Fall 16 issue 3

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Beacon@MCLA.Edu 413-662-5535 Mark Hopkins Room 111

Volume 83 ◆ Issue 3

Th u r s d ay, O c t o b e r 6 , 2 0 1 6

Inside

Venable 8: Starting the conversation

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By Emma Monahan

SGA polls close, results online

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Bright Ideas Brewing

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MCLA pummels Thomas College

Fall Foliage Parade 2016

A & E Writer When MCLA’s theater groups, whether it be FPA, Harlequin or Yorick put on performances, they engage the audience and make them think about the topics acted out.

Oliver Goldsmith wrote in his 1772 essay that “The theater, like all other amusements, has its fashions and its prejudices: and when satiated with its excellence mankind begin to mistake change for improvement.”

Theater is always evolving, whether it is the topics or the ways of the stage, but one thing that Phillip Shedd, a senior and English/ Communications major, wants to do is make the audience think.

Venable 8: Three Lessons on Gun Violence in the Classroom, which will be running from Dec. 1 to the 4 (time and location TBD), is a three act play that consist of “A Child’s Game”

by Benjamin Baylon (a former MCLA student, which Shedd collaborated with for this play), “Class Act” by Holly Jensen, and “Trofimov, A Student” by William Orem. All three plays have an interesting view on gun violence, each focusing on a different take revolving around school shootings.

“A Child’s Game” takes place in Purgatory after a young man goes to an elementary school where he shoots children and teachers.

In “Class Act”, two high school sweethearts reflect on the shooting the boyfriend committed. “Trofimov” tells the story of a student threatening his professor with a gun he carries around to try and bring his grade up.

“They each have a different, but very important, message,” Shedd said.

Shedd got into theater through his older siblings, and although he’s done some acting, he’s been doing the production side of things for the last eight years. More of a learner outside of the classroom, Shedd wants to really make an impact on the audience when they see the play.

“The one that that Ben [Baylon] and I collaborated on is based loosely on Adam VENABLE 8 Continued on Page 7

Check out our photo essay on page 12!

Photo by Shunquell Dennis/The Beacon

College releases Clery Report

By Harmony Birch Editor-in-Chief

Burglaries, rapes, stalking on campus, drug arrest, aggravated assault, robbery and alcohol disciplinary referrals went up last year. Alcohol arrests, domestic violence, and drug referrals went down, but total crime on campus was at a sparse 112 incidents, according to the annual Clery Report last week.

There were five forcible sex acts of rape or “fondling” last year compared to one act in both 2014 and 2013. There was only one act of robbery in 2015 compared to zero in 2014 and two in 2013. There was one case of aggravated assault compared to

Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor

Photo courtesy of Rebecca McBrien

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act is a yearly report that outlines campus safety procedures and highlights all crime reported to campus police or a college official.

Compared to other public institutions, like those that are a part of the Council for Public Liberal Arts Colleges, the numbers seem about right.

Larger institutions like Shepherd University in West Virginia (which has an undergraduate population of 3,816 according to USA Today), reported having 0 crimes involving students for the entire year of 2015. Some colleges, like Geneso, have not yet made this year’s Clery report available online.

MCLA Foundation changes leadership

By Harmony Birch and Mitchell Chapman

MCLA Alumni Marcus Neverson auditions for the play. Neverson was a part of several FPA shows while at the College.

zero in 2013 or 2014.

There were 11 burglaries, up from four in 2014 (there were eight in 2013). There was only one case of domestic violence, down from two both 2014 and 2013. There were three cases of stalking, up from zero in 2014, though there was a single case in 2013.

There were two arrests made last year for drug violations, up from one in 2014 and zero in 2013. Only 15 drug referrals were made. These numbers seem low considering that this year there have already been four calls to public safety logged in the campus police logs for the month of September.

No arrests were made last year for liquor violations but 59 referrals were handed out compared to 40 in 2014.

Mary Hastings, vice president for Institutional Advancement, has stepped down from her position after 11 weeks of being with the institution. According to Barbara Chaput, the director of Human Resources for the College, President James Birge has asked Executive Vice President Denise Richardello to assume responsibility of her position until a permanent replacement can be found.

“Denise and the Institutional Advancement team are working closely together to keep all active efforts, including alumni relations and fundraising initiatives, as well as the MCLA Foundation, on track and

moving forward,” Chaput said.

