April 11, 2019 Vol.88 Issue 9

TheOnlineBeacon.com

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Volume 88 • Issue 9

Internet Issues Plague Campus

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Western Massachusetts has always faced difficulties when it comes to connecting with the rest of the country, and MCLA is no exception. This past week saw that dilemma further emphasized as Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections all across campus began to sputter and die.

Modern college campuses use internet to facilitate emails, printing, and classroom tools for databases and videos.

Even the campus heating system electronics which Facilities use to turn radiators on and off — when classrooms become too hot or the machines get too loud for classroom instruction — are controlled through the Wi-Fi. Ian Bergeron, associate dean of the IT depart-

Board of Trustees

Overload Fees Approved

ment, through email, stated they were first notified about the issue Monday afternoon.

“Since the first call, our network team recognized that this issue was unusual and has been working in concert with our network vendor, Extreme Networks, to isolate the problem.”

In the email, Bergeron attributed the issue to be ”rooted in either faulty equipment or a configuration error.”

Unconfirmed reports suggest the issue stems from a fault in a power supply bank near the townhouses.

Extreme Networks, based in San Jose, California, is the company that facilitated the setup for the College’s network. An email sent out on Tuesday from the MCLA Help Desk stated that the company “has escalated our case and we will be pursuing every ave-

Bringing the Sound Downtown Mattie Hammer of the punk-rock band Dump Him performs at WJJW’s annual spring concert Downtown Sound before being joined by Jac Walsh for a duo set. Prince Daddy and the Hyena headlined the show.

BY JAKE VITALI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The board of trustees voted Thursday, April 4, to implement a $200 per credit fee for students taking more than 18 credits a semester, effective this fall with the class of 2023.

President James Birge said the new fee is designed to reduce the time to degree for students, claiming that our current four-year graduation rate is approximately 40%. That figure is in line with the national average according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Dean of Enrollment Management Gina Puc said that this is a common practice for MCLA’s peer institutions.

“We’re the outlier among our state university peers by not having this policy,” Puc said. “We’re also the outlier among our COPLAC [Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges] peers, other private institutions that we cross applications and cross enrollment with, and this fee is on the lowest end of most of these peer institutions.”

Of MCLA’s eight peer institutions identified by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, by press time The Beacon was able to confirm a similar practice at five of them: Hartwick College in New York has an over-election fee of $350 per credit; St. Mary’s College of Maryland has a $200 fee for credits above 19; The University of Virginia College at Wise charges students part-time tuition, which is $236 per credit hour for in-state students or $955 for out-of-state; and the University of North Carolina at Asheville charges a 50% tuition surcharge for any student attempting more than 140 credit hours, as does Elizabeth City State University.

The Beacon was also able to find evidence that some, but not all, state institutions have similar policies. Westfield State University charges students an over-credit fee of $70 for any credit above 18 and $35 per half credit. Fitchburg State University has a $235 fee for each credit above the 141 credit limit. Bridgewater State University has introduced a new credit cap policy also.

During the meeting, student trustee Eva Marie Weeks ‘19 inquired as to how this new fee would

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nue to resolution until the network is fully restored.”

“We do not yet have an estimated time to restoration of full services but we will continue to be in touch with the campus through email and portal,” Bergeron said.

In the past, IT representatives from Extreme Network have visited campus to address outages and network difficulties, but as of now, no official statement on a visiting representative has been released for the current issue.

“This is our top priority and we will continue to work around the clock until we have a remedy and our network fully restored,” Bergeron said.

“We sincerely appreciate your patience and we will provide updates until we can share news that the network is restored.”

This year’s concert brought more than 60 people together for a night of music in downtown North Adams, with guests travelling from as far as Rhode Island. See story, page 3.

PHOTO BY KENNY OLCHOWSKI

Obasohan Leaves Friday for Berkshire Community College

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Tomorrow, MCLA will say farewell to Michael Obasohan, multicultural education resource center coordinator.

Obasohan will be taking up a position at Berkshire Community College as an academic counselor and adviser for students of lower income, first generation and those with disabilities.

“A lot of the students who go to community college already have lives established outside, and they’re at the age range from 18 to whenever,” Obasohan said, “so, it will be a different challenge but it would be to help coordinate and help support them in their college path.”

His position’s duties will be taken up by Celia Norcross, assistant dean of student development and engagement.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Michael for several years,” Norcross stated in an email. “His commitment to student growth is incredible and cher-

ished by so many, valuing all of his many contributions in Student Development and across campus.”

“His professional, charismatic demeanor has influenced and mentored many through the years, impacting lives he has been a part of positively,” Norcross continued. “I look forward to his continued success and his partnerships as an alumn to MCLA.” Obasohan stated that one of the reasons he decided to move was for a change of location. Obasohan has been at MCLA for 12 years, working for the past eight years and graduating in 2011.

“The relationships I’ve developed with facility and staff, the partnerships here at MCLA where we’ve all worked to gather to create new opportunities for students, new initiatives to create an environment and a community that honors and appreciates the culture and the different identities that the institution serves is wonderful,” Obasohan said.

“You’ll all be all right, you all will keep pushing

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College Works to Remodel Website to Enhance Primary Branding Vehicle

BY MAYA MCFADDEN STAFF WRITER MCLA is in the process of remodeling its website with new branding and marketing strategies due to the national trend of declining college undergraduate enrollment, particularly for small liberal arts institutions.

Initial conversations to develop a request for proposal (RFP) for the College’s website began the summer of 2018.

The College’s new brand and marketing campaign is intended to differentiate MCLA from its competitors and appeal to the new generation of prospective students.

“As MCLA’s primary branding vehicle, the website represents a tremendous opportunity for the College to further embrace and market this new brand refresh, while also telling the stories of our important history and the stories of the exceptional individuals that comprise our alumni, students, faculty and staff,” said Bernadette Alden, director of marketing and communications.

According to Alden, the goal for the website’s completion is set for the end of this year.

The College is working with iFactory, a web development firm based in Boston, to include faculty, staff, students and alumni in the decision process for the website’s visual updates.

A total of three stakeholder interview sessions

were held in the span of two days, March 26 and 27.

Seven open spots were designated for faculty to attend the small, mixed group discussions.

“the website represents a tremendous opportunity for the College to further embrace and market this new brand refresh” — Bernadette Alden, Director of Marketing and Communications The College also partnered with SimpsonScarborough in spring 2018 as part of the institution’s strategic planning goal of “improving internal communications and enhancing our external reputation,” Alden stated in a January email to students.

SimpsonScarborough is a company comprised of researchers who work with higher education marketing through designing research methodologies and analyzing data.

Dairy Farms Attacked at Every Turn

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Continuing the Green Living Seminar was Sarah Gardner, associate director and lecturer in environmental studies at Williams College, who came to speak about the diminishing number of dairy farmers in the Berkshires with her talk, “Land Rich, Dirt Poor: Dairy Farming in New England.”

“Right now, especially in New York State, they can’t even afford to buy groceries. These people are living in poverty, so it’s a really bad situation, hence the title of my talk,” Gardner said.

