October 10, 2019 Vol. 90 Issue 4

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Alumni & Homecoming Weekend

Homecoming Well Attended

BY BRIAN RHODES STAFF WRITER With additional reporting from Hans Resignac, Staff Writer Due to clear weather and increased alumni turnout, this year’s MCLA Alumni Homecoming Weekend was more successful than previous years according to Kate Gigliotti, director of alumni engagement and donor relations.

“I am really looking forward to continuing to welcome [alumni] back to campus,” Gigliotti said before the weekend. “We want people to come home.”

Over 160 alumni and 115 other guests assembled on campus for last week’s MCLA Alumni Homecoming Weekend.

Between Oct. 4 and 6, MCLA’s alumni were treated

to several events, including campus tours, a brunch on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, a live musical performance and more.

Many of the events on campus served as an opportunity for alumni to share their experiences of the past and thoughts on the present and future of MCLA. Larry Gould ’71, winner of this year’s MCLA Alumni Outstanding Educator Award, said the things he learned at MCLA have stuck with him for his entire life. He urged that the college continue to focus on being a liberal arts institution.

“Placing more emphasis on liberal arts was the right decision years ago and it remains the right decision today,” Gould said. “Do not let any-

Alumni, Page 8

Volume 90 • Issue 4

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

PHOTO BY JAKE VITALI

This year North Adams residents celebrated on how “There’s No Place Like Home in The Berkshires” fitting a festive Wizard of Oz theme. Here, Drew Burdick ‘18 (right) dressed up as the Tin Man for MountainOne Bank’s float in the 2019 Fall Foliage Parade. The turnout was good, with cool but cloudy weather matching the spirit of autumn. More photos on back page (page 12).

Little Change in Crime Wootters, Janis Excited with Stats from 2017 to 2018 New Positions 2019 Clery Report

BY TESSA SESTITO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MCLA saw slight increases in reports of sex offenses, and decreases in several other reported crimes, according to the 2019 Clery Report.

On-campus incidents of forcible sex offenses, including rape and fondling, as well as aggravated assault and illegal weapons possessions have increased from 2017 to 2018; while on-campus domestic violence, stalking, destruction, damage or vandalism of property, non-campus aggravated assault, and burglary have decreased.

According to Public Safety Chief Daniel Colonno, the criminal offenses were all reported through Title IX, with the execption of the stalking and intimidation incidents.

“As you look at all of the dating violence, there was an aggravated assault on there, and there were the five sex offenses, all of those are through Title IX,” Colonno said. “None of those were reported to campus police, and I’m only made aware of them through Title IX when I ask for the information.”

According to the Clery Cen-

ter’s confidentiality exemptions, both Title IX and the Clery Act, professional counselors are exempt from reporting requirements, but are able to share non-personally identifiable information with the consent of the survivor, via the institution’s voluntary confidential reporting policy.

“The Title IX director is also a campus security authority, and there are certain people on campus who will report things to the campus police, but they can’t give specifics,” Colonno said. “So I may know that some things are occurring, but I don’t know any specifics as to what they relate.”

Although most of the reports under crime offenses were reported to Title IX, not Public Safety, Colonno is not concerned.

“We’d much rather have it reported, overarching to the College, than not reported at all,” Colonno said. “We, when I say ‘we’ I mean globally, just want to at least capture the information and start getting a victim the services available to them that they need. Why they don’t contact campus police or any police department, I suspect it’s because they’re just not comfortable with it at that

moment in time; but I can’t speak for a victim.”

The report, which is required by federal law, was emailed to students Oct. 1. It contains information regarding campus safety, security, and fire procedures, as well as statistics related to criminal offenses and fires reported to the police and college officials for the last three consecutive years.

In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, Public Safety complies information from its own reports, as well as information provided by other campus departments and outside agencies, such as Residential Programs and Services (RPS), the Student Affairs Office, the North Adams Police, the Pittsfield Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the North Adams Fire Department.

For 2018, there was an increase in forcible sex offenses reported, up from one to two for reports of rape, and up from one to three for reports of fondling. All five incidents were reported as having been

Clery, Page 8

BY NATHAN BIRON SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Despite the recent departure of Emily Williams, former vice president of academic affairs, and the voluntary step-down of Deborah Foss, former dean of academic affairs, over the summer, President James Birge was quick to task Adrienne Wootters, vice president of academic affairs, and Ely Janis, interim dean of academic affairs, to take over.

Former physics professor and director of MCLA’s Faculty Center, Wootters is excited for her new position and plans to improve communication between students and administration.

“This is much different from teaching,” Wootters said. “There are lots of moving parts throughout all this so making the communication between myself, Ely Janis and the rest of my team.”

Wootters emphasized the importance of transparency with her new role in academic affairs.

“Being more transparent with students is really im-

portant to me,” Wootters said. “I want to make sure that the students are able to be heard and if there are things that need to be fixed on campus, we would like to hear about it.”

Janis is also looking forward to some of the new responsibilities with this role.

“We have some big things happening within the upcoming semesters,” Janis said. “One of the biggest things that we are going to be looking at is the core curriculum of all majors and tweak the current structure in place.”

Janis mentioned that the Center for Teaching and Learning will be receiving improvements as well, and eluded that the reason why the core curriculum is being closely examined is due to the recent transfer of students and faculty from Southern Vermont College (SVC).

“With SVC being a four credit institution and MCLA being a three credit curriculum, we need to look what

New Staff, Page 8

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From Pool to New Fitness Center, Changes Scheduled for Fall 2020

BY TAYLOR SCARVER STAFF WRITER The promised new fitness center should finish construction in late spring 2020, and will open for business in the fall 2020.

It’s going to be potentially three times the size of the current fitness center and will include a running track around the top of the gym.

Brand new equipment will be placed such as an abundance of treadmills, elliptical machines, etc. The space will also include new offices for the athletic department.

The College previously decided to replace the pool with a fitness center after students, faculty, and staff brought up the struggles and limitations of the current fitness center.

“The Athletic Department could not create a collegiate swim program, as there are no other colleges in our conference or in other conferences within a reasonable distance to compete with,” said Larry Behan, vice president of administration and finance.

The College also held swim classes for credits as electives.

According to Catherine Holbrook, vice president of student affairs, it was decided to be unreasonable to have a large pool for only a handful of students to use.

The renovation of the fitness center also included the renovation of the Centennial Room, both projects being funded by Aramark, money from the College and Massachusetts School Building

PHOTO FROM THE MCLA FACEBOOK PAGE

Pictured is the old pool after being filled in with gravel to get started on the brand new fitness center which will be located in the Campus Center.

Authority, according to Holbrook. Both projects were done in stages to help save money and find out exactly how much funding was needed, though the new Centennial Room had to be finished before students moved in for the school year.

Holbrook also mentioned that currently, the process is in Phase 2, meaning wiring and other technical things are being installed and walls are being built or torn down.

“Nothing major changed from the beginning plans, the same layout is in play that we had originally, we put a lot of work into the initial plans to make sure that we get it just right, which is impressive,” Director of Athletics Laura Mooney said.

Renovation planning for the new fitness center has been talked about for several years, but was finally officiated in 2015. Renovations began the day after Commencement,

May 20, 2019, in order to get a head start on the Centennial Room.

Plans for what the old fitness center space have been discussed but nothing has been set in place and most likely won’t be addressed until the new space is finished.