As part of her duties, Hastings oversaw the MCLA Foundation, an organization that helps finances salary for faculty and staff as well as financial aid and grants for students, among other things.

According to their website, the MCLA Foundation strives for “assurance of access to higher education through the receipt, management, and disbursement of funds and other charitable contributions secured through private sources and grant funding.”

Hastings left her position to explore other opportunities according to Richardello.

Richardello is currently taking on the responsibility of two VP’s. As the Executive VP she heads all initiatives coming out of the president’s office, is a senior supervisor for any events

on campus, serves on outside boards to manage external relations and give information to president Birge, works closely with enrollment management, marketing and branding the institution and HR, among other things.

This isn’t Richardello’s first time taking over as interim VP. Last year the former vice president, Mary Anne Drake, retired after 12 years of service with the College.

Richardello was unable to determine when a new search committee would be formed into finding a replacement for Hastings but stated that Birge and herself were looking into it “aggressively.”

In the meantime Richardello has her plate full planning for the upcoming Open House on Monday, next alumni weekend, and President Birge’s inauguration on April 21.

Campus News 2 Community Reading Panel, FYE a tool to help students connect with others, be themselves

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Thursday, October 6, 2016

By Nick Tardive Staff Writer

Panelists consisting of students, faculty and alumni spent valuable speaking time refuting the concept of millennial technology-dependence.

They highlighted the changing nature of society; The panel pointed out the flawed nature Sherry Turkel’s book, “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.” regarding faltering human connection based on expanded technology is flawed, as smartphones and laptops and online interaction are now not only unavoidable, but perpetuated by every generation - not just millennials.

The panel was split up into three parts, mirroring how Turkel “structured her book around Thoreau’s metaphor from ‘Walden,’” according to Professor Karen Cardozo.

“I had three chairs in my house,” Thoreau wrote, “one for solitude, two for friendship, and three for society.”

Part one focused on solitude through meditation, while part two focused on connection, segueing in to the topic from the initial point about solitude.

Part three, Society, focused on the two together.

Alumnus Danielle Gismondi, ‘10, led the Solitude section of the panel, bringing together the audience in a guided mediation. The students were not expecting Gismondi’s meditative opening act, and many met the practice with skepticism and incredulity; later, Cardozo asked the audience to gather in groups and write down three feelings they had about the experience. In the third panel, on Society, she revealed that about half of the cards reflected a positive outlook on the guided meditation, the other half was comprised of negativity. “[The exercise shows that] we’re in the same room,” Cardozo said, “but we’re not experiencing the same thing.”

“Being on stage lets me see everybody having the first year experience, as opposed to just having my own. There’s a huge gap between me now and everybody else then.”

-- Senior, Brett Belcastro Cardozo explained that, although freshmen students aren’t always open to the experience of MCLA’s First Year Experience (FYE) courses, required reading, and the culminating panel discussion, they at least have the privilege to be there. Cardozo referred to it as, “building intellectual community.”

Senior Brett Belcastro was one of four students who talked about Turkel’s idea of a technology-dependent, introverted millennial generation.

He, along with senior Bryanna Bradley, senior Morgan Valois and sophomore Kai Holl were joined by Professor Zach Finch in the panel’s second part on Friendship. Belcastro admitted that it was a little strange being on the other side of the situation, having been a freshman at MCLA when the FYE was centered around the novel “Henrietta Lacks.”

“Being on stage lets me see everybody having the first year experience, as opposed to just having my own,” Belcastro explained. “There’s a huge gap between me now and everybody else then.”

The Friendship discussion saw the students of the panel pushing back against Turkel’s

ideas of an unconnected millennial generation. Holl painted the picture best when she explained that her only way to communicate with her parents was via WhatsApp, as they live in Singapore. They all seemed to agree that a lot of the problem pushed onto the millennial generation is an issue with nostalgia.

“We’re a better civilization now than we ever have been,” Holl said, talking about the dangers of what she referred to as “nostalgia-glasses”.

Belcastro agreed with her.

“Nostalgia can hinder the way people focus on the present,” he said.

However, the aspect of a technology-dependent society wasn’t painted entirely negatively by Turkel’s book. As Cardozo put it, both the book and discussion were not, “anti-technology, but pro-conversation.”