“We’re down to 19 from 237 [farms in the Berkshires] in 50 years. So what is going on? What happened? What went wrong?” Garner asked the room at large.

One of the biggest argumentative “facts” Gardner has had to face was the flawed analysis publicized in 2006.

The “Livestock’s Long Shadow Report” said that livestock gave off 18% of global methane emissions.

“Dairy is demonized for its methane emissions,” Gardner said. “There’s a big movement against livestock especially; this is coming from the vegan movement.”

In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (inventory) published that all agriculture amounted for 9% of U.S. greenhouse emissions with animal agriculture around 4%.

Dairy farmers have to face a number

SimpsonScarborough hosted brand training for faculty and staff to attend as part of its partnership.

From the training, the College has updated its site to provide website visitors with the College’s color palette, fonts and brand guidelines.

“In the following weeks you will see additional updates to this page,” Alden stated in an email sent to faculty and staff on March 11. “This is a really exciting tool kit to be able to use in an increasingly competitive higher ed market.”

According to MCLA’s 2018-2019 factbook, there has been a decline in the College’s total undergraduate and graduate students of approximately 26% from fall 2009 to fall 2018.

The College’s work with iFactory will ensure that the site is ADA-compliant, according to Alden.

MCLA will also use OmniUpdate to implement a new content management system (CMS).

According to the OmniUpdate website, the service is the leading web CMS provider for higher education.

“With the most higher edcation customers, we understand the higher education business and its challenges better than any other CMS provider,” as stated on OmniUpdate’s website.

The College’s information technology services (IT) have also worked closely on the website’s rebranding project.

SGA

Clubs Recommended Budgets Explained

BY JOHN MORRISSEY STAFF WRITER

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Amish dairy farm in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.

of adversaries; most notably the vegan movement, which is powered by YouTube videos such as “Dairy is scary”

by Erin Janus.

“She is my nemesis, she is one of the spokeswomen for the vegan plantbased milk lobby, and they are really demonizing the dairy industry in a damaging way,” Gardner said.

“Plant-based dairy subsidies are the biggest food trend right now and it’s a giant industry.”

“The plant juice lobby is claiming that it’s healthier and that it’s more

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WEBSITE, Page 10

Coordinating Vice President Dean Little ’21 and Executive Vice President Celine Manigbas ’19 systematically went line-by-line through each individual club budget at SGA’s Monday night meeting, outlining the reasons behind the budget cuts made to student clubs for the upcoming fiscal year.

“I cried twice while preparing this budget,” Little said. “We know these budgets are less than the clubs deserve, and we know that, but this is all we can afford.”

Collectively, clubs requested $525,183, almost twice the amount of SGA’s predetermined threshold of $300,000.

The recommended budgets were based on a projected enrollment of 1,100 students for next year, with 85% contributing to the student activity fee of $300; these projections were from SGA as provided by MCLA Administration and Finance. This estimates approximately $280,500 from students and $19,500 taken from SGA’s reserve fund in order to reach the total budget of $300,000.

Recommended club budgets were determined based upon food at general meetings, cutting of club bonding events, narrowing down travel

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

trips, eliminating crafting events, and having a smaller fall show and a larger spring show for performance clubs. As a result, all clubs received recommended budgets that were less than their asking budgets.

Some clubs, however, were able to avoid severe cuts based on their ability to function effectively with and without approved funds.

“We want the clubs to know they have not done anything wrong,” Little said when describing the financial situation facing the clubs.

As part of MCLA’s teach-out program with Southern Vermont College, MCLA tentatively announced the addition of radiologic science to campus, exclusively for approximately 12 current SVC transfer students majoring in the program.

Three to four SVC professors will be contracted by MCLA to teach this program and help students complete their degrees.

In other business, SGA passed a motion regarding textbook transparency, which would give students a more detailed understanding before registering for classes of the costs a particular class will have in regard to the price of required textbooks. A motion was also made to allow the SGA Senate and e-board to make amendments to club constitutions.

SGA meets in Murdock Hall Room 218 Mondays at 7 p.m.

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‘Downtown Sound’ A Punk Paradise

BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Pumping music, bouncing heads and a generous punk flavor engrossed North Adams’ The Green on Main Street as “Downtown Sound” was taken over by Prince Daddy and the Hyena and Dump Him (Duo).

The event, traditionally put on by WJJW and Arts Management Club, had over 60 attendees with the majority coming from outside MCLA. “We just saw them last week but, like, when we heard they were up here we had to come up and see them,” Corinne Smith said.

Smith attended the event with her boyfriend all the way from Providence, Rhode Island, to see Prince Daddy & The Hyena, even after just seeing their much larger show. They weren’t the only ones to come from far away or even from Providence.

PHOTO BY KENNY OLCHOWSKI

Prince Daddy and the Hyena performing during Friday night’s ‘Downtown Sound’ at The Green.

Fans also came from eastern Massachusetts, Pittsfield and even Albany, New York, to see the bands play.

“I definitely like the smaller venue, but I like the big stage too. They’ve got their vibe,” Smith said.

The Green in North Adams lacked the traditional stage and lighting that Prince

Daddy and the Hyena have been accustomed to lately, but band members liked the more intimate feel of the space.

“What’s cool about shows like this is that it’s not like Boston or New York or Philly, like you get a chance to see us closer,” band member Daniel Gorham said.

Fellow band member

North Adams City Council

Meeting Time Won’t Change

BY JAKE VITALI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The North Adams City Council voted 7-2 against a proposal that would change the current meeting time from 7:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Councilor Benjamin Lamb said that the proposed change would eliminate two days a month that he was able to spend with his child. For Lamb, on nights the council meet, he only has a 45-minute time frame to spend with them.

“Council meetings will come and go, the time with my child will not,” Lamb said. “I only get so much of it; family is incredibly important to me.”

“I committed to city council knowing it was a 7:30 engagement on two Tuesdays a month plus two committee meetings a month which we have the flexibility to schedule accordingly, which is important,” Lamb continued. “This would essentially eliminate two entire days a month that I would see my child. I am not okay with that.”

Councilor Rebecca Cohen echoed the same concerns about being able to spend time with family. Cohen added that while she was not prepared to support changing it now, she would be willing to re-examine it after the election in November.

“There’s no real value in seeing the meeting shift to 6:30 from 7:30,” Councilor Jason LaForest said. “We’re all very busy, councilors work out of the area, they deserve the opportunity to travel back to North Adams from their place of employment, have a few minutes to prepare for

the meeting, and begin the meeting on time.”

Despite the pushback from peers, Eric Buddington remained in support of the change.

“I’m optimistic that we would get better public involvement if we shifted to an earlier time and I think 6:30 is, for my personal purposes anyway, enough after the business of the day that I can be functional,” Buddington said.

Marie Harpin said that she is a parent of older children and would be willing to accommodate but agreed the commitment was originally made for 7:30 p.m.

“I also have not received any complaints or any communications from anybody in the public stating that the 7:30 time was inconvenient for them to attend for any situation that they felt they needed to attend” Harpin added.

Bona also agreed with keeping the time as it was but shared that he did make arrangements with Northern Berkshire Television Corporation to show the meetings on Tuesday earlier the following week to get a different audience.