“Students said that this building as a whole as a campus center isn’t really a great place to hang out and relax between classes…something that would increase the place

you can go to sit and study or talk to friends or just sit around if you’re a commuter would be really important for that space,” said Catherine Holbrook, vice president of student affairs, while explaining the results from a student satisfaction survey.

The new space will be open to the school by Fall 2020 as the summer will be used to move equipment in and prepare for the school year, according to Mooney.

SGA

Final Elections Fill Seven Student Senate Seats

BY NATHAN BRION SENIOR NEWS EDITOR On Monday, SGA had officially sworn in the seven students who were elected to senate seats. The new positions filled include: Athlete Seat, Jessica Dupoint ’23; Senator At-Large Cameron Gasco ’19; Senator At-Large Jaalissa Douglas ’23; Senator At-Large Bradley Odell ’22; Senator AtLarge Jason Smith ’23; Antoinette Webster ’22, class of 2022 senate representative; and Sophie Smith ’23, class of 2023 senate representative.

SGA also swore in three students as officers for the class of 2023: President Edgar Perez ’23, Vice President Khyahjah Alexander ’23, and Treasurer Jacob Wedge ’23.

SGA President Dean Little ’21 is very optimistic of having more students wanting to

partake in the student government.

“It is so great to see more students wanting to be a part of who we are and also to help out the campus in their own distinct way,” Little said.

“Having more students on the senate also frees up space and work for the others, including myself, who have been trying to make up that work since the seats were empty,” Little continued.

“This all seems so much in the beginning, I get it, but all of this will be much more easier to understand in the coming weeks.”

With the senate seats starting to fill back up again, a larger emphasis can be put on club activities. Little mentioned that clubs will be able to get what they need in a more timely fashion than when SGA was solely ran by either him-

self or another member.

One spot still remains open in SGA, the executive vice president position. Giovanni Arana was sworn during spring semester as executive vice president, but the position opened up at the start of this semester.

During the meeting, Little mentioned the “Red Zone” initiative which gives a voice to survivors of sexual assault or people who know survivors.

“Within the next week or so there will be red envelopes around campus that will be placed in a certain spot which needs to still be figured out,” Little said. “This will be happening until thanksgiving break which then the letters will be sent out to the state.”

SGA, public safety, and the administration will have a ‘walk’ around campus, look-

PHOTO BY NATHAN BIRON

New Members being sworn into senate positions. Some include senators at- large, athlete position, and some class officer winners. ing to further improve the lighting around campus and checking the blue light emergency spots.

“This is a very important thing that we do every year

SGA, Page 8

News

Oct. 10, 2019

Street Law Series

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Defense Attorney Denise Regan Highlights Importance of Rights

BY NATALIA GIACOMOZZI STAFF WRITER Denise Regan came to MCLA last Monday to explain the right to due process as a part of MCLA’s Street Law Series, Mini Lessons for an Educated Citizenry.

Regan, a Salem-based criminal defense attorney, has been practicing law for 37 years, majoring in political science and sociology in college before going to law school.

The Mini Lecture Series on Educated Citizenry was funded by a supplemental grant proposed under Title III of the Higher Education Act. The supplemental grant, approved by the Department of Education, was money put towards bringing civics to campus.

“Due process comes into play when a fundamental right is the issue,” Regan said.

The right to due process is stated in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, Regan sees a lot of unfairness in the world.

Regan kicked off the event with a clip of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” arguing that denying due process to anyone is it from everyone.

“You can’t talk about the criminal justice system in the US without talking about racism,” Regan added.

Regan said it is illegal for police officers to violate the Miranda Rights—a set of

PHOTO BY NATALIA GIACOMOZZI

Defense Attorney Denise Regan explained the importance of the right to due process and why we need more transparency when it comes to the law. statements given by police to criminal suspects in custody advising them of their right to silence; that is, their right to refuse to answer questions or provide information to law enforcement or other officials.

“It’s very intimidating to not want to talk to the police,” Regan said. “Talk about your right to privacy, I think DNA is pretty private.”

Regan also added, if the police want a sample of someone’s DNA, they must get a warrant in order to adhere to due process.

“I want to save people from their worst fate,” she said.

“Always get a lawyer if you are interrogated.”

Part of Regan’s duties as a criminal defense attorney includes working with investigators and social workers within the Massachusetts Judicial System. Currently, she works on the Committee for Public Counsel Services.

Theresa O’Bryant, dean of student success and engagement, believes Regan has given students a glimpse into choosing a career path after college.

“As you navigate your world landscape, as it relates to work, it’s important to find something that matches your interests [and] your temperament,” O’Bryant said.

O’Bryant also mentioned

Hardman Journalist

Liz Plank To Give Lecture On Modern Feminism Tonight

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE MANAGING EDITOR Liz Plank, renowned journalist and an executive producer for Vox Media, will come to campus tonight, Oct. 10, as MCLA’s Fall 2019 Hardman lecture speaker. Her talk, “Modern Feminism: It’s Not Just About Women,” will happen at 6 p.m. in Church Street center.

Her talk will focus heavily on the equal rights movement and reflect her own agenda as a hard-hitting journalist. This is notably reflected in her own coined social media hashtags, #WhyWomenDontReport and #HimThough, and her work in the professional scene.

Plank is a hard-working feminist in her field, constantly appearing on different televised platforms to promote and celebrate women in the

workforce. After the most recent presidential elections, she gave a TedX talk entitled “How to Be a Man: A Woman’s Guide,” which lead her into her first book “For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity.”

She’s mainly a political journalist focusing on issues surrounding sexuality, women of color, and disabilities. Plank produced Vox Media’s “Divided States of Women” platform, which hosts articles and videos releases on its website.

The project works to emphasize and educate on the different ways media and society portray and treat women.

The Hardman lecture series happens twice a year to bring top of the line speakers in various fields of media to come and share their work and experiences with the college.

The lecture has historically

been put on by a collaboration between the dean of academic affairs, professors on campus like Zachary Finch as Hardman co-scholars, the Office of Institutional Advancement and other various members of the college community, funded by the Hardman Family Endowment.

To find individuals for the talk, the Hardman co-scholars generate lists of potential candidates in the spring which is then boiled down depending on what best fits the college’s current mission.

In the past, the series has hosted a number of impressive speakers like Latina journalist Maria Hinojosa, ABC news anchor Byron Pitts, and Al Jazeera’s D.C. Beaureau Chief Abderrahim Foukara.

Prior to the talk, MCLA will

Hardman, Page 8

that people should have the same opportunities to get their voices heard under the law.

“It’s hard for some people to have to bring all their protections with them, and particularly for students and people who are disenfranchised, that is something unreasonable in my opinion,” O’Bryant added.

O’Bryant hopes the biggest takeaway from the Mini Lecture Series was that students learned about their rights.

Besides the right to due process, the series focused on immigration, the procedure of search and seizure, the procedure of stop and frisk, and criminal justice reform.

Chief Diversity Officer Christopher MacDonald-Dennis also helped to organize the Mini Lecture Series on Educated Citizenry.

“We were really intentional on connecting all of these topics to things that students will be dealing with [on and off campus],” MacDonald-Dennis said.

MacDonald-Dennis believes college students should care about their civil rights so they do not have to incriminate themselves if they are involved in a criminal justice situation.

“If I were to encapsulate it in one word, [the series] was about empowerment,” he added.

Moving forward, MacDonald-Dennis hopes that students would be able to identify what having rights looks like, whether it is on campus or in their daily lives. “It’s really about having conversations,” he said.

