caused us to lose faith in our Faculty Senate. Danni Olsen is even thinking of resigning now due to how we were treated there. This will not slow down our momentum, we will keep marching forward; it just would have been nice to add our Faculty Senate to our long list of collaborators. We sincerely hope this will cause the Faculty Senate to revisit its mission and bylaws, and force them to evalu-ate the image they want to send to students, the one we saw has surely soured our SMCC experience.

Sincerely,

Jason Glynn, Danni Olsen, and Dan Modifica


THE BEACON • February 17, 2015 Arts&FeaturesMetal Up Yr Ass, Part 1

By Garrick Hoffman and Patrick Doyle

Liberal Arts & Liberal Arts - English Majors

Album of the Issue: Kill ‘Em All

Here’s some trivia for you: what band is the only band to have five No. 1 albums

on The Billboard 200, defeating that of U2, the Dave Matthews Band, and The Beatles? The answer: Metallica. Composed of rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, drummer Lars Ulrich, and bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica launched their career with

Kill ‘Em All, released in 1983, and it has now been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA. In this series, we will be reviewing the first five ‘Tallica albums, beginning with Kill ‘Em All, and ending with their self-titled album, Metallica, or as it’s widely regarded, The Black Album.

Garrick: KEA is potentially Metallica’s most tech-nically impressive album. The locomotion of shredding is ceaseless. Hammett’s solos are absolutely dizzying. Ulrich’s drumming is underwhelming, per usual, but it at least met the pace of the tempo and got the job done. (His most impressive drumming is arguably on Battery, from Master of Puppets.)

Further, Hetfield’s screaming is absolutely wild. He was probably

so drunk all the time that he’d probably just stagger

into the recording

studio, beer in hand, and let loose. Now that he has his shit together and actually has to perform before tens of thousands of people instead of a posse of metalheads in some seedy venue, there’s no room for that clumsy inebriation. Still, his screaming on the album sounds raw, galvanizing, and just plain badass. Although KEA isn’t my favorite of the ‘Talli-ca discography, I relish its technical, righteously thrash, instrumental content. The riffs are so infectious - between “Jump In The Fire”, “The Four Horsemen”, and “Whiplash”, I challenge anyone not to whip out their air guitars and start to play along, even in public. “The Four Horsemen” was actually written by Dave Mustaine, the Megadeth leadman who started his musical career in Metallica before he was fired for alcoholism, drug abuse, and erratic behavior. It was orig-inally titled “The Mechanix.” “No Remorse” is also a standout track for me. As soon as that chugging riff at the 2:23 mark hits, I’m headbanging in delight. This is arguably the most solo-ridden album of theirs, at times relentlessly soloing. Just when you think it’ll end, it just keeps on driving. Although impressive, they’re a little overbearing to me, but in the context of the era I understand why they were employed so often. The lyrics were a bit underdeveloped and immature, especially compared to later albums. The themes are often dark and quite explicitly promote moshing at one’s peril, such as in “Whiplash” (“Bang your head against the stage like you never did before / Make it ring, make it bleed, make it really sore”). Real poetic, huh? I can’t hold it against Hetfield, however; he was just a 20 year old chap, manic for metal in the midst of the thrash/heavy metal era, and the lyrics were fitting enough. Ultimately, although this is not my go-to Metallica album, KEA is indisputably one of the most salient thrash albums since metal took flight. Between the constant roll-out of gritty and heavy riffs (“The Four Horse-men”), the inexorable guitar solos (“Hit the Lights”), the screaming and shouting and lyrics about moshing and headbanging (“Whiplash”), and the fast, unfragmented tempos blended with moments of easy head bouncing rather than headbang-ing (“Seek and Destroy”), Kill Em All is the embodiment of thrash - after all, it was Me-tallica who were one of the earliest pioneers of the movement to begin with.