“One point that I did not take into consideration as I voted in favor of the meeting time is that this would be probably the second biggest change to council rules since I’ve been here, the first being speaking on agenda items. So with an earlier start time of 6:30, if folks were not to be able to make that 6:30 time and rolled in quarter after seven, they would no longer be able to speak at all,” Councilor Joshua Moran stated.

North Adams’ General

Government Committee met March 11 and voted 3-0 to recommend changing the start time to 6:30 p.m.

Councilor Wayne Wilkinson attempted to amend the motion from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to reflect the committee’s recommendation, but the amendment was voted down.

The motion to change the meeting time was shot down with Lamb, Cohen, LaForest, Harpin, Moran, Hopkins, and Bona voting no. Eric Buddington and Wayne Wilkinson were the only councilors to vote yes.

Tuesday night the council also voted to authorize Mayor Thomas Bernard to lift the overnight parking ban. Bernard said the decision follows recent good weather in the city, with more in the extended forecast.

The council also voted to institute ending the ban on April 15 moving forward and to replace the words “weather emergency” with “state of emergency” which would require the city to contact Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

“For two years now I’ve come forward to remove it in mid-April since that seems to be the place where it is making the most sense,” Bernard said.

“Even the snow you receive in April tends to be fast-moving and not stay around for a particularly long time.”

LaForest inquired if the mayor had considered having a no parking ban during winter months. Bernard said that he had given it “consideration but not deep consideration” and that his preference would be for a ban to remain in place.

Zakariya Houacine agreed.

“I think it’s easier to create [an intimate] feeling when you don’t have a stage,” Houacine said. “When everybody kind of piled together in a room and it’s not super crowded and rowdy.”

Houacine also appreciated the huge turnout the event received.

“It feels really good to have fans that’ll come out here,” Houacine said. “It’s surreal.”

Prince Daddy & The Hyena had come to MCLA in spring of 2016 where they performed in Sullivan Lounge. All band members, absent of Gorham who only joined last year, agreed that The Green was a better venue.

Opening the event were Mattie Hamer and Jac Walsh, two members of the punk band, Dump Him. Walsh personally knows WJJW vice president Luke O’Brien ’19, who invited both bands to come to Downtown Sound.

According to Walsh, the

band prefers smaller venues to bigger ones they have played at.

“We played in The Sinclair, which is in Boston,” Walsh said. “It has like 600 people [capacity] and we opened for some bands. It was sold out but I didn’t like it, I like this a lot better. We’re just not really interested, I guess, in bigger stuff. We’re chilling.”

Like many others, O’Brien was very pleased with the turnout for the event, particularly with the sheer amount of non-MCLA students.

“Part of the role of the radio station [WJJW] is that we’re a public service,” O’Brien said.

“We’re not commercial radio, we don’t have to play ads and that’s something we want to double down on. That it’s not just the College’s radio station.

It’s a radio station in North Adams based out of MCLA.” “I’m a graduating senior but I would love to see the station continue to do this quality of events,” O’Brien continued.

‘Live Out Loud’ Builds Community

BY NATHAN BIRON STAFF WRITER

The Live Out Loud conference, held by the Green Mountain Crossroads organization and co-sponsored

by MCLA, brought students and the local community together to share new ideas of how to build a safer and more respectful environment Saturday at the Church Street Center.

HB Lozito, executive director of the Green Mountain Crossroads, was the selected speaker for the conference to discuss these new ideas with attendees. Lozito’s main focus for the event was placing an emphasis on relationship building and creating a space for everyone.

According to Lozito, no one is “free” until we are all free.

“We want to make a space for people to come together and be together,” Lozito said.

Lozito has been working in the LGBTQ+ community for almost 20 years. His involvement with the organization started back in high school, trying to enact change within the community. Lozito, co-founder of the HomoPromo Event Collective, was also a part of Camp Trans in northern Michigan.

“Without knowing, we’ve been moving forward much quicker from the start than I had expected us to,” Lozito said.

Green Mountain Crossroads is based in rural Brat-

tleboro, Vermont, where many community members work together in creating a space for everyone to get along in. The organization’s vision is to create a community of resilience that strives toward making the area more welcoming, transforming the relationships between the residents and the LGBTQ+ community.

They have started establishing summits to bring people together and uncover the hidden relationships found among rural communities.

With the addition of the Andrews Inn Oral History Project — the inn was a popular gay bar and hotel from 1973 to 1984 — the organization has seen an increase in interested members within the community.

Lozito also introduced “Earth Gay,” the organization’s special trip focused on volunteerism and reaching out to the community through farming and other inclusive activities. The trip also includes a picnic for the members.

“This is a day for folks to come and get to know each other and have a great meal together,” Lozito said.

To learn more about Green Mountain Crossroads, visit www.greenmountaincrossroads.org. Upcoming events for the organization include the Trans Femme Chill Club, Brattleboro Friday Night Groups, and the Cross Class Queers.

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Travel Course Series

Forming Bonds in South Africa

BY TESSA SESTITO COPY EDITOR Over spring break, MCLA’s travel course to South Africa offered students the opportunity to explore Cape Town and Africa as a whole, beyond a tourist’s perspective, experiencing contemporary Africa in an immersive way.

Assistant professor of anthropology Anna Jaysane-Darr chose South Africa for her travel course because of the field research she has been conducting in Cape Town for the past two summers and her experience studying abroad there 20 years ago. Jaysane-Darr believes students learn a variety of things through participating in internationally-oriented education.

“I think students learn about: cultural awareness and understanding, willingness to take risks, the ability to go outside of their comfort zones, living with discomfort, intellectual flexibility, and an understanding of vast socioeconomic inequalities that aren’t as visible here in the U.S.,” Jaysane-Darr said.

Andrew Clarke ’19, web editor for The Beacon, decided to take the travel course for South Africa because he wanted to go to Africa, being a man of color, and the travel course gave him the opportunity to do so while utilizing MCLA resources.

“We read and learned a lot

about the history of South Africa prior to the trip, which helped contextualize the things that I learned,” Clarke said. “I was a little nervous for the trip, but I was also excited to learn and see what it’s like to be in a place like that.”

Although the class mainly stayed in Cape Town, they were able to explore places such as Robben Island, a former prison which detained anti-apartheid activists, most notably Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe. Now the prison serves as a historical site where people go to remember and learn about South Africa’s history.

“One of the biggest things that stood out to me was Robben Island because I learned, along with the imprisonments, a lot of mistreatments and killings happened there,” Clarke said. “It was a place where they kept people down and kept them fearful of the apartheid government.”

According to the South Africa travel course page on MCLA’s website, students also visited places such as the Langa Pass Museum, where black South Africans received passes that enabled them to move outside of their “home areas”; the District Six Museum, which provided documentation of the displacement of thousands of people from the center of District Six when it was deemed a “white area”; the Gugu Sthebe Culture and Art Center in Langa;

PHOTO BY ANNA JAYSANE-DARR

MCLA’s South Africa travel course group on Robben Island with Table Mountain in the background. the neighborhood of Woodstock, which showcases plenty of examples of street art; the Bo-Kaap neighborhood to learn more about the influence of culture in cuisine; and Khayelitsha. “[My favorite place to go was] definitely Khayelitsha, which is one of the townships there,” Clarke said. “South Africa is still separated, but I think a lot of the connections that I will continue to maintain after the trip are with people from Khayelitsha.”