The other speakers who were brought to MCLA for the Mini Lecture Series included: Soudie Tahmassebipour, an Iranian-based attorney and activist; public defender Arnie Lucinda Stewart; Rashaan Hall, director of the racial justice program for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts; Sara Lowry, attorney on the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants; and Andrea Harrington, Berkshire County district attorney.

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Second Annual Career and Internships Fair

New Opportunities for Students

BY MAYA MCFADDEN FEATURES EDITOR Students and alumni will get the opportunity to seek out jobs, internships, and graduate schools from 47 recruiters during Career Development’s second annual Career and Internships Fair.

Anthony Napolitano, employer relations and internship coordinator, will host the fair Thursday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Venable Gym. Some organizations that will be in attendance will include Jacob’s Pillow, Nichols College, Wayfair and Berkshire Health Systems with diagnostic imaging.

“All students should come to practice networking and seeing what employers are looking for,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano worked to increase the total number of employers by 12 compared to last year’s 35 businesses

and recruiters that registered.

The fair will include a variety of disciplines such as STEM, criminal justice, government and education.

Students are encouraged to dress in professional attire and to attend the fair with resumes to show potential future employers. A professional photographer will also be available for students to take professional head shots.

Throughout the four-hour block, Napolitano will raffle off prizes for students and employers. Napolitano said the prizes will include 11 Amazon gift cards that range between $25-$200 and MCLA swag items. From 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. some available and actively searching recruiters will conduct on-sight interviews with students.

“It’s a fulfilling experience for me to build these relationships with these employers and see how much potential they see in our students for

PHOTO FROM MCLA WEBSITE

Last year’s fair was the first since Anthony Napolitano’s start in 2017.

their jobs,” Napolitano said.

With help from last year’s evaluations that were collected from some of the 130 students that attended the inaugural fair and all of the employers, Napolitano said this year’s fair will include organizations that students had directly requested.

“If a student spends time writing back with who they want, I’m going to pursue it for them,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano began reaching out to local, regional, and national representatives and employers in August for registration.

More than half of the 47 employers are new and did not participate in last year’s fair. Napolitano said employers will lay out their opportunities and possible job openings with information and promotional giveaways.

The event is financially self-sustaining, according to Napolitano. With the increase in employers from last year’s fair, career development will increase its promotion tactics for this year’s fair using the funds accumulated from the employer’s registration fees.

On the day of the fair, Napolitano will receive help from support faculty and student-athlete volunteers who will work the event’s registration table, distribute raffle tickets, help employers with parking and finding their tables, and welcoming students.

Along with increased promotions and the raffle, it was

PHOTO FROM MCLA WEBSITE

This year’s fair has made improvements in direct response to feedback from the inaugural fair’s employer and student evaluations. decided that College host the fair on a Thursday, rather than a Friday like last year, to be sure that it happens during the common time where students are free of classes.

Department chairs will be provided with a packet of descriptions for each organization registered to share with faculty and students beforehand, according to Napolitano.

This is an opportunity for students to explore a variety of careers and network with

employers to discuss potential jobs, internships, or job shadow experiences.

“Students should come with an open mind and take full advantage that employers and jobs are coming to them,” Napolitano said.

Each year Napolitano hopes to improve the fair for both students and employers to get the best experience of the College.

“A career fair should be a part of the campus culture,” Napolitano said.

Want to advertise here?

Contact Editor-in-Chief Tessa Sestito at ts5422@mcla.edu for rates and inquires

Check out this week’s episode of Beacon Web News on YouTube or MCLA-TV on Philo!

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Oct. 10, 2019

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‘Hook Up’ Event Invites Dialogue about Sexual Violence Prevention

BY LISE MANSARAY FEATURES WRITER

MCLA hosted its very first sexual violence presentation, “The Hook Up,” Thursday, October 3. The presentation acted as follow-up training to the sexual violence prevention course that all students are required to complete.

The purpose of the presentation was designed to facilitate a conversation with students regarding the culture of this campus. According to Nicole Comstock, director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX, the presentation was also geared towards empowering students to promote a safe environment and reduce incidents of sexual violence.

“It’s important for students to be able to ask questions and to hear each other’s perspectives,” Comstock said.

“These issues affect people on a deeply personal level, and that can get lost sometimes when we don’t have face to face conversations.”

One of the topics Connor Konz, the speaker of the Hook Up presentation, touched on was how gender stereotypes and name-calling can play as contributors in sexual violence.

Audience members listed negative nicknames commonly known for someone who is sexually active, including labels such as “player.”

“Using these kinds of labels objectifies people,” Konz said. “If someone has these labels on them it’s hard for

them to come forward when crimes [of sexual assault] are committed.”

Konz emphasized the importance of creating a comfortable and respectful environment. He used an example of a hostile work environment, which can include factors such as abusive language, corruption in power, and inequality.

According to Konz, in a hostile work environment, it is six times more likely for rape to occur. He also said that 76% of women in the workplace have experienced sexual harassment and 54% of people have experienced unwanted sexual touching.

“Remember, we are in control of the things we do and the things we say,” Konz said.

Overall, the interactive nature of the presentation created an active learning environment that was very important for Comstock, as it gives students the opportunity to be active participants in a very serious discussion.

This year especially, Comstock has worked to improve students’ learning experience on the topic of sexual violence prevention. One of the ways she hoped to achieve this was through changing the training from previous years.

“We really wanted to listen to student feedback regarding our previous trainings,” Comstock said. “We had heard from students that they had trouble accessing last year’s course due to some technical issues. We also heard

PHOTO BY LISE MANSARAY

About 100 students, faculty, and staff members attended the event at the Church Street Center Auditorium to follow-up the mandatory annual sexual violence prevention training. that the course content was not entirely helpful to students.”

The course this year is available on canvas, making it more accessible and engaging to students.

“The content of this course is more resonant because in addition to providing information on policies,” Comstock said. “It encourages students to be more critical of cultural and social norms that perpetrators of sexual violence use to their advantage and it empowers students to act when they know something is not right.”

She believes these conversations are

crucial in helping to create a healthy and positive environment here on campus.

“MCLA does not have more incidents of sexual violence than other college campuses, but because we are a tightly knit community we can feel the effects of sexual violence more acutely,” Comstock said. “We want to make sure that students understand what MCLA’s expectations are, but we also want students to feel empowered to create the campus environment that reflects their belief that sexual violence has no place here.”

Student Summer Internships

Senior Joins Institute for Arts and Humanities

BY MAYA MCFADDEN FEATURES EDITOR

During summer 2019, MCLA’s Institute for Arts and Humanities was aided by the creative ideas of Isamaya Hagstrom ’20, an interdisciplinary study major with a concentration in global affairs and a minor in political science.

Hagstrom worked as a paid intern at the Institute from May until August. During her internship, she worked on putting together the Institute’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) chart.

The chart catalogs accessible arts and humanities resources within the Berkshire county.

Hagstrom’s internship included working with this registry, which contains 1,500 nonprofit and for-profit organizations and events with the end goal of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion on and off campus for students.

Hagstrom moved to North Adams when she was 16 and quickly realized the community’s lack of access to diverse

creative programming. As a result, she chose to pursue her internship work and began vocalizing her personal experience more as a Latina in North Adams with no access to creative outlets.

“More than anything I think it’s important that people speak about diversity, equity, inclusion, and access,” Hagstrom said.

The chart she worked on is also meant to help the community to get together to share their stories and experiences.