Patrick: I started listening to Kill ‘Em All by Metallica, released in 1983, at 10:32PM on a weeknight. I just finished work two hours earlier. Everyone was buying Powerball tick-ets. This may have affected this listen of Kill ‘Em All. The last time I listened to Kill ‘Em All I was somewhere between 13 and 14. Same with Ride The Lightning, which I also have fond recollections of. These are thoughts/things I wrote down while listening, done completely “in the moment.” “Hit The Lights” just echo’d in and it’s doing the thing where people hold notes, stop, drummer does crazy things and even-tually a thrash metal guitar riff starts and

then James Hetfield presumably goes “YAY-UH.” I’d like to drive a monster truck or do a lot of push-ups in a hardware store or ride a

ten speed at night to this music I think. Metallica really like the words “Die,” “Died,” and “Dead.” Probably “Death” too. They really like saying “Yeah.” Hell yeah I just heard the words “crush your face.” Oh they just said “death” again. A lot of scales &

I ain’t talkin’ about fish.I really like the title of the song “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”. It starts out with a bass solo where parts of it sound almost like a synthesizer being played in a garage recorded on a laptop with classical arrangements. This sounds like Metallica at their most “psyche-delic.” This is the song I can get behind most so far. It’s instrumental, I like thrash metal a lot instrumentally I think. There are bits of drenched feedback overtones & noise. I crashed a car recently so “Whiplash” is funny to listen to. I don’t think it has anything to do with a car accident though. The beginning of “Phantom Lord” literally sounds just like the lengthy synth beginning of “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls. Then it isn’t that song and goes bonkers. Definite filler vibes with tracks like “No Remorse.” It sounds like the rest of the album is just less interesting. This album is a really good definition of early thrash, along with Slayer’s Hell Awaits and Sodom’s In the Sign of Evil. Up until “No Remorse” (“Metal Militia” follows it, which is playing currently) I was enjoying the album because it has that part of earlier thrash where it shows a clear hardcore punk influence (DRI [Dirty Rotten Imbeciles] perfected this sound) amidst all the metalz. Always love when metal self-ad-dresses itself metaphysically. The last song just started which is a really good “thrash anthem” that features bits of that aforementioned hardcore influence. It’s called “Seek and Destroy.” Henry Rollins has a tat that says “Search and Destroy” This song is great though. The chorus is cool. I’d like to scream this with Garrick Hoffman. So much riffage. This was a good idea for the closer because it saves the last three songs from being complete shit (“No Remorse” and “Metal Militia” being excruciating, especially “Remorse,” clocking in over six minutes). Welp, Kill ‘Em All just ended. I think overall this was a very fun listen. The rest of the night I’m gonna listen to thrash albums because after a lot of barraging metalz thrown at me, the silence ringing through the headphones feels mad claustrophobic.I’m enamored with having these isolated listens continuing with the first five Metalli-ca albums. Highlights: “The Four Horsemen,” “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth),” and “Seek and Destroy”

Next Up: Ride The Lightning

By Patrick DoyleLiberal Arts – English Major

ElectricityFor months my battery was depleted; I couldn’t keep a charge. None of

the days’ monotony could bring even a spark.

Then you came along. My fingers reached forward

to hold you, to love you, and then it happened!

Electrical shocks.

It felt like walking on air, buzzing with a sensory overload.

Electricity my body tanks need to power

depleted emotions.

I don’t walk in half-powered waltz, I now skip through

fields of static hovercraft, thanks to yr currents of love and affection. I feel alive and this life provides

love back onto you.

Sometimes my supercharge leads to overwrought circuitry, but those days

will now be regulated so I may give you the symphony you deserve, beautiful thunder.

Garrick Hoffman and Patrick Doyle throwing up the horns.


THE BEACONFebruary 17, 2015 • Arts&Features

“At Arm’s Length”By Sean Moore

Communications & New Media Major

MY name is Sean Moore, writer and director of the short film At Arm’s

Length. As a lover of the romance genre, I wanted to create a film that shows a side of love that isn’t presented frequently in the media. This film is a dark romance that follows two young gay men, Darryl and Terrence, as they try to salvage their broken relationship. After having his secret of self-abuse discovered by his boyfriend, Darryl tries to make amends by becoming a “new” person. However, no matter how hard he tries, Terrance can’t shake the past and frequently antagonizes him for it. This film focuses on topics such as mental abuse, self-abuse, and the overall realism of rela-tionships. At Arm’s Length will be premiering on May 5th at the Nickelodeon along with a plethora of other amazing short films. The students of the communications major are essentially creating a film from start to fin-ish to showcase during the Maine Mayhem Festival. As for 3bitfilms, the creative be-hind At Arm’s Length, we’re using this experience to hopefully open many doors within the future. At this point in time, we are fully cast, and begin shooting on February 14th. We’re so lucky to have a cast of talented peo-ple who are dedicated to making this film a reality.