According to the MCLA website, “[the] apartheid used geographic boundaries and radical displacements (as well as violence, neglect, and economic and educational disenfranchisement) to shore up perceived racial boundaries between groups in an effort to privilege the white minority and foster divisions within potential alliances.”

Although the fall of apartheid occurred 25 years ago, Jaysane-Darr still believes there is a profound issue of race there. However, she was happy to see students interacting and connecting with South Africans.

“One of the things students go to do was hang out with South Africans of all groups and talk to activists about their work now and then with anti-apartheid,” Jaysane-Darr said. “They also learned that impoverished people are really just normal people.”

According to Jaysane-Darr, students also engaged in food culture and a cooking class, using food as a way to think about culture. Students also were exposed to music and the arts, such as a museum of contemporary African art across the diaspora.

Julia Boger-Hawkins ’22, who also went on the trip to South Africa, found a reoccurring theme for the trip revolved around the human experience.

“The human experience is vast, and everyone is equal,” Boger-Hawkins said. “That isn’t reduced when speaking about their lives, intricacies, similarities and dissimilarities — you’re just a person interacting with another person.”

According to Clarke, South Africa opened his eyes to the

privilege he has of living in the U.S. “I feel more aware of my privilege and I have an appreciation for the blessings that we have, but also a responsibility to give back because of the privilege we have living in America,” Clarke said.

For future travel course students, Clarke advises to keep an open mind about traveling.

“Learn as much as you can before and while you’re there,” Clarke said. “Meet and connect with as many people as you can [while] you’re there to help you have a fuller experience, because you only have a week or so, but you have to make the most of it.”

Clarke wants to go back to South Africa because of the travel course and his experience with Jaysane-Darr.

“Professor JD was a great chaperone and teacher for the class. I’m very thankful for her and the way we connected and interacted throughout the trip, as well as the students.”

Because of her strong attraction to the area from her research, Jaysane-Darr would want to go back to South Africa for a travel course in the future; although maybe not every year because of the long trip getting there. She believes students can really benefit from travel courses and wishes there was more funding to support more students.

“If all you do is read about a place, it doesn’t equate to a being there, immersed in a place,” Jaysane-Darr said. “I saw the students who went on this travel course move from a sense of the unknown and being apprehensive to a sense of knowledge.”

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Travel Course Series

Exploring the Beauty and Complexity of Mexico

BY TESSA SESTITO COPY EDITOR MCLA’s travel course to Mexico allowed students to experience Mexico’s history, culture and economy first-hand, supplying them with an extensive comprehension of the country.

David Cupery, assistant professor of political science and public policy, applied his knowledge and experiences from previous travel courses to Cuba, in 2018, and Peru, in 2017, which led to this semester’s trip to Mexico.

Although sticking to his focus on acquainting students with a country before traveling and confronting history, cultural diversity and natural beauty once there, Cupery also wanted to address two challenges: one on our campus and the other in our society.

“First, since many of our students struggle to pay for our travel courses, I worked incredibly hard to create a Mexico travel course that cost about half of the average price for other travel courses,” Cupery said. “Second, much of what our society associates with Mexico are negative and overly-simplistic. I aimed to design a travel course that presented its participants with a more nuanced view of the complexity, challenges, beauty and opportunity that is Mexico.”

Teresa Leahy ’21 chose the Mexico travel course due to its inexpensiveness, great reviews of Cupery’s previous travel courses, and their desire to travel without committing to a semester abroad.

“I really enjoyed the ruins and different sites we visited from Pre-Colombian cultures.

As a history major this interested me, and I was excited to visit places I had learned about in different classes over time,” Leahy said. “I do not speak much Spanish, so there were some nerves because of the language differences.”

According to Leahy, the ten-day trip to Mexico City, Oaxaca and Merida allowed students to explore various archeological ruins of the Mayans and Zapotecs, churches, local markets, former home of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, a Mezcal distillery, the Celestun biosphere, live performances at Merida’s Noche Mexicana, and even swim in a cenote (a natural pool of water created when the roof of an underground cavern collapses and fills with water from rain or underground rivers).

The trip allowed students to converse with different people in Mexico.

“We met an artist selling her

Professor David Cupery and his Mexico travel course class visiting the Convento de San Antonio in Mexico. art in a park one day, and she chatted with us about Mexico City, where we were from, and welcomed us to her home city,” Leahy said. “It seemed almost everyone we talked in Mexico to was excited we were traveling to visit their home and welcomed us.”

According to Cupery, students grew more confident as travelers and learners, understanding more aspects of Mexican culture and history as the trip progressed.

“Students had encounters with the structure of the Mexican economy by witnessing poverty and inequality but also by seeing very modern parts of our southern neighbor,” Cupery said. “For example, I had students wander around a rural, non-touristy market where people from the surrounding villages came to buy their food, clothing, furniture, etc., from hundreds of self-employed vendors. But we also walked

by Mexico’s fanciest skyscrapers and through wealthy neighborhoods.”

By introducing students to Mexican history, politics, economics and culture through readings, classroom lectures and discussions, Cupery believes they were able to grasp the real-life applications of these topics during the trip.

“In Mexico, these aspects [are] underrepresented in the western mass media,” Cupery said.

“Students witnessed some of

the challenges many Mexicans face while also experiencing many modern comforts and being welcomed and supported time and time again by dozens of friendly Mexicans from all walks of life.”

After the trip, Leahy felt a sense of fulfillment that they believe they wouldn’t have felt on a solo vacation to Mexico.

“I think this course helped me appreciate traveling more and especially traveling in a group,” Leahy said. “At times it was difficult to travel through crowded cities with 18 of us, so it helped me recognize that we had to be respectful of both our fellow travelers, as well as the people who lived in the cities we were in.”

According to Leahy, Cupery’s efforts made the trip successful and impactful.

“He [Cupery] individually picked tours and other activities that represented Mexican history and culture and did this himself to keep the price low rather than going through a tour company,” Leahy said.

“He knows a lot about Mexico and is fluent in Spanish, so he was able to support the students in our learning and experiences in the country.”

For Cupery, the overall experience students obtain from a travel course is worth the investment in time and money.

“The very interconnected nature of our global society makes international understanding

and experience valuable, personally and professionally,” Cupery said. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find more than a couple of students that participated in a travel course and regretted it.”

Based on the Mexico travel course, Leahy is inspired to re-

PHOTO BY DAVID CUPERY

turn back to Mexico.

“I would love to go back to Mexico when I have a better grasp on the Spanish language and would love to continue traveling to different places,” Leahy said. “It was well worth the money, and the experiences are priceless.”

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Singer and Rapper Bryce Vine to Headline SAC’s Spring Concert

BY JENNIFER VANBRAMER A&E EDITOR Up and coming hip-hop artist, singer and rapper, Bryce Vine, is set to perform with Burien rapper and video director Travis Thompson, Monday night, April 15, for the Student Activities Council’s (SAC) spring concert event.