Gismondi, Gerol Petruzella, associate director of Academic Technology, Therese Ross, an education consultant and Valeria Sosa, a sophomore at Williams College, hammered home the importance of finding one’s self through solitude before being able to make the deeper connections Turkel says society so desperately needs.

Photo from Penguin publishing Press

Petruzella embodied the idea most of all when it was revealed that he lives on a horse farm in Vermont with no cell reception.

Although he does have internet, he claimed that the solitude helped him be his own person outside of work, so he could be his best person at work and in interacting with the world around him. He pointed out how the world has changed, tracing it back to the globalization that takes place worldwide, but on a small, personal scale.

“We have built ourselves a world which is global,” Petruzella explained, saying how children being brought up are interacting on a personal level, but that they have to learn how to “be human with other humans.” This task is made all the more daunting by the need to communicate “effec-

tively”, as Petruzella put it, with hundreds of thousands of people on a personal level each day. He pointed out that these same global systems of connection were created by the technology society relies on.

“In my life, I try to think about what that means for me,” Petruzella said, unsure as to whether or not the balance of solitude and wide-scale connectivity were even possible.

Ironically, the in-depth discussion on the flaws of Turkel’s theories regarding millennial dependence on technology by MCLA’s panelists fell on the ears of students engrossed in their smartphones and laptops.

At least, as Cardozo put it, they had the privilege to experience the event - even if they only ignored it.

SGA talks Dig Pink, Sam Gomez, and 2020 elections Polls for the SGA elections closed yesterday at 7 p.m. To see the full results go to theonlinebeacon.com

By Nick Tardive Staff Writer

At a brisk 16 minutes, SGA had a low-key meeting on Monday following last week’s open forum on the administration’s plan to replace the Amsler Campus Center pool with a new, state of the art fitness center.

During the short meeting, SGA discussed the rapidly upcoming Sam Gomez 5k – which takes place on Oct. 16. Student representatives were given two forms and told to approach faculty members in a last ditch effort to recruit a couple more participants

in the 5k.

Class of 2020 elections closed yesterday with the focus on the race between Jacob Vitali and Nia Little. Go to theonlinebeacon.com for the full reuslts.

“I want to be as accessible as possible,” Vitali told Beacon reporters. “I would like to hold office hours several times per week where any student can stop by and speak with me. I’m also incredibly active on social media so I plan to let as many constituents as possible have access to my accounts.”

The two candidates have differing platforms; Vitali focused on policy and reform, Little’s on events and tackling the issue of there being little to do on MCLA’s campus – a sentiment echoed from seniors on down.

“I want to make the social atmosphere MUCH better at MCLA by

creating events that’ll get the community involved,” Little said in another interview with the Beacon. “I want to put on events that involve ideas from students.”

Senator Allen brought up Dig Pink during the open forum. Dig Pink is a breast cancer awareness event that began with college volleyball, although it has expanded beyond that.

The point of the event is not only to fundraise, but stand in solidarity with the victims of breast cancer. The Dig Pink game took place Tuesday.

President Williams said that he wanted to bring in Student Conduct

Coordinator Brian Gallagher to introduce himself to SGA and discuss campus policy with the student representatives in an informative, indepth fashion.

As a little reminder to the members of SGA, Advisor Jenn Craig asked the students to “pick classes over your clubs” and other fun things. Despite being in control of student clubs’ budgets and coordinating with the administration to make student life better, SGA representatives are still students first, and must prioritize class even over governing.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Campus News

Beacon.MCLA.edu

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Gun sales, social security top Campus Open Debate Coalition forum police investigate rape accusation

By Mitchell Chapman Managing Editor

ABC and CNN town hall moderators are using the top 30 questions generated from an online forum curated by the Open Debate Coalition for the next presidential debate, and so far gun sales and social security benefits have taken center stage. Anybody is free to submit a question to the forum until Oct. 9.

“Would you support requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales?” Richard M. from California asked.

As of Sunday, his question has the most votes, with 22,470.

“My son was murdered by someone who should have never had a gun. Gaps in our current system make it easy for felons & other dangerous people to buy guns online & at gun shows, no questions asked,” he wrote.

According to Vox, 1,156 mass shootings have happened in the United States since Sandy Hook, which prompted serious questions about gun control in America. Recently, Pulse Night Club shooter Omar Mateen was permitted to buy fire arms despite being on the FBI no fly list.