The Institute recently launched in June with the help of a $360,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Hagstrom worked closely with the Institute’s team to shed light on the program’s initiative of providing opportunities for more Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA).

“We work to help the community have access to one another,” Hagstrom said.

Lisa Donovan, professor of arts management, is the director of the Institute.

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“You can’t have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive place without making sure all voices are heard.”

Having lived in the Berkshires for some time, Hagstrom said she found interest in the Institute because of it’s dedication to IDEA which validated her experience growing up. The hope is to break down the barrier of access in the community including access to public transportation, economic access to programs, and more.

“You can’t have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive place without making sure all voices

are heard,” she said.

Another task Hagstrom worked with was what the Institute calls a CYD map, a county map that shows which k-12 artistic programs are available.

“Being in the Berkshires it’s like you’re so far and not so far at the same time,” she said.

This is why access is considered in the initiative as well.

During the summer, she also had the opportunity to proctor a professional developmental training at Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School (BART). This was an opportunity for Hagstrom to share her experiences and knowledge on multicultural lessons and how to teach diverse classrooms.

Hagstrom’s work with the Institute over the summer also included working with the MCLA DEI conference.

Hagstrom described how the summer internship completely changed her perspective of the college experience.

“It sparked a newfound love for college for me,” she said.

Hagstrom added that she also learned the importance of networking and gained an unexpected learning curve of being an independent learner.

Hagstrom came into the internship thinking it’d be more brainstorming-related work, but instead the summer opportunity offered her new skills in computer design and cataloging software.

Currently, Hagstrom is working at another internship this semester with MCLA alumnus Erica Berreto ‘18, the Institute’s coordinator, to continue the work she started this summer. They are working on hosting screenings and poetry related gatherings to spark conversations on the awareness of the spacial aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Hagstrom is working to finalize the DEI chart she began in the summer to make information on local events accessible to the community.

“We are affirming diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Hagstrom said.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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“Astonishment Artist” Mat LaVore to Create Magic at SAC’s Hypnosis Show

BY JENNIFER VANBRAMER A&E EDITOR MCLA’s Student Activities Council (SAC) will bring a miraculous world of magic, mind reading, and hypnosis with “Astonishment Artist” Mat Lavore to the Church Street Center Saturday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m.

In this 90-minute show, the most spellbinding and revolutionary magic and hypnosis will be performed on stage by LaVore, who is most famous for swallowing needles, hypnotizing people to forget their own names, and even predicting the future. “[This is] one of the first SACtober events and I’m excited to have it kick off the Halloween season,” SAC’s Entertainment Chair Paula Kingsbury-Evans said in an email. “Students have shown interest in mind readers and hypnotists before so I hope that this event gets the same sort of traction.”

The show is expected to be interactive and LaVore will be walking around campus before his performance from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, doing a few promotional tricks to get people to come to the show.

PHOTO FROM MATLAVORE.COM

Magician, mind reader, and hypnotist, Mat LaVore will perform at SAC’s Hypnosis Show on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. in the Church Street Center.

“It’s the only performance act this year for SACtober. We’ve had similar acts like this before, but we don’t have them come very often,” Kingsbury-Evans said.

SAC’s President, Crystal Wojcik, had seen LaVore at the National Association for Campus Activites (NACA), an organization designed to provide information and resources

for campus activities programmers throughout the United States and Canada, last year and asked Kingsbury-Evans to bring him to MCLA. LaVore has performed for the past 15 years as a magician, mentalist, and hypnotist, traveling all over the world to study and learn from the very best in those fields. Not only is he visiting MCLA but he will

also be on tour stopping at various different colleges around the country.

On his website LaVore states, “I’m a full-time professional entertainer. Combining my skills as a magician, mind reader, and hypnotist, I specialize in helping Universities and colleges create memorable and successful events. Students will experience an unparalleled magic, mind

reading, and hypnosis show they will be telling their friends and family about for years to come!”

“I’m not sure what we can expect, but I’m excited to find out!” Kingsbury-Evans added. “It’ll be super fun.”

To learn more about LaVore, you can visit his website www.matlavore.com/ or check out demos of his work on YouTube by a simple search of his name.

Review

Learning to Move on from ‘Someone Great’

BY JENNIFER VANBRAMER A&E EDITOR Released earlier this year on Netflix, the film “Someone Great” takes a look into stories about love, relationships, loss, friendship, and adulthood.

Written and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, this romantic-comedy stars actress Gina Rodriguez who plays the film’s main character, Jenny, a music journalist living in New York City who lands a dream job with Rolling Stone in San Francisco.

She has been dating her boyfriend, Nate (Lakeith Stanfield), for nine years when he suddenly decides to break up with her after finding out she must move to California instead of trying to pursue a long-distance relationship.

The tragic break-up causes Jenny to spiral into a depression that she eventually gets out of thanks to her two best friends, Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow).

Both have complicated love

lives of their own: Erin is afraid to meet her girlfriend’s friends, while Blair carries on a boring relationship with a man she isn’t happy with.

All three characters decide to go on one last unforgettable and outrageous adventure together.

Throughout the film, Jenny flashes back to several different memories of her and Nate which helps illustrate the rise and fall of their relationship.

These memories are always perfectly triggered by a song that plays or a place that is visited in the movie.

Best known for her lead role in The CW television series, “Jane the Virgin,” Rodriguez shines in “Someone Great” by taking on a very different, messier version of herself than is typically seen on-screen and she does it exceptionally well.

For someone entering their early 20s or even 30s, this film teaches a few life lessons including how to let go of the past, learning that you don’t need a man to be happy, there

is no rush growing up, and you should not let anyone or anything hold you back from chasing your dreams.

The movie also features a wide-ranging soundtrack of songs, from recent top charting hits such as Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and Lorde’s “Supercut” to early 2000s classics like “The Jump Off”

by Lil’ Kim and “Mansard Roof” by Vampire Weekend.

While watching the film, Jenny, Blair, and Erin are a trio of friends you wish you had - maybe. These three women know how to have a good time together, they lift each other up out of their bad moments, and they are truly there to support one another. Women empowering women in a film is something you don’t see quite often, but when you do it’s pretty amazing.

“Someone Great” is streaming on Netflix now.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s approval rating holds strong at 84%, based on 37 reviews.

PHOTO FROM IMDB.COM

“Someone Great” stars actresses, DeWanda Wise (top), Gina Rodriguez (middle), and Brittany Snow (bottom).

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Oct. 10, 2019

TheOnlineBeacon.com

7

The Riverside Brothers and Rose Grace to Perform at the Parlor Cafe this Weekend

BY SABRINA DAMMS A&E WRITER The Riverside Brothers and Rose Grace will be performing at the Parlor Cafe Saturday, Oct. 12. Doors open at 6 p.m. and performances will start at 7 p.m.

Based in Pittsfield, the Riverside Brothers is a country acoustic trio band best known for its 2017 recorded album, “Nevaeh,” which captures the live vibe of the band and features vocals and acoustic guitar sounds. During the show, the band will be performing pieces from “Nevaeh” as well as new works from its upcoming album that is soon to be released in 2020.

“We’ve never hosted this band before, and every band brings a different energy to the space,” Parlor Cafe owner Julia Daly said in an email.

“I haven’t met the Riverside Brothers or Rose Grace yet, so I don’t know what their presence will be like, but from our correspondence I have a feeling it’ll be good energy!”