Vine is best known for his hit single, “Drew Barrymore,” which soared to the top of music charts in 2017, earned over 140 million streams across the world, and led to performances on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” as well as MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs). His latest single, “La La Land,” featuring rapper YG, was released in March of this year and just recently entered the Top 40 of pop radio.

Growing up in New York City, Vine was constantly surrounded by theater, art and music. His mother, Tracey Ross, is most famous for her time as an actress on NBC’s daytime soap opera, “Passions.” His father, Brad Johnson, was very into jazz and taught Vine a lot about music, introducing him to rhythm and blues artists like Alicia Keys and rappers such as Tupac Shakur.

“It [music] has always been there [and] I grew up associating music with happiness,” Vine said in a phone interview with The Beacon late last month.

“It was always around [in my life] and when I was 13 I taught myself how to play guitar and then started writing [songs] immediately.”

As a young boy, Vine moved from New York to Los Angeles with his mother when her acting career started taking off. Vine’s own career began in 2011 after he spent time working on the reality series, “The Glee Project. ” His first EP, “Lazy Fair,” was released in 2014 and featured catchy bops such as “Sour Patch Kids” and “Guilty Pleasure.”

Vine was able to work on that EP with his current producer, Nolan Lambroza, who he had met when attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2016, his second EP, “Night Circus,” came out with playful tunes like “Glamorama” and “Los Angeles.”

“It’s cool that I’ve been doing it [making music] with the same people for a year now,” Vine said, having recently been signed to his first major label, Sire Records. “It’s been great to celebrate all the highs after going through the lows with the same people.”

PHOTO BY LINDSEY BYRNES

Hip-hop singer and rapper, Bryce Vine, will perform at SAC’s Spring Concert happening Monday, April 15, at 8 p.m. in Venable Gym. Vine’s musical taste is a bit of everything, with one of his favorite rock bands being Third Eye Blind. He also enjoys listening to Childish Gambino, Frank Ocean, Gorillaz and OutKast. ”There are people that they were bigger than their music just because of what they represented,” Vine said. “You kind of try to harness what it is about them that made them so special and it’s usually their authenticity. So I just keep trying to write from my own perspective and make it unique to me [and to] not worry so much about what other people are making.”

Since early February, Vine has been on tour performing at a variety of theaters, music halls and, more recently, college campuses.

“You start somewhere and you build fans from somewhere,” Vine said. “I was [once] a college kid and I know how important it is for students to need a soundtrack for the memories [they’re] making for the first time on [their] own as a young adult.” ”[My favorite part is] the live shows and connecting with fans who are singing songs at the top of their lungs,” Vine continued. “You f e e l

understood by people you’ve never met and they feel understood by you. For an hour you just get to relieve whatever it is you’re going through outside that room.”

With high energy, good vibes and songs that will forever be stuck in your head, Vine gives his all to his fans in every single performance.

“It’s someplace, an environment that we’ve tried to create where people feel like they can be completely themselves,” Vine said. “You’re encouraged to let out whatever it is that you’re going through and I think that’s why people come to the show — it’s a release for them before they go back into their life.”

For being a small city in the Berkshires, North Adams was not a place Vine wanted to miss out on seeing while on tour.

“I don’t want to neglect any part of the world, especially in the country I live in; with every single city there’s something new to experience,” Vine said. “There’s a culture, a story to hear that I’ve never heard before and there are so many kinds of people that don’t get represented, so it’s cool to be able to channel that.”

Coming very soon, Vine will be releasing his first full-length album, “Carnival,” which he describes as a “soundtrack for people’s lives.”

“There are songs [on the album] about different situations that we all go through,” Vine said.

“There’s always a lot to talk about — things I’ve gone through personally, stories from my past, things I’m looking forward to and the way I see the world now.”

With a special message to his fans, Vine wants them to know that “I get you, I appreciate all of the support and I’ll keep trying to write good songs.”

Don’t miss Bryce Vine’s performance at MCLA for SAC’s spring concert Monday, April 15, in Venable Gym. With an MCLA ID, tickets can be bought in advance or at the door for $5, and students can purchase up to three guest tickets.

Doors to the show will open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 8 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BREANNE FLORES

Currently touring the world, Vine will be releasing his first full-length album, “Carnival,” later this year.

Apr. 11, 2019

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Dance Company Spring Showcase at MASS MoCA April 12

BY SALI BAH A&E WRITER MCLA’s Dance Company — better known as Dance Co. — will be showcasing around 19 diverse styles of dance when taking the Hunter Center Stage of MASS MoCA Friday, April 12.

Dance Co., one of the largest clubs on campus with approximately 40 members, will showcase new works they have choreographed themselves.

Special guests such as Nexxus step team and the Allegrettos acapella group are also set to make appearances at the event.

According to Angelie Castor, a member of Dance Co., those who attend the showcase can expect a lot of great performances and representation of different cultural backgrounds.

“There are multiple choreographers, including Emmy Resabala, president of Dance Co., who produced a Latin dance, and Thalia Torres who choreographed a more sultry dance,” Castor stated in an email.

“I choreographed a solo and I also choreographed the Britney Spears mix,” Thalia Torres ‘19 said.

“We’re all about trying to

PHOTO FROM MASS MOCA WEBSITE

MCLA’s Dance Company performing a show at MASS MoCA in 2016. have fun together and to make everyone onstage and in the audience feel really confident and have fun in the environment that we try

to build.”

Don’t miss out on Dance Co.’s Spring Showcase happening Friday, April 12, at MASS MoCA. Doors open

at 7:30 p.m. and the show is free for MCLA students, who can reserve their tickets by signing up with Dance Co. in the Campus

Center Marketplace. Only one ticket can be purchased per MCLA student and you must have your Student ID. General admission is $5.

Esther Maria Claros Berlioz to Speak at American Ethnic Studies Lecture Series

BY SABRINA DAMMS A&E WRITER Esther Maria Claros Berlioz will be speaking at “The American Ethnic Studies Lecture Series” Tuesday, April 16, to discuss her research on the experience of Northern Central American and Latinx immigrant students at a public high school in Ohio, a Rust Belt state.

The “Rust Belt” refers to areas from the Northeast to Midwest once known for industrial manufacturing but has experienced a decline in production and population and a rise in poverty since the 1980s.

Berlioz, originally from Honduras, came to the United States on a student visa.

A doctoral candidate in the department of educational leadership at Miami University, she has received the Jennie Elder Suel Distinguished Woman of Color Award for 2018. Her area of research is focused on the effect of immigration reform on Latinx

PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH NOEL

Speaker, Esther Maria Claros Berlioz, to give presentation at American Ethnic Studies Lecture. and Latin American youth.

In her presentation, she will be using critical pedagogy and art to show and honor the migratory lived experiences of U.S. Central American youth and what they bring to the U.S. school system. Berlioz is interested in ensuring these youths are

thought of as assets.