“Do you support expanding, and not cutting, Social Security’s modest benefits?” Linda B. from New Jersey asked (20,186 votes). her question is the second most voted for.

“We can easily afford to protect & expand Social Security by requiring the wealthiest Americans to contribute at the same rate as the rest of us.”

Social security has been a constant talking point in debates. Republicans, such as former Republican candidate

Sen. Ted Cruz, want to abolish it, while some, like former Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, want to expand it. Others want to keep it the same.

“How will you ensure the 2nd amendment is protected?” Tim S. asked. His question has 18, 855 votes, and is currently ranked third. He elaborated: “Too much crime is blamed on the tool, not the person. How will you protect law abiding citizens to protect themselves?”

A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh found that legal gun owners accounted for 1/5 of all gun crimes in the city. Another study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that concealed-carry permit holders are among the nation’s best law-abiding. In light of this research, many are adamant about not alienating law abiding gun owners and going after criminals.

“Would you support term limits for members of Congress and the Supreme Court?”

John S. from Maryland asked (18,376 votes; ranked fourth).

“Many people feel that too much power has been accrued among members of Congress, who no longer represent the needs of their constituents.”

Members of the Supreme Court are appointed for life.

Veteran Congress members can easily find themselves occupying the same position for decades. This creates a steep climb for new candidates to obtain office.

“Would you act to repeal citizens united?” Ken B. from California wrote. His question has 15,367 votes, and is ranked fifth. “Take the insane amount of money out of the

Public Safety unable to comment

By Harmony Birch Editor-in-Chief

Photo from presidentialopenquestions.com

The Open Debate Coalition form takes less than a minute to fill out, and does not require users to create an account to submit. election process.”

SuperPACs. The ruling fails The 2010 Supreme Court de- to acknowledge the conflict cision in Citizens United v. of interest this money creates, Federal Election Commis- and has had adverse affects sion recognized money as a on how the government funcform of speech, and allowed tions. politicians to accept campaign To submit your question or donations from corporations vote, go to presidentialopenthrough the use of PACs and questions.com.

All College reconsiders gym requirements

By Harmony Birch Editor-in-Chief

It was a hot and musty day when a number of faculty, students, and staff twittered on their phones and aimed to discuss academic affairs.

The All College meeting started off with a discussion about the College’s physical education requirement.

Last semester All College and the Curriculum Committee voted to keep the physical education requirement, which has been around since Denise Richardello, an MCLA alumna, first started her education with MCLA. The recommendation to keep the Phys. Ed requirement was

sent up to President James Birge, during this time the president was “brand brand new,” according to Cindy Brown.

He sent the recommendation back down with a note that said “please reconsider.”

“It was unclear whether the motion was to retain or eliminate,” Deborah Foss, psychology professor at MCLA, summed up.

Much of the meeting was spent trying to figure out what the President meant.

“So it’s almost like we’re wiping the slate clean and having a new discussion?”

Laura Standly asked.

Eventually it was concluded that the

President likely just wanted the committee to discuss the motion recommendation again and it was concluded that there should be no discussion today, because the committee was unsure whether or not All College was even the appropriate channel for a discussion.

The committee decided to look at peer institutions (other COPLAC schools) about what their requirements are, and decided to invite other important figures to their meetings for the discussion.

They also agreed to find data on how many students were waived out of the physical education requirement.

“I write waivers all the

time,” Standly admitted.

She stressed that it was important to come up with a set definition of what qualifies as a physical education class, which is not something the current requirement does.

Another important issue was the way that faculty count department curriculum votes, and how they include students in those votes. It seemed from the staff present that each department had a different way of counting votes. The All College Committee cannot approve motions that go through the Curriculum committee because department votes aren’t verified.

On Sep. 23. Public Safety received a call about a possible rape at 3:33 p.m. at 277 Ashland St. The accusation is currently under investigation according to Daniel Colonno, director of Public Safety.

Colonno neither confirmed or denied whether or not the victim was given a rape kit and stated that in general victims are transported to the hospital.

“It’s being investigated and I don’t feel comfortable commenting,” Colonno said.

Sexual assault falls under Title IX regulations. Title IX is a law meant to protect institutional discrimination on the basis of sex.