The Riverside Brothers were formed in July 2016 by singer Edward Moran and guitarist and vocalist Stan Pyrzanowski. In the summer of 2017, guitarist and vocalist Seth Fleischmann returned to Western Massachusetts and joined the band. The trio had previously worked together back in 1994, writing material that they still

The Riverside Brothers (right) and Rose Grace (left) will perform at The Parlor Cafe this Saturday at 7 p.m. play in their sets today.

“People should come out and support regional musicians,” Daly said. “I hope we’ll get some new faces in the door. We also hope everyone has a good time and enjoys the music. It’d be cool if the Riverside Brothers and Rose Grace got some new followers out of it.”

The Parlor Cafe gives the

people of North Adams a chance to broaden their horizons and see what the community has to offer through its events. The affordable pricing gives residents a chance to try new things without having to spend an arm and a leg.

“We hear constantly that there’s nothing to do in North Adams, but there is always something going on in this city

PHOTO FROM THE PARLOR CAFE FACEBOOK PAGE

if you’re paying attention,” Daly said. “Almost all of our shows are suggested donation of $5 but are otherwise free.

This means there’s no harm in showing up for a little while to feel it out.”

“So long story short, I think people who feel there’s nothing to do here should come out and see that there is cool, inexpensive stuff happening

here,” Daly added.

More information about the event can be found on The Parlor Cafe’s Facebook page.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase during this live music event Saturday, Oct. 12.

The Parlor Cafe will also be serving its full menu, with the exception of breakfast, until 8:30 p.m.

* THURSDAY, OCT. 10 - HARDMAN LECTURE SERIES WITH LIZ PLANK CHURCH STREET CENTER AT 6 P.M.

* SATURDAY, OCT. 12

- BOOK SIGNING WITH LIZ PLANK FEIGENBAUM CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND INNOVATION AT 7 P.M.

- OPEN HOUSE MCLA AT 9 A.M.

* FRIDAY, OCT. 11

- SAC’S HYPNOSIS SHOW WITH MAT LAVORE CHURCH STREET CENTER AT 8 P.M.

- NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY TABLING WITH IGE CENTER CAMPUS CENTER MARKETPLACE FROM 11 A.M TO 2 P.M. - COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND BUS TRIP TO BOSTON MONTANA STREET AT 4 P.M. - SAC’S FIELD OF HORRORS OFF CAMPUS FROM 8 P.M. TO 12 A.M.

* WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16 - SENIOR TYE DYE ACADEMIC QUAD FROM 12 TO 2 P.M. - SAC’S MOVIES AND MUMMIES SULLIVAN LOUNGE FROM 8 TO 10 P.M.

News

Oct. 10, 2019

ALUMNI From Page 1

one, whether it be trustees, legislators, employers, faculty, students or staff tell you to change the mission of MCLA.” On Oct. 5, WJJW hosted a live radio show at Sullivan Lounge where alumni were invited to speak and reflect on their time at the college. Berkshire County native Buffy Lord ’98 spoke during the event and reflected on her time at MCLA and the impact it had on her life.

“We made friends here that we’ve kept, even if they live in different parts of the state or different parts of the country,” Lord said. “There’s kind of no place like home, as they say.”

Robert Coolidge ’65, a winner of this year’s MCLA Alumni Outstanding Educator Emeritus, said that attending the College gave his life direction and led to him becoming an educator.

“Once I applied North Adams accepted me, gave my life direction and provided me with an opportunity and the background to have a successful career,” Coolidge said.

CLERY

From Page 1 on-campus in the residence halls.

There was one incident of aggravated assault on-campus, but not in the residence halls, up from zero in 2017.

Another increase included two reports of illegal weapons possessions on-campus in residence halls, up from zero in 2017. These resulted in arrests, stated in the report, and internal judicial reviews that were not given in the report, according to Colonno.

“The Clery Reporting Guide says that if there’s an arrest made with regards to certain incidents, the inference that they’re making is that an internal judicial review is going to happen so you don’t need to report that on the disciplinary end as well, so if there’s an arrest made, we do not need to report it again as an internal judicial discipline,” Colonno said.

There was also a decrease in crime incidents from 2017 to 2018, such as domestic vio-

NEW STAFF From Page 1

SVC had to offer, what level those classes were there and then decide on what needs to be done moving ahead,” Janis said. “This is hopefully going

“I knew I was fortunate, but I never realized just how fortunate.”

Amina Wilson, a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, spent three years at the college but had to transfer for financial reasons.

Despite this, Wilson spoke fondly of the time spent at the institution on WJJW. “Literally, the best three years of my college career,” Wilson said. “I love being a part of the alumni board, there are so many things that have happened [since graduating] that I wouldn’t have had to transfer out.”

Wilson also said that despite working and being a full-time student, she enjoyed being a member of the college community.

“I worked 40 to 60 hours a week and we still had fun times when we were here,” Wilson said. “Now I live just three blocks away [from campus] and it’s so bizarre.”

Kenneth Michaels ’85, winner of this year’s MCLA Distinguished Alumni Award, said his experience in the business department gave him the mindset necessary for him to be successful.

TheOnlineBeacon.com

8

PHOTO BY BRIAN RHODES

Jake Vitali ‘20, alum Sam Olson ‘21, and Celia Norcross, assistant dean of students and interim student conduct coordinator, at the WJJW event this past weekend.

“This school and the professors in it taught me how to think critically, how to problem solve, how not to complain, how to make an impact in a way where you have a deep discussion with a professor,” Michaels said.

Michaels also praised the impact that attending such a small school had on him.

“Small enough, with a great community to have a very intimate exchange [with other students and faculty],” Michaels said.

The attending alumni and many others gathered to pay respects to the late Joseph Zavattaro, former baseball coach

and athletic director at the college for 31 years, at an event held in his honor on Oct. 5 in the Campus Center Gym. “A lot of the athletics alumni and people that knew him and worked with him have come back and are honoring his legacy,” Gigliotti said. “That was a great thing to add to homecoming weekend.”

Several guests spoke at the event, including friends of Zavattraro and President James Birge. His friends and colleagues used words such as “mentor,” “legendary,” and “family” to describe him. “[Zavattaro] thought of us like family,”alumnus Sean

McMahon said. “He was the best coach I ever had.”

Birge spoke as well, giving thanks for all Zavatarro did for the college, including being a good role model and teacher to student-athletes.

“This was his home,” Birge said. “This was his house.”

Saturday’s festivities on Murdock Lawn featured live music from the band Kin, which included MCLA alumnus Luke Tobin ’17, as well as games and food stations provided by Ramuntos and Tres Ninos. Among the alumni, members of college staff were present for the event as well, including President Birge.

lence, down to zero from four for on-campus and down to zero from one on public property; on-campus stalking, down to one from seven, down to one from three for residence halls, and down one to zero for non-campus; non-campus aggravated assault, down one to zero; and non-campus burglary, down three to zero. “[Stalking] does fall under Title IX if it has to do with a relationship of sorts,” Colonno said. “There was one instance on there [clery report] that was a stalking where we made an arrest, that was the one incident that we were aware of, and we investigated it and made an arrest.”

Although stalking as significantly gone down, Colonno cannot attribute a reason to this. However, Colonno believes that the increase in statistics in previous years was due to educating students.

“The one year where we, meaning Title IX, started to push on education, there was an increase in numbers,” Colonno said. “People look at that and go ‘Oh my god, what’s going on?’ What’s going on is that

these things have always been occurring, but people did not feel comfortable or have a venue, in their opinion, to go and report these things. And maybe stalking is one of those areas where people aren’t fairly comfortable, but the other numbers bear out that people are feeling more comfortable with the process and the system.”