For more information on the proj-ect, please feel free to follow us on our Facebook page, AtArmsLengthFilm, or our website, www.atarmslengthfilm.com.

Marin at the MoviesLiving on One Dollar

By Rebekah MarinLiberal Arts Major

While I can’t seem to last a week without complaining about money,

making an impulse purchase, or eating an overpriced breakfast sandwich, there are people living on almost nothing, unsure of how they are going to generate enough income to feed their families. Four brave college students, Chris Temple, Zach Ingrasci, Sean Leonard, and Ryan Christoffersen, travel to Pena Blanca, Guatemala to live amongst families who are experiencing extreme poverty in the docu-mentary, Living on One Dollar. The students stay for 56 days living off of anywhere from zero to nine dollars a day in order to simu-late the fluctuation of income that workers

are subject to when conventional jobs are unavailable. Every day the boys picked a number from zero to nine out of a hat to dictate how much money they had “made” that day, and split it between them. The college students live in a dirt floor home, cooking meals over a fire, and trying to grow radishes to sell for money. They learn how the people of Pena Blanca attempt to plan and save for unexpect-ed expenses. Many of the adults in Pena Blanca take out loans from a bank called “Grameen” that doesn’t require all of the paperwork that these poor families don’t have. The bank requires each person to open a savings account so that they have a safe way to put money away. The people also pool money together by saving and redistributing the funds to each other. Eventually everyone putting money into

the “pool” will reap the benefits of the accumulation by being able to use the larger sum of money for something they wouldn’t be able to afford on their own. Regardless of their finan-cial situation the families welcomed the stu-dents into their homes and showed them warmth and kindness, which spoke volumes to me as a viewer. These people have next to nothing but it hasn’t harmed their spirits. The students are invited to visit the school in Pena Blanca, where many boys end up dropping out to work in the fields because their parents can no longer afford the education. The documentary focuses on one child in particular whose name is Chino. The students are astonished when they ask Chino what he wants to be when he grows up, and he tells them he wants to be a farmer, “But at twelve years old Chino had accepted the fate that he was going to be a farmer.” In the United States kids are programmed to aspire to be things like doctors, lawyers and firefighters, but in places like Pena Blanca even the children recognize the reality of their situation, and they accept it.

After watching this documentary I was once again reminded of how fortu-nate I am to have grown up in the United States, despite how much I groan about money, or how often I splurge on material things I don’t need. It’s a privilege on its own to even be able to do those things. The children in Pena Blanca are just like kids in the United States, but their situations hold them back from achieving their full potential. By going to livingonone.org you can learn more about the documentary and what you can do to make a difference in the lives of students like Chino living in poverty in Pena Blanca.

Director/Writer, Sean Moore


THE BEACONFebruary 17, 2015 • Sports

be determined as of the print deadline. As both teams have combined for an 8-0 record over the past 2 weeks, the game that should be highlighted in this column are the CMCC games. Regardless of how you feel about CMCC, they have been the team to beat in the YSCC for the past few seasons. Last Wednesday evening proved to be quite satisfactory for the Seawolves fan. The Lady Seawolves took to the floor first and proceeded to build a 7-0 lead over the course of the opening 5 minutes over a Mustang team that had a hard time finding the bottom of the net. Eventually CMCC would get on the scoreboard at the 14:49 mark when Laura Soohey made 1 of 2 free throws. CMCC would claw their way back into the game pulling to within 2 (11-13 at the 9:58 mark), after which SMCC would out-score the Mustangs 29-17, securing a 42-28 halftime lead. If there was a tone that could be de-tected in the first 20 minutes of play, it was one of frustration on CMCC’s part (28% shooting from the floor while going zero for 6 from 3pt land), and confidence on SMCC’s part. SMCC guard Tiana Burton contributed 14pts off the bench, 9 of which came from 3pt land on 3-4 shooting from behind the arch. An exclamation mark was