Sexual harassment of and by students falls under these regulations.

Under Title IX the school must provide the victim with a timeline for the disciplinary process, notify them of counseling services, notify them of what disciplinary actions they could take (law enforcement, or school, or both), provide academic and living accommodations, and to be notified of the final disciplinary proceedings.

All parties must be able to adequately present their cases with evidence and witnesses, and be provided the same allowances to present their cases (if one person is allowed to have a lawyer, the other must be allowed to have one).

Title IX Coordinator, Theresa O’Bryant, was unable to comment based on the “Equal Opportunity Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan,” agreed upon by non UMASS state universities and approved by the Board of Higher Education.

Sexual Assault: Know Your Rights -Survivors shall be notified of their options to notify law enforcement.

-Accuser and accused must have the same opportunity to have others present.

-Both parties shall be informed of the outcome of any disciplinary proceeding.

-Survivors shall be notified of counseling services.

-Survivors shall be notified of options for changing academic and living situations.

Source: clerycenter.org

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Opinion & Editorial

Editorial

The Beacon

Does Title IX do enough to protect victims?

The Clery report came out last week and with it questions about how much crime is really happening on campus, and how our administrators and police are handling it. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act was created in 1990, four years after Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her residence hall at Lehigh University. By Oct. 1 of every year all higher education institutions must provide students with a report that outlines campus safety procedures and a log of how many crimes were reported to campus police and college officials.

It wasn’t until 2013 that the report had to include the number of forcible and non-forcible sex offences, domestic violence, stalking and dating violence. This was a part of becoming Title IX compliant through the Campus SaVE Act.

Title IX is a law stating that institutions cannot discriminate based off of sex or gender.

Title IX ensures that victims have the right to either file complaints with the police, the school, or both. If a victim chooses to file a complaint through the school the school must investigate it promptly regardless of whether or not the victim decides to report the case to the police. They also must ensure that while the case is under investigation that the victim’s education is not impared by issuing a no contact order.

Under this law schools must have a set procedure for handling complaints for sexual discrimination, harassment and violence. While these procedures may be apparent to victims who come forward to the school, when The Beacon asked about the College’s sexual violence procedure we were told there was no one set procedure and that it

Beacon.MCLA.edu

varied on a case by case basis.

The problem with Title IX is that the school is allowed to handle the proceedings on their own without a court of law.

This can work both to victim’s advantage and disadvantage, because there is very few ways to hold the college accountable short of being well versed on your rights, and filing a complaint against the institution in a court of law if need be.

Title IX also presents problems for the accused, who even if found innocent in a court of law, may still have the education compromised by the College’s investigation.

There’s also no direct watchdog for college disciplinary proceedings like there is for court proceeding. In cases like that of Brock Turner, people are made aware of unfair rulings by way of the media.

When the Beacon has inquired about cases handled

by the school under Title IX, the College has declined to give information about disciplinary procedures. This is within the College’s rights and is a policy that ensures student’s who’ve committed any sort of crime don’t live their lives with a marred reputation, but it also means that unless victims are willing to report the College, no one other than their Title IX coordinator, whose salary is paid by the College, is ensuring that the institution complies with Title IX. We at the Beacon encourage students who are dealing with sex or gender offenses to choose to take a judicial route. Doing so does mean stepping into the public eye, but it also ensures your case is less likely to be dismissed, and your abuser will be more likely to face some form of punishment.

“What’s your favorite show on WJJW?”

The Beacon is published Thursdays during the academic year and is distributed free to the College’s community. The Beacon is funded by the Student Government Association, the English/Communications department, and ad revenues. Single copies are free, additional copies may be purchased at 50 cents each.

Contact information: News desk number: 413-662-5535 Business number: 413-662-5404 Email: Beacon@mcla.edu Web site: beacon.mcla.edu Office: Mark Hopkins Hall, room 111 Mission Statement The Beacon strives to provide timely and accurate news of campus and local events.

Editorials Policy Unsigned editorials that appear on these pages reflect the views of The Beacon’s editorial board.

Signed columns and commentaries that appear on these pages reflect the views of the writers.

Letters Policy The Beacon welcomes Letters to the Editor. Deadline is noon on Mondays for that week’s newspaper.

Letters should be kept to 500 words or less and are subject to editing for grammar and content. The Beacon will not publish anonymous or libelous letters.