In terms of hate offenses, there was a decline in on-campus destruction, damage, or vandalism of property, down from two to zero.

For respect to arrests made and disciplinary actions/judicial referrals, on-campus liquor-law violations in residence halls went down to zero from one, and disciplinary actions/judicial referrals of liquor-law violations decreased to 36 from 51.

However, these categories vary in discretion, according to Colonno. For instance, the number of incidents reported for liquor-law violations does not necessarily mean 36 isolated incidents.

“Not any everything rises to the level of an arrest, there is some things that there is some

discretion, and there are some things that there really is very little discretion,” Colonno said.

“I think alcohol, depending on what happens, there’s a bit of discretion.”

Colonno gave the example of RPS performing an inspection in a townhouse of four people under 21 and finding alcohol.

“Even though that’s a single incident, they did a safety inspection or a health and wellness inspection and there are four people under the age of 21 who are living in that house, it’s not one report it’s four reports,” Colonno said. “We have very little latitude when it comes to that, we can’t look at it and go ‘oh that’s a single incident’ and ‘oh one person actually fessed up that it was theirs,’ no that’s four of that 36, for argument’s sake.”

However, if the College can avoid arresting students for alcohol violations and dealing with the situation in a different way, Colonno says he’d rather do so.

“It’s a zero tolerance, from a certain perspective, and that zero tolerance is you’re going to be held accountable, but it’s

going to be through a different process and that’s either through RPS judicating it, or now Celia Norcross, who’s in charge of conduct,” Colonno said. “If it’s a resident student, traditionally Dianne will take something from the residential end and she’ll handle it. If it’s a non-resident student, Celia will traditionally take that.”

“And for me, that’s that zero tolerance accountability, because, again there’s a bit of discretion, I’m not the kind of person to lock someone up for alcohol and give them a criminal record for being under 21,” he added. “If there’s another way we can hold them accountable and send a message and take a zero tolerance posture to that and not arrest somebody and give them a criminal record, then we’re all about that.”

For 2018, there were no criminal or hate offenses that occurred on public property or in non-campus buildings. There were no arrests or disciplinary actions reported for non-campus buildings. In regards to hate offenses, this is consistent with the previous two years.

to be put into place by the fall of 2021.”

Wootters believes that the new radiology program will continue on since being added to MCLA from the SVC closure.

“It is really important that we make sure the students

from SVC and MCLA have things completed in a timely manner,” Wootters said.

In terms of possible future plans, Wootters and Janis hope to change the first year experience (FYE) for students at the College.

“There are other universities

that handle their FYE students differently whether that be the duration of how long freshman are considered first year students, and also what kinds of classes are being offered for them,” Wootters said.

Janis hopes that new ideas for the future will help make

the communication and transparency of academic affairs more apparent for students and faculty.

Wootters and Janis are both very optimistic for the future and what they will be able to accomplish in a fairly quick time.

SGA

From Page 2 to make sure that the parking lots and sidewalks and properly lit so no

student feels uncomfortable walking around campus,” Little said. “Having the ‘Red Zone’ initiative go along with our walk with admin and public safety I think will make the importance of these events that much more.”

HARDMAN From Page 3

host a special student discussion panel with Plank. This will give

students an opportunity to better get to know her and ask in depth questions about her career. The discussion is occurring tonight, Oct. 10, at 4 p.m. in Murdock 218 and is open to the public.

Sports

TheOnlineBeacon.com

Men’s Golf

Trailblazers finish 8th in End-of-Season Tournament

BY JOHN MORRISEY SPORTS WRITER

The MCLA Trailblazers men’s golf team finished their season during Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) weekend play at Washusett Country Club in West Boylston Sunday, Oct. 6, finishing in 8th place for the 2-day tournament.

The Trailblazers were led by the strong play of Nick Bator ’20, who finished four over par on the final round of the season with two birdies to his credit.

Tied for 12th place, Bator finished the weekend with a two-day total of 160, only 8 shots behind the tournament leaders.

MCLA’s Reese Dwyer ’20 and Brett Norman ’22 tied for 35th, while Noah Matrigali ’23 finished 41st.

Springfield College took the overall team championship led by the

play of Corey Roya ’23 and Mike Strong ’20 who both shot 152 for the weekend.

MCLA’s golf season started off strong with Dwyer recording his career first individual title for his play last month, kicking off the Trailblazers season by shooting one over par at the Brett Williamson Invitational Sept. 19.

Dwyer was been working hard to replicate that winning touch for the rest of the season, providing the Trailblazers with strong play throughout the remaining tournaments.

The most consistent force for the team all season was provided by Bator who kept his round totals for each match he played all season below 80.

MCLA will look to revamp itself this offseason and prepare for another hard-hitting season next year.

For a complete look at all of the PHOTO TAKEN FROM MCLA ATHLETICS PAGE team and individual stats, check out Nick Bator ‘20 led the Trailblazers this past the MCLA Athletics wesbite. weekend with a total of 160.

Gambill Remains Hopeful About Fall Season

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE MANAGING EDITOR Women’s cross country team finished 19th at the Keene State College XC Invitational Saturday, Oct. 5. Although this is only their third meet for the season, runners like Julie Gambill ’20 are already looking towards the future.

“As a graduating senior, I’d like to see the team have a strong lead into next year,” Gambill said. “So, hopefully [we] recruit some more people along the way. We have a lot of freshmen on the team, lot of strong freshmen.”

Gambill placed 64th overall at Saturday’s meet, completing their 5k race with a time of 20:37.0.

“We’re pretty close, running is one of those sports where, you know, everyone is super friendly with each other,” Gambill said. “Even if you are on a different team you’re all just, you know, wishing each other good luck.”

Gambill has consistently hit the lowest times for the women’s team in three of their 2019 season meets, with Hannah Poplawski ’21 closing the gap with her time of 22:31.3 from Saturday’s meet.

To score at the meets, college teams need to consist of at least 5 runners.

The women’s team has been hitting that mark so far, but the men’s team only has three current runners.

“We’ve just been asking some other people to help us out,” Gambill said. “So we’ve had some baseball runners, I think some Lacrosse runners or people who’ve played those sports, who come and run for us. So we’ve been able to score at meets be-

CORRECTION

SCORE BOARD

Women’s Cross Country Keene State - 19th Oct. 5 Julie Gambill - 20:37 (64th) Hannah Poplawski - 22:31 (106th)

Next: @ Westfield State Oct. 12

Men’s Cross Country Keene State - Incomplete Records Oct. 5 Next: @ Westfield State Oct. 12

Men’s Golf MASCAC Championships @ Wachusett Country Club Oct. 5-6 Nick Bator - 160 (12th-tied) Reese Dwyer (35th-tied) Brett Norman (35th-tied)

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Cross Country

MCLA (0), Salem State (2) Oct. 5 MCLA (3), Northern VermontLyndon (0) Oct. 8 Next: @ Worcester State Oct. 12, 12:00 p.m. vs. Salve Regina Oct. 14, 1:30 p.m.

Women’s Soccer MCLA (0), Salem State (4) Oct. 5 MCLA — SUNY Cobleskill (Wed.) Oct. 9 PHOTO BY MCLA ATHLETICS

Julie Gambill ‘20 running the 5k at the Williams College Invitational Saturday, Sept. 28.