added as the half ended with a Jordan Turn-er steal of an inbound pass, resulting in an uncontested layup and a 14pt halftime lead. The men’s game started off in similar fashion as the Seawolves jumped out to a 7pt lead starting off with a 3pt shot from Greyson Waterman, a field goal from Aten-cio Martin and 2 free throws from Tyheem Simon. Immediately CMCC countered, tying the score at 7 with plenty of time remaining in the first half. Whereas the Lady Seawolves built a comfortable 14pt halftime lead - much with the help of CMCC’s poor shooting percentage - the men Seawolves found themselves in a contest that ebbed back and forth between scoring spurts. The Seawolves would grab a 12pt lead (30-18 at the 6:29 mark) and be able to sustain an 8pt lead going into halftime. The second half of the women’s game opened up with SMCC spotting the Mus-tangs the opening 2pts and responding with a 12-2 run that padded the lead to 54-32, a 22pt lead that CMCC would only be able to whittle down to 10 (61-51) with 9 min-utes left. Again Tiana Burton would slam the door shut against CMCC with the 4th of her 3 pointers, and again the Lady Wolves would build a 17pt lead through the scoring of Maria Veino and Tiana Burton. When the final buzzer sounded the Lady Seawolves walked off the court with an 81-67 victory over conference rival CMCC, and for the curious reader the last time the ladies were on the winning side against CMCC was in the fall semester of the 2011-2012 season. The second half of the men’s game saw SMCC build a 20pt lead, which would never seriously be challenged by the Mus-tangs. 10 SMCC players would score in the 2nd half, as the team stat line would read as 69.2% shooting from the free throw line, 40% from 3pt land, and 53.1% field goal shooting. With the victories over CMCC, the SMCC squads finished out their seasons with wins over Vermont Tech in Randolph, Vermont. Up next, the YSCC Elite 8 Tour-nament, of which the winner will receive an automatic invite to the USCAA national tournament in Uniontown, PA. With all of the excitement surround-ing the Seawolve squads this season, there is a down side to the Elite 8 Tournament: NHTI will not be streaming the tourna-ment on line. In an effort to set this off, The Beacon will be doing its best to post high-lights of the Seawolves games on its Youtube Channel, SMCCBeacon.

Red Hot(Continued from Page 12)

Jordan DeRosby crosses half court against CMCC, DeRosby fed his teammates the ball with six assists and nine points.

Jack Tolan slams home a two handed dunk against CMCC, Tolan ended with eleven points and five rebounds.

Alicia Hoyt lays up against CMCC, she finished with an impressive eight re-bounds, three blocks, and eight points.

Jordan Turner prepares a shot at the free throw line, Jordan contributed six rebounds, six assists, and two blocks in the Women’s 81-67 win against CMCC.


SMCC SPORTS

Seawolves End Regular Season Red HotEye the YSCC Elite 8 with high expectations

By The Beacon Staff

The 2014-15 regular season ended for both the Lady’s and Men’s Seawolves

teams this past Saturday on the Vermont Tech floor with wins that could best be described as cars with a few square wheels. While the wins were not the prettiest in terms of basketball aesthetics, both teams enter the YSCC Elite 8 tournament, hosted by New Hampshire Technical Institute, rid-ing impressive winning streaks that include the dismantling of conference rival Central Maine Community College in South Port-land last Wednesday evening. On the women’s side of the court, the Lady Wolves have compiled an 18-7 overall record while finishing the season with an 11-3 conference record and riding a 7

game win streak which includes 9 straight conference wins. The men enter next weekend’s tourna-ment sporting a 4 game win streak. While their loss 5 games ago was at the hands of Dean College, they have remained perfect in conference play, 14-0. The men have remained perfect to the point of stealing a win on CMCC’s court when Jordan DeRosby nailed a three point shot with 4 seconds remaining in a hotly contested game. The Lady Wolves will face Vermont Tech on Thursday (SMCC has beaten the Lady Knights twice this season 108-53 and 74-49); the time of the game has yet to be determined. The Men Wolves will start their post-season journey playing Eastern Maine Community College on Friday (they too have won both 94-46 and 92-71), and like the women’s game the time has yet to

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Josh Tuplin shoots from beyond the arc, he finished the night with two 3 point-ers, four assists, and nine points.

Abigail Nielsen shoots during the game against CMCC, she came away with two points, picking up an assist and steal along the way.

Tyheem Simon greets Justin Robbins after a timeout, Justin had three points and four assists while Tyheem came away with fourteen points and seven rebounds in their victory over CMCC.

Fans try and distract a CMCC player. There was a huge turnout of SMCC fans at the HUB Gymnasium, filling the large building and cheering their Seawolves on to a 74-90 win.

the smcc beacon 2-17-2015

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