Letters must be signed by the writer and include a phone number. Letters may be dropped off at the office or emailed to Beacon@mcla.edu.

Contributions Policy The Beacon accepts stories, photos, and opinion pieces for publication.

Submissions should be dropped off at the office by Monday at noon or emailed to Beacon@mcla.edu.

Advertising Policy The Beacon reserves the right not to publish any advertisement it deems to be libelous, false. or in bad taste.

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Harmony Birch Web Editor Managing Editor Jake Mendel Mitchell Chapman Design Editor Adam Sams A&E Editor Features Editor Jon Hoel Joseph Carew Copy Chief Buisness Lauren Levite Manager Photography Editor Reagan Smith Domonique Ackley Video Editor Dan Wohler

Staff

“ I don’t listen to WJJW, and I really don’t listen to radio at all.

Not regularly anyway.”

-Andre Gregorian, 2019

“ I was a guest on WJJW last Friday!

I dropped a little freestyle. I also listen to Guy.” -Brandon Valdes, 2017

“ I’ve heard of the station, but I don’t even know what channel it’s on.

I think they need more publicity. I also don’t really listen to radio, it’s just easier to use your phone and aux cord.”

-Nick Lauder, 2017

Staff Writers Emily Gabert Nick Tardive Kelsey Kistner Sports Writer

Brady Gerow

Photographers and Videographers Shunquell Dennis Sam Kniskern

Cartoonist

Samwise Fox

A&E Writers Ronald Leja Chris Riemer Emma Monahan

Copy Editors

Advisers

Ayrel Brosnan Nick Webb

Jenifer Augur Shawn McIntosh

Online at: Beacon.MCLA.edu

Facebook.com/MCLABeacon Twitter.com/TheBeacon_MCLA

“I don’t listen to WJJW. When I’m home I listen to 99.8, a classical station out of Boston.”

-Oliver Locke, 2017

“ I haven’t heard of WJJW, and I mostly listen to 102.5 when I’m home. It’s a country station.”

-Riley Elliot, 2018

Photos by Ron Leja

“ I think I would listen to WJJW if it was more sports oriented. I think most of MCLAs athletes would if that were the case.”

-Quinn McCormick, 2020

Opinion & Editorial

Thursday, October 6, 2016

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Beacon.MCLA.edu

Columns W

REDRUM Mitchell Chapman

Managing Editor

Sp n i

Joseph Carew Features Editor

Digital Homicide: Resurrection

Committing digital suicide Indie game developer Digital Homicide, best known for games using pre-made assets with little original work put in, is suing 100 anonymous Steam users for $18 million. Valve, the owner of Steam, has responded by ceasing to do business with Digital Homicide.

In recent years, Steam has become the Wild West. Programs like Steam Greenlight and Early Access have given small game developers routes previously inaccessible to work their way up to getting their game sold on Steam as a full product.

This has been both a blessing and a curse, as it has allowed for a plethora of games previously deemed too risky for the mass market to appear on Steam, but by lowering the bar of entry, Valve has opened their store front to many sub-standard games.

Digital Homicide has been one of the most prolific abusers of this system, flooding Steam Greenlight with over a dozen poor titles over the course of a year, taking advantage of the platform’s reliance on passive

h ee

l

A

Curious

users to greenlight games for sale through the use of up votes.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Digital Homicide has had the gall to lash out at anyone who dares call them out for their slapdash approach to game development, escalating from false copyright claims on YouTube to legal action against their most vocal and abusive critics.

Digital Homicide may feel justified in starting legal actions, citing posts in which they are threatened with violence and in one instance receiving feces in the mail.

However, they make it hard to feel sympathy for them by viciously attacking legitimate criticisms of their bad games and alienating Valve, their main point of distribution to the general public.

Because they are a small indie developer, who has yet to properly fund these court cases (they previously set up a Gofundme page that fell short of its goal), they have set themselves up for failure.

A successful court case against

art criticism would have a chilling effect on critique, and would pave the way for a new age of anti-consumerist practices by other game developers unhappy with criticisms of their games.

An unsuccessful outcome would serve as a sterling example to other game developers why attacking criticism is a bad idea.

This is especially crucial in a new field like gaming journalism.