Gambill finished this race with a time of 28:08.5, coming in 137th place. cause of them.”

“A lot of our team last year were seniors and so many of them graduated,” they continued. “So we just gotta rebuild that and keep going.”

For Gambill, running is all about the mental strength to get past the discomfort.

“You just gotta be committed and willing to push past discomfort,” Gambill said. “A lot of people don’t like running because it hurts or you gotta run in the cold, you have to run in everything. We run in snow, we run in everything so you really gotta be able to withstand that discomfort.”

Gambill described their coach as being a major influence on the team’s results as a whole.

“My coach, she’s fantastic,” Gambill said. “She’s also extremely high energy and you know she has a lot

Last week's Scoreboard on the Sports page should have stated that Women’s Volleyball game against Mass Maritime finished with a score of 3-0.

on her plate but she always makes the time that we need her for and she’s very dedicated. She actually qualified for the Boston marathon so she’s a fantastic runner herself.”

Abigail Wright has been the men’s and women’s cross country coach since July of 2018, according to the MCLA athletics website.

Both men’s and women’s cross country have two more meets left in the season: one Saturday, Oct. 12, at Westfield State University and the other Saturday, Oct. 19, at Western New England College.

MASCAC Championships will happen Saturday, Nov. 2, for both teams, followed by the NCAA Regionals at Bowdoin College Saturday, Nov. 16.

For more coverage of Women’s Cross Country, check out BWN’s episode this week.

Read more about Trailblazers, featuring all nine fall sports at athletics.mcla.edu

9

Next: vs. Worcester State Oct. 12, 12:00 p.m.

@ Westfield State Oct. 19, 12:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis

MCLA (1), Lesley (5) NAC Semifinals - Oct. 6 All-Tournament Team - Alyssa Keegan

Women’s Volleyball MCLA (3), Fitchburg State (0) Oct. 2 MCLA (0), King’s (Pa.) (3) MCLA (3), Utica (0) Oct. 5 MCLA (3), Sage (0) Oct. 8 Next: vs. Eastern Conn. St. @ Keene Oct. 12, 2:00 p.m. @ Keene Oct. 12, 4:00 p.m. vs. Framingham State Oct. 15, 6:00 p.m.

Opinion

TheOnlineBeacon.com

10

Should the Word ‘Dating’ Still be Used?

Technology has continued to change the way we connect and converse with each other. In today’s technology-dependent world, the prevalence of smartphones means we are always contactable, social media allows others to get to know us before we have even met, and dating apps give us an abundance of choice in a suitable partner or partners.

The pressure put on by being so dependent on digital communication is exhausting. Dating has become a perpetual cycle of text messages, each opening new a can of worms for which interpretation the receiver should have. Does “K” actually mean “okay” anymore? Depending on the person, it could mean “Okay, I’m done with this conversation,” “Okay, you’re right but I won’t admit it,” “Okay, I don’t accept what you just said but I have to,” etc.

Dating, or as it was once called, courtship, has evolved over time, mutating itself into something completely unrecognizable by our parent’s generation. What is considered “romantic” today is completely different than 30 years ago.

Ironically, in the early 1900s, a man and a woman meeting in public was the best way to have some privacy.

Before dating, courtship involved suitors calling on prospective partners in the family home. It was completely out of the question to go into a bedroom for privacy (still is for many parents), a young couple had to get to know one another in open spaces like the kitchen or parlor where there were always eyes and ears close by.

“Courting” someone only occurred with the intent of marriage. The compatibility of potential couples was determined by land, status, and wealth.

A small minority of couples chose love over the qualities mentioned, however, it would often end in financial instability and low social status.

This continued into the 1920s when “the American Dream” for men was to work hard and become a success, the equivalent for women was to get a good job and marry a rich man.

For women entering their early 20s, it became an acceptable way of life to enter the workforce doing work as a stenographer, a “shop girl,” or the like. The intent was to marry your rich boss, if you were a stenographer, or to take a job in high-class department stores where rich men were as a “shop girl.”

In order to attract rich men, these shop girls had to learn how to appear like a high class woman (mostly by watching female customers that came to the department store), finding a “need” to buy the expensive items they were selling.

The focus was on how women could better themselves, both externally and internally, leading to dating advice books and articles suggesting ways in which women could develop a more attractive personality.

Then, dating found started to change. It became a frenzy of desperation. Women were first “warned” of an inescapable, imminent “biological clock” in the 1970s, quickly gaining traction and igniting anxiety for women in the workforce as an impediment to career advancement.

However, the “clock” statistics were tragically flawed, drawn from French birth records from 1670 to 1830―a time before electricity, antibiotics, or fertility treatment. As a result of this misinformation, a new idea started to

TESSA SESTITO NOT FOR THE BETTER root itself in society; a sexist double standard wherein the male biological clock was ignored completely, giving men all the time in the world to “play the field.”

From then on, dating started to mutate with the advancement of technology. Up until the 1990s, people had the option to either talk on a landline or talk in-person to someone, but they inevitably would have to leave the comfort of their homes to meet each other and “hang out.”

Then instant messaging came into play. You could talk with someone without actually talking to them.

Computers gave you the power to control exactly what you wanted to say and when. You didn’t have to stumble over words, you had time to think about what you wanted to say, etc.

While technological advancement has increased, social forms of communication, such as dating, have experienced a steady decline. We might as well not even call it “dating” any-

more. Honestly, it’s become the laziest form of the word; barely a few steps up from a high-five.

Growing up in the age of so-called “hookup culture,” millennials and everyone younger are agreeing to go by a new set of rules.

Instead of dinner and a movie, which seems as obsolete as a rotary phone, we “socialize” over text messages, rarely phone calls; Instagram messages, stories, posts; Snapchat messages and stories; etc. These “nondates” are creating a generation confused about how to land a suitable boyfriend or girlfriend.

“Hanging out” or “talking” are the new forms of dating. Traditional courtship — picking up the telephone and asking someone on a date — required courage, strategic planning, and considerable investment into reactions for every possible scenario.

In the context of dating, these new forms of communication remove much of the need for charm; it’s more like dropping a line in the water and hoping for a nibble without any bait.

Expectations have lowered considerably. As long as you know how to carry on a decent conversation, you’re basically on your way to becoming the perfect potential partner.

More effort is being put into googling where to find a reliable place to pick up a fake ID or creating the “perfect” Instagram-worthy picture than forming a coherent and authentic message to ask someone out.

We’ve completely desensitized ourselves to what a normal conversation is comprised of, that we settled for a “Hey,” “What’s up,” or “You up?”

And what’s worse, there’s no sign of things getting better anytime soon.

Sturgill Simpson Packs Heat on ‘SOUND & FURY’

JAKE VITALI A SLICE OF AMERICANA Sturgill Simpson has always been a modern day outlaw and despite some of the reviews you may have read on his new album “SOUND & FURY,” he’s still the outlaw that he’s always been.

Sturgill’s always been an outlaw, he speaks his mind, and is no stranger to controversy. Afterall, he’s the same guy who protested not being nominated for a Country Music Award, busking outside the event with the Grammy Award that he received for 2017’s “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.”

He tore Nashville a new one for celebrating Merle Haggard after rejecting him while he was still alive. He’s the same man who proclaimed himself “King Turd” on “Shit Mountain” and

offered you the crown.

“SOUND & FURY” is Sturgill’s musical middle finger to the critics, record executives, and everybody else who has attempted to paint him into a corner. While he’s been a prominent voice in the indie-country movement since he first burst onto the scene with his debut LP “High Top Mountain,” the media and record labels have billed him as this generation’s Waylon Jennings.