“I think going into this event with an open mind no matter your views on immigration, it is important to see innovative new pedagogies,” said Hannah Noel, assistant professor of multi-ethnic studies and the digital humanities, former

mentor of Berlioz, and organizer of this event.

Berlioz includes her interest of art in her research, using a form of practice-based research that incorporates artbased methodologies of learning to enhance understanding, referred to as “a/r/tography.”

Berlioz uses this art to help these youth with therapy and overcoming trauma.

“I think her work is very innovative and interesting,” Noel said. “Thinking about the representation, some may think these students are a drain because of the cost of ESL. Berlioz’s work shows the contrary.”

Berlioz’s and Noel’s relationship began as professional but has since grown into a friendship. Dr. Noel reflects on her experience working with Berlioz in December’s 2018 article entitled, “An Autoethnography on Latinx Studies Pedagogy and Mentorship,” published in The Mind’s Eye: A Symposium Initiative & Online Journal of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

“Throughout our careers we are sometimes privileged to meet people who change our outlook on life and enrich our lives — Esther is one such person,” Noel writes in her article. “Although we meet [met] in at a public university where I was a faculty and Esther a student, our mentoring relationship is now more informal and includes discusses [discussions] of career/live advice and, most of all, academic support and friendship.”

In her work, Berlioz guides her students through their journeys and seeks to help teach American youth that they can “talk back” to society.“ Her current research and volunteer work with Central American youth in Ohio leaves me speechless, proud and honored to know someone who works so diligently to put theory to practice,” Noel writes in her article.

Be sure to catch Esther Maria Claros Berlioz’s presentation Tuesday, April 16, at 4 p.m. in Murdock 218.

Sports

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PHOTO BY MCLA ATHELTICS

The MCLA Trailblazers’ current season statistics: three home runs, 76 RBIs, 140 hits, 82 runs, 68 walks, 125 strikeouts and 599 at-bats. Also, the Trailblazers’ batting average is .234.

MCLA Baseball Team Blown Out With Identical Scores in Doubleheader

BY JABARI SHAKIR SPORTS CO-EDITOR The MCLA men's baseball team was blown out in a conference doubleheader game against the Fitchburg State Falcons, both games with identical scores.

The game was played at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Massachusetts.

The Trailblazers' record drops to 6-15 overall and 0-6 in the MASCAC. The Falcons improved to 14-5 overall and 5-0 in the MASCAC. GAME ONE In the first game, the final score was 10-0. Pitching on the mound, MCLA had senior Bobby New and freshman Max Grabrielly.

New finished the game with three strikeouts and one walk.

He allowed eight hits, seven runs including two home runs, and six errors on three innings played.

New faced 19 batters.

Grabrielly had two strikeouts and no walks. He allowed four hits, three runs including one home run, and three errors on two innings played. Grabrielly faced 12 batters.

In the first inning, the Fitchburg's freshman designated hitter Vincent Eramo hit his first career two-run home run, bringing home junior second baseman Timothy Horton.

In the bottom of the second inning, junior shortstop

MCLA FITCH MCLA FITCH

Brandon Lefebvre and sophomore centerfielder Nicholas Cordeau both hit doubles to extend their lead to 4-0.

In the bottom of the third inning, the score is 6-0 after junior first baseman Brennan Cuddahy hit a two-RBI home run bringing home Eramo.

This is his first home run for the season and seventh in his career.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Cordeau hit a double to bring home Lefebvre.

In the bottom sixth inning, Cordeau continued to flourish, hitting a three RBI home run bringing home Lefebvre and sophomore left fielder Brett Spano.

Overall, the Trailblazers had 23 at-bats, two hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Senior shortstop Jeff Bink and sophomore third baseman Jake Ferrara finished with three at-bats, with one hit.

The Falcons had 30 at-bats, 12 hits, 10 RBIs, one walk and five strikeouts.

Junior pitcher Richard Sharp allowed two hits, one walk and struck out five.

Eramo led his team with two runs, two hits, and two RBIs with four at-bats.

GAME TWO In the nightcap, the final score was 10-0. Senior MCLA pitcher Brendan Kelly completed with two walks and three errors, allowing three runs and two hits in one inning played.

Four other pitchers for MCLA included freshman Max Gabrielly, junior third baseman Kevin Speach, ju-

nior pitcher Jimmy Miller and freshman pitcher Brett Norman.

The Falcons controlled the game and used the same momentum from the previous game to take a threepoint lead.

In the first inning, Cordeau scored on a sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Joshua Macomber.

Later, Horton hit a two-RBI single bringing home Spano and Eramo.

In the bottom of the third, Macomber hit his first career home run.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore first baseman Johan Asencio scored on a wild pitch. Eramo singled to bring home Cordeau.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Acencio doubled and brought home junior catcher Matthew Pingitore and Spano.

In the bottom sixth inning, Eramo scored on a sacrifice fly by Spano. Macomber then scored on an RBI single by Horton.

The Trailblazers finished with 24 at-bats, five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts.

While the Falcons concluded with 29 at-bats, 12 hits, four walks, nine RBI's and two strikeouts.

Their pitcher, senior Tommy Parsons, led them with nine strikeouts, three walks, and allowed four hits in six innings played.

Check out the Trailblazers' next conference away game Friday, April 12, against Massachusetts Maritime at 3:30 p.m.

GAME ONE & GAME TWO

INNING 1

INNING 2

INNING 3

INNING 4

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INNING 7

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ERRORS

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2 12

1 1

INNING 1

INNING 2

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RUNS

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Apr. 11, 2019

Sports

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Mixed Tennis Defeats NVU Johnson 7-2, Wins Second Straight NAC Match

BY BRADY GEROW SPORTS CO-EDITOR North Adams, MA - MCLA’s mixed tennis team defeated the Northern Vermont University (NVU)-Johnson Badgers 7-2 Sunday, April 7, in a home match. The Trailblazers have won their second straight match in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play, placing them in second place in the conference.

The Blazers got off to a hot start sweeping the doubles section of the match, but not without a fight from the Badgers. The top doubles slot saw MCLA’s team of sophomore Charles Najimy and senior Matt Bluteau face off with seniors Austin Walters and John Folsom of the Badgers.

The match would prove to be a good one, and Bluteau and Najimy were able to get MCLA on the board with an 8-6 win over the Badgers’ pair.

Following the opening win, MCLA’s pair of seniors, Samantha Gawron and Nick Castle, were able to pick up a commanding victory with an 8-2 win over NVU-Johnson’s team of senior Colin Compagna and junior Trevor Newton.

To cap off the doubles section, MCLA’s female duo of junior Briana Higgins and sophomore Mackenna Jordan got a big 8-4 win against NVUJohnson’s freshman Kenneth Chandler and senior Donell Shaw. The strong win would complete the sweep of the doubles section for the Blazers.

In the singles section of play, MCLA took care of business, winning four of the six matches lined up to secure the 7-2 match win.

Although it wasn’t a win for the Blazers, Higgins’ match-up in the fifth singles match proved to be the best.

Facing off against Newton, Higgins would drop the first set 7-5.

From there she would take Newton the distance, winning the second set 6-4, and then fought Newton in the third and final set where she eventually lost by a score of 15-13. Despite the match loss, Higgins proved her ability to compete with anyone.