Digital Homicide has not even secured the proper funds for their still-in-progress lawsuit against critic Jim Sterling, in which they are seeking $15 million against the former Destructoid editor for covering their games. Their knowledge of the legal system is so flawed they thought Fair Use meant that media referencing their games had to be literally fair.

They are a studio with very little original work to take pride in, they are suing people left and right without proper legal counsel, and they are no longer allowed to sell their games on the largest digital store front for indie developers.

RIP, Digital Homicide.

through cables

It was getting very close to deadline when a friend walked into my townhouse in search of jumper cables. My housemate directed him to me and I left my nearly-late essay to simmer while I tried to lend a hand. My set of cables has lived a hard life. Rusty and not very long, they make my car look good (which is saying something). I handed him the pair and asked if he knew how to use them. “Uhh, nope,” he said. I looked to the girl he was with and received another no. So I shall now walk you through the process.

Firstly, you need an effective pair of jumper cables. Don’t use ones that I used if at all possible.

The better the cables, the better the possibility of this whole process working properly.

Second, get a car that runs and bring it in close to the hood of your disabled vehicle.

Okay here is where it can get tricky. Both cars are off, keys not in the ignition, and wires are in hand.

Wipe the sweat off your brow and find the red positive (+) side of the good battery and connect one red colored clip of the jumper cables to that bolt. Next connect to the red positive (+) side of the bad battery with the other red colored clip.

Perfect, nice job. Half way there.

Now connect one black negative (-) clip to the black negative bolt (-) of the good battery and finish by connect the final clip to the black negative bolt (-) on the bad battery.

Sweet. Make sure the cables are tight on those bolts so they won’t spark. Now turn on the car that can run and let the whole thing just sit for about a minute. Perhaps focus your energy on learning to whistle in this short period of time.

Now, with the other car still running, enter the dead car and resurrect it with your key (just turn it on). Hopefully, like tonight, it will roar to life and all you now have to do is turn off both cars and then disconnect the cables in any fashion you like.

Reasons why your car may not have started after this include: a bad connection with the jumper cables (in which case you can try using a wire brush to clean the bolts with the cars off), a dead battery (in which case you are going to have to replace it), or you didn’t let it charge for long enough.

Hopefully, this helps you out in the future and, don’t worry, I submitted my essay on time.

Oh and to verify me check out autorepair.about.com.

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Arts & Entertainment

Thursday, october 6, 2016

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Photo by Ron Leja

Providing a great industrial atmosphere, Bright Ideas displays their vats that brew the beer behind the bar.

Bright Ideas Brewery: Everyone deserves a taste of some community hoppiness Bright Ideas Brewery serves up delicious and ideal custom brews and creates a super environment to drink and socialize.

By Ron Leja A&E Writer From an outsider’s perspective, the world of craft beer can present itself as a whirlpool of complex flavors and irregular names. Foreign styles and strange blends of fruits and spices may not always appeal to the average drinker, which can make the plunge a little off putting.

Orion Howard and Eric Kerns, owners of Bright Ideas Brewery on the grounds of Mass Moca, have taken it upon themselves to ease the level of complexity often associated with microbreweries by melding the mosaic artistry of the craft with simple execution and form.

Sunday marked the sixthmonth anniversary of the new local brewery, which has since conceived an impressive array of different styles of beer sure to entice not only craft beer advocates, but those new to the culture.

“We are trying to appeal to a number of people who are not all the same,” Kerns said.

“Crafting and tasting beer is not some elitist activity reserved just for beer enthusiast. We strive to make craft beers approachable, to bring in fine art lovers, beer tourists and overall fans of the drink.”

When it comes to naming their individual brews, the duo has made it custom to stay clear of the outlandish and unfamiliar titles often associated with craft beer. By doing so, customers are given clear cut definitions of what is on tap. The American wheat beer with hints of lemongrass and blood orange is modestly named “Wheat,” while

a nutty, roasted brown malt is simply titled, “Dark Brown.”

One of the most popular options presented to customers is the tasting flight of four beers. For $12-$13, one can select four smaller servings of whatever happens to be on tap, giving them the chance to be a little more adventurous without having to commit to a full 16oz. glass.

“The flights are a great idea,” Chris Oboyle, a resident of Adams and fan of craft beer said. “Last I checked there aren’t many places in north county that take that route.”

Bright Ideas