They wanted him to chase Grammy Awards and tour constantly, with no regard for his health or young family.

“SOUND & FURY” defies all of his previously releases. It isn’t a country album, and moments of country influence are few and far between. This is a noisy, rock record with heavy influence from disco, funk, and blues.

The production is loud and has heavy compression with intense reverb.

It’s not to say that it is a bad album, because it isn’t. But it does need to be evaluated for what it is. This record was conceptualized while Sturgill spent a month in the hospital following surgery for a sinus infection, medicating with marijuana edibles. From his hospital room, Sturgill listened to his favorite albums ranging from Nirvana to Black Sabbath to Eminem.

He also shared in a recent interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” that he wanted to make music he and his band wouldn’t get tired of playing

during nightly shows.

The album opens with “Ronin,” a badass, post-apocalyptic instrumental which features a sample of Alex Jones, setting up the tense, urgent feeling of the record. “Ronin” beautifully transitions into “Remember to Breathe,” the album’s standout track. The opening notes bring to mind saloon doors opening, revealing a sheriff ready to come for the bad guy, before introducing some blisteringly thick bass which rides throughout the track.

“Sing Along” addresses the records theme head on: not being allowed to be the kind of artist that he wants to be. This particular one takes aim at his record label with the jagged line “You done me wrong, so here’s your song, now sing along” which is delivered with the kind of conviction where you’d expect to see Sturgill slamming the heads of record executives into a table.

Where the album shines the most is in it’s quieter moments, where Sturgill has always shined as an artist. “Make Art Not Friends” offers a love letter to the creative introverts who choose to follow their passions. “Mercury In Retrograde” points aim at music journalists who have failed to understand what he’s attempted to do.

Production and mastering really seems to be the biggest flaw with “SOUND & FURY” as it distracts from the quality songwriting of Sturgill’s

lyrics and can make some of the album’s best cuts feel as if they’re droning on too long. In many of the song mixes, it feels that the instruments are all competing for your attention, especially the guitars and synths.

Sturgill’s voice also seems washed out by the thick bass notes and blazing guitar. While Sturgill is an exceptional guitarist, his voice is easily the best thing that he has going for him, and it isn’t on display nearly enough in this record.

This is the last album that Sturgill is contractually obligated to make for his current label. In an interview with the New York Times, Sturgill said that there had been no negotiations on extending the deal or plans to make more music, going so far as to say “I just don’t think I need to make compromises or sacrifices to attain things that ultimately I don’t care about.”

If this is the last Sturgill Simpson record, then it’s an epic blaze of glory to go out on, insisting on doing things your own way. What other modern country artist could release an Anime movie on Netflix to accompany their album while simultaneously burning bridges with the media, their record label, and even fans, and still be this widely celebrated. Although, this is likely far from the last time Sturgill has blessed our ears, or changed his stylistic approach.

Opinion

Oct. 10, 2019

TheOnlineBeacon.com

11

Editorial

Disengagement on the Rise Last week, from Oct. 1-2, SGA held its Final Elections, available to students on Canvas and through two tabling sessions various SGA members held for students walking by in Bowman and the Campus Center.

Currently, only 17 out of 46 total positions are filled, leaving 63% of SGA completely vacant. Most of the open positions are class council or senate positions.

Recently, SGA gained a parliamentarian, yet lost its executive vice president.

The Class of 2020 is the only year that even has representatives for class council―yet it is only ¾ filled.

That lack of student representation on SGA is shocking, given that not even three years ago only a few seats were vacant. However, it’s unfortunately not surprising in the grand scheme of things.

MCLA’s student body as a whole has been increasingly disengaged across campus. Along with the large vacancy in SGA, Student Activities Council (SAC) has also found it rather difficult to gather students.

Natty Burfield, assistant director of student activities & programming, mentioned last semester to a Beacon reporter that SAC has had to think and work harder on finding events that get people out of their rooms.

SAC attempted to host a showing of a Netflix movie, and when attendance was scarce, they realized you have to provide students with an activity they can’t do by themselves in their dorm.

Waffle Wednesdays started in a townhouse and had major success, but once the student who brought everyone together graduated, and the event was moved from the townhouses to the greenhouse―after being picked up by Residential Programs and Services (RPS)―the attendance started declining and has been doing so ever since.

A more recent example is the Student Satisfactory Inventory (SSI) Information Session that Catherine

Holbrook, vice president of student affairs, hosted Wednesday night, Sept. 25. The attendance only included two representatives from student media along with RPS Director Dianne Manning. The hope was for students who took the survey to learn more about the survey, see what steps the College plans to take moving forward and partake in a more open forum to discuss their opinions further.

By not attending events that people are taking time out of their day to plan and host, students are basically saying they don’t care. They don’t care about anyone else’s time, they’re not interested in socializing with anyone outside of a select few, and they’re okay with complaining that there is nothing to do on campus and/or there is nothing being done about the problems around campus.

SGA was successful in getting students to attend its late night breakfast last semester, which had a great turnout. However, a second problem presented itself: now that students are out of their rooms, how do you get them to actually participate?

It’s one thing to be physically present, it’s another to be mentally present and vocalize your thoughts and opinions.

That’s one of the reasons why a student government is present on college campuses nationwide. The intent is to provide a forum for students to voice their opinions and have actions taken after to help see that any problems are addressed, or any situation is handled in the right way.

The student government acts as a middle man between the institution and the students. Without representatives, how is the College supposed to know what is going on with students.

Furthermore, how is the student government supposed to accurately reflect the views and opinions of students if only 37% of positions are filled?

Letter to the Editor

Student Activities are not Accessible Enough for Commuting Students To the Editor: As almost any student who attends courses at MCLA knows, there are several activities that a student can attend, on-campus or off. These activities can be guest lectures, social gatherings, club meetings, or even trips to distant places. For instance, I saw a poster in the Campus Center a while back advertising a bus trip to Boston, Massachusetts.

However, not every student is able to attend these activities, most particularly commuters.

I cannot count the number of times I could not make it to a guest lecture, whether it was for a class or if it was for personal enrichment. Campus club meetings are completely impossible for me to attend, let alone charter trips. All of this is for one reason: these events do not fit in my time schedule as I commute by bus. The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, or BRTA, only operates

its buses until 7:20 p.m., and that is when drivers must be back at headquarters in Pittsfield. Club meetings and other events often times end much later than this. This closes many doors in terms of my college experience, since I cannot partake anything on campus except for academics.

To add insult to injury, each student has to pay the college $75 every semester so they have the funds to support these activities. This includes commuters as well. I believe the College should remedy this by either refunding the student activities fee to those who commute to campus, or preferably by making these events accessible to those who commute to campus, especially those who commute by bus.

Thank you for your time, attention, and concern.

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64 Annual Fall Foliage Parade th

Photos by Jake Vitali

On Sunday, Oct. 5, North Adams held the 64th annual Fall Foliage Parade. This year’s theme was “The Wizard of Oz” and many marchers got into the spirit by building floats and wearing costumes inspired by the classic 1939 film which once showed to sold-out crowds at the now defunct Mohawk Theatre.

The parade featured the Drury High School marching band, the Berkshire LGBTQ coalition, and the Melha Shriners. They stole the show at the parade’s end by racing through the streets performing wheelies on ATV’s, go-karts, and motorcycles.