North Adams, MA - The MCLA Trailblazers lacrosse team fell 16-5 to the Fitchburg State Falcons Saturday, April 6, in MASCAC (Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference) play after they placed nine different players in the scoring column, including senior Sarah Napolitano who scored five goals in the win.

The Blazers got out of the gate fast, scoring the first goal of the contest.

Senior Brianna Morris was able to convert junior Kim Granito’s feed into a goal for an early 1-0 lead.

The Falcons would respond quickly, scoring their first goal in three minutes as Napolitano found the net off junior Nicole Kopacz’s assist to tie it at one.

SCORE BOARD MCLA Baseball MCLA (0), Fitchburg State (10) Jake Ferrara (MCLA) 2-3, SO

Joshua Macomber (Fitchburg) 3-3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI’s, HR

MCLA Lacrosse

MCLA (5), Fitchburg State (16)

Kim Granito (MCLA)

4 Goals, Assist, 5 SOG, 7 GB

Sarah Napolitano (Fitchburg) 5 Goals, 4 Assists, 6 SOG, 4 GB4 Ast, 2 Blk 16 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Stl

MCLA Softball

MCLA (1), Fitchburg State (2)

PHOTO FROM MCLA ATHLETICS

MCLA senior Nick Castle returning a ball in a match this season. Castle helped record two points for the Blazers in their win over NVU Johnson for the teams second straight NAC win. Castle won his singles match over NVU’s Colin Compagna by scores of 6-4 and 6-0. The Trailblazers currently sit in second place of the league with just two conference games left in the season.

The top singles match of the day saw Najimy facing off with Walters in an attempt to extend MCLA’s lead.

Najimy took care of business, defeating Walters in straight sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-2.

Following Najimy, Bluteau faced off against Folsom from the Badgers’ squad in the second singles match. Bluteau would end up dropping the match after losing a close first set 7-6 and losing the second set 6-2 for MCLA’s first loss of the day.

The Blazers would then clinch the victory over the next two singles matches as Gawron and Castle both recorded their second wins of the day.

Gawron took care of business against Chandler, winning in straight sets 6-1 and 6-0, while Castle would get the win

over Compagna in straight sets with a score of 6-4 and 6-0.

Jordan would eventually cap things off for the Blazers with a win in the final singles match over NVU-Johnson’s Shaw. Jordan also beat Shaw in straight sets by a score of 6-4 in both.

With the win, the Blazers improved to 4-4 overall on the season. More importantly, they are 2-1 in the NAC and are currently sitting in second place with two matches left for the season.

MCLA is back in action Tuesday, April 16, as they face off against NVULyndon at home for their second-to-last conference game of the year.

The Badgers, now 0-6 on the year and 0-2 in the NAC, will face off against Thomas College Saturday in a home game.

MCLA Lacrosse Falls to Fitchburg State 16-5 in MASCAC Action

BY BRADY GEROW SPORTS CO-EDITOR

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The Falcons then exploded for the next six goals of the contest, Napolitano scoring two to put her total at three before the half.

The Blazers fought back as Granito was able to net two of her own goals to put the score at 7-3 with six minutes remaining in the half. Granito, the team’s leading scorer, would score the final two goals of the match for MCLA to put her game total at four in the loss.

The Falcons would respond strongly to Granito’s goals, as they went on to net three more in the final six minutes to Granito and MCLA’s one, making the score 10-4 at the break.

The second half of play was controlled by the Falcons, as they would continue on to outscore the Blazers in the second half 6-1.

The Falcons were paced by Napolitano

who recorded five goals and four assists in the win. She also added four ground balls in the win. Junior Tracy Long added to the effort with four goals of her own along with two assists.

The Blazers were paced by Granito who recorded four of MCLA’s five goals, continuing her presence as the teams top scoring option. She also added an assist and seven ground balls in the loss.

MCLA, now 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the MASCAC, will be back in action Saturday, April 13, as they face off against MASCAC opponent Salem State looking for their first win.

Fitchburg improved to 2-8 overall and 1-1 in the MASCAC with the win. They will play again today, April 11, against Eastern Connecticut State in a home game as they look for their next win.

Alanza Quinones (MCLA) 1-3, RBI, 2B 10-12. 100 yds, 0 TD

McKenzie Lambert (Ftchburg) 1-2, Run, RBI, BB, HR

MLB

Toronto Blue Jays (7), Boston Red Sox (5)

Xander Bogaerts (BOS) 1-2, 2 Runs, RBI, 2 BBStl,

Freddy Galvis (TOR) 2-5, 2 RBI’s, 2B

NBA

Boston Celtics (116), Washington Wizards (110)

Terry Rozier (BOS) 21 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST

Tomas Satoransky (WASH) 19 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST

NHL

Boston Bruins (3), Tampa Bay Lightning (6)

Anthony Cirelli (TB) Goal, Assist, 1 SOG Ast, 2 Stl

David Krejci (Bos) Goal, Assist, 1 SOG22 Reb, 3 Ast

News

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MCLA Ranked Third for Gender Parity

BY SYMANTHA KEHR SPECIAL TO THE BEACON MCLA was recently ranked third for public schools in Massachusetts for gender parity by the EOS Foundation. This ranking looks at employment, enrollment and pay to determine gender equality.

According to a report entitled “Women’s Power Gap in Education,” MCLA has the top rank for public four-year colleges for gender parity. This report looked at enrollment at all private and public schools in Massachusetts and at senior leadership, college presidents and boards of trustees according to the MCLA press release.

About 63% of student enrollment is female, and MCLA has gender equity on its board of trustees, according to Gina Puc, dean of enrollment management and community relations.

“At least 50% of our executive team at MCLA are female,” Puc said. “We are actually one of a few institutions across the state that have a female chair of the board of trustees.”

There seems to be a shift in more females than males going to college, according to Puc. “That’s not just a trend at MCLA but really across the country right now,” Puc said.

According to Forbes, a global media, branding and technology company, the male to female ratio at public schools across the nation is now 43.6-to-56.4.

The percentage of females attending college has been increasing since the 1970s.

MCLA has different ways to help support gender

TRUSTEES From Page 1

impact students who need to step away from school for personal or family reasons, citing her own withdrawal in the first semester of her freshman year.

Birge said that there were more than 350 students taking more than 18 credits this semester and that financial aid does not last past four years.

“Wouldn’t it make students not to take additional classes?” Weeks asked, who was forced to withdraw during her first semester of college due to external factors. To make up for lost time and complete her minors, Weeks has been taking course overloads.

“This is really designed for students who don’t have the focus that you have, for example, [those] who are taking numerous minors or numerous majors,” Birge responded, adding the College would offer assistance for students in a similar position to Weeks.

The new fee would be built into the current academic fee structure.

Since the announcement, faculty have voiced their displeasure with the decision. The English/Communications department voted during their meeting on Monday to push back.

“The department discussed this at great length and we talked about the problems with that sort of thing. People trying to advise people if they’re short credits, sometimes they have to makeup some credits. We try to get them out of here as much on time as possible,” said Paul LeSage, chair of the English/communications department. “I know we’re trying to make the graduation rates better and that might be what they’re thinking about, but at the same time we have some of the poorest students in the state system.”

“What we voted is three-fold: number one is to support our students

equity on campus, with the Women’s Center focusing a lot on gender equity, according to Women’s Center Coordinator Amanda Beckwith.

“We do the gender equity bake sale every year where we sell baked goods at a proportionate price to what women make to the dollar to the Caucasian mans’ dollar, and then we donate the money to the Elizabeth Freeman Center,” Beckwith said.

The school also offers a women, gender, and sexuality studies minor.

The report examines the percentage of women enrolled at all Massachusetts public and private schools alongside the percentage of female college presidents, senior leadership and boards of trustees. Of 93 schools, only 18 (19% of the total) were ranked as “satisfactory” — and only five of those schools were identified as reaching gender parity.

Most of the schools ranked “satisfactory” are women’s colleges, former women’s colleges, or “special focus schools that educate students for professions that are dominated by women,” according to the report. MCLA shares the top ranking with Berkshire Community College, Roxbury Community College, Cambridge College and Hampshire College.

In September 2018, a report from the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California (USC) identified MCLA as one of only three schools in the United States with top marks for serving black students well.

There is a push for not just gender equality but diversity as a whole, Puc said.

“There is a major emphasis in our strategic plan

present and future; number two, to protest the board of trustees’ decision to add this fee of $200 a credit over 18 hours; and number three, to ask that the board’s decision be immediately rescinded. That was the vote and it was by all full-time faculty and it was sent to the president.”

MCLA’s chapter of the Massachusetts State College Association also voiced its displeasure during a faculty forum on Tuesday. Graziana Ramsden, professor of modern languages and chapter president, said that the union’s executive committee would meet with Birge Wednesday to discuss the reasoning behind the decision.

Trustee Robert Reily inquired at the board of trustees meeting if students adding additional majors and minors was putting a strain on the advising process, to which Birge responded that it was not.

“The proposed policy would allow students to take up to six courses a semester for the tuition that they pay,” Birge said. “It’s designed to accommodate students who have multiple labs or who want to take a sixth three-credit course.”

According to Birge, the new policy is expected to generate about $27,000, although he maintained that it is about behavior modification.

“The appeal of MCLA is being able to have that [affordability], being able to take as many credits as you can and catch up without having to pay the extra,” Weeks said. “It’s all about affordability and a lot of people come here because they can afford it.”

The board voted 10-1 for approval of this policy. Weeks was the lone no-vote on the new fee. Trustees J.D. Chesloff, John Barrett III, Mohan Boodram, Brenda Burdick, Lisa Chamberlain, Susan Gold, Frederick Keator, Robert Reilly and Kathleen Therrien voted to approve.

“There is a major emphasis in our strategic plan on diversity, equity and inclusion,” — Gina Puc Dean of Enrollment Management on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Puc said.

“Everything from hiring our inaugural chief diversity officer, McDonald Dennis, all the way to current work that is being done in the curriculum around our core redesign and how those things are woven in.”

According to Beckwith, by adding the Identity and Gender Equity Resource Center, the school has been able to help create equality among students.

“Adding [the IGE Center] for the LGBTQ population has been a significant stepping stool that this school has done to help provide some gender equity and reach out to the LGBTQ population,” Beckwith said.

MCLA wants to focus not just on gender parity but equality for all according to Puc. “It’s important to look at this diversity equity and inclusion work from every angle,” Puc said.

This ranking, according to Puc, is not the end. They want to keep pushing to make the school equal.

“We see it as not just a pat on the back; it’s really a call to action for us: How do we maintain that gender parity?” Puc said.

WEBSITE

DAIRY

On Wednesday, March 27, a Town Hall was led by iFactory in Sullivan Lounge, similar to ones lead by SimpsonScarborough in the last few months.

The goals for improving the website’s outreach tactics were established from MCLA’s 2017-2022 strategic plan.

One of the eight goals set forth in the plan is to “improve internal communications and enhance our external reputation.”

This goal lists five key strategies to maintain and improve the College’s national outreach to higher education students, faculty and staff.

One key strategy stated in the plan is to “[f]ortify MCLA’s unique ‘brand’ and aggressively showcase the College’s distinctive strengths and competitive advantages.”

The website branding campaign aims to promote awareness of the value of the liberal arts and MCLA’s status as a top-tier public institution for liberal arts education.

environmentally sound; neither of those things are true,” Gardner said.

In the hopes of revitalizing the dairy market, Gardner proposed initiating several programs, including raising prices on dairy, to be based on production costs, which dairy is nowhere near, and Canada’s supply management regulations.

Under this system, farms would be restricted to how much they can produce and sell, thereby controlling the market in preventing overflow and price regulations. Gardner cited a U.S. interest in implementing it, with the Wisconsin Farmers Union at the forefront.

The Green Living Seminar takes place Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. in the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation, Room 121.

Tonight’s talk is “Climate-smart agricultural policy in New York” with Julie Suarez, associate dean at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Science.

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ing forward and succeeding here,” Obasohan continued. “And as much as I can, I will come back to continue to support students here at MCLA, because that will never go away.”

Obasohan projects that MCLA will have a formal replacement for his position in the fall semester, stating that he still intends on serving MCLA’s ALANA Advising Board.

Applications for the Beacon are open!

They can be picked up and returned to Mark Hopkins 111 by April 25th. Contact Prof. Shawn McIntosh, Jake Vitali, or Nicholas Bassett with any questions.

Apr. 11, 2019

12

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM Conference Registration (Bowman Hall Atrium) Welcome Remarks (8:45 AM) 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Paper Presentations (Bowman Hall) Performance (Murdock 218) 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM Poster Session 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM Keynote Address and Luncheon (Campus Center Gym) 1:15 PM - 1:45 PM Meet the Keynote Speaker (Sullivan Lounge, Students Only) 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Paper Presentations (Bowman Hall) Performances (Campus Center Dance Studio) Panel Discussion (Freel Library, Main Floor) 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM Paper Presentations (Bowman Hall) Creative Writing III C (Murdock 218) 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Art Exhibit and Reception (Bowman 3rd Floor) Food Insecurity and Sustainability Mini Conference (Bowman Hall) Philosophy Mini Conference (Murdock 218) *Conference Registration will be moved to Venable Gymnasium during the poster session from 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM, and then the Campus Center gym from Noon – 1:15 PM.

Celebrate Graduation at

WAUBEEKA GOLF LINKS To All Past & Present MCLA Athletes

Brunch, Lunch, or Dinner

All Students play at $1 per hole Join for a whole year at $430 Plan your team banquet Call: (413) 458-8355 (times)

Perfect Party place for 2-100 people Call: (413) 458-6000 (reservations)

Reservations now being taken for our 3-bedroom farmhouse for graduation weekend and Stay & Play Golf Packages.

Stay & Play includes: Waubeeka, Taconic, Berkshire Hills, Wahconah - $570 PP with 3-night stay, 18 holes and cart.

Sleeps 4. Minimum stay 3 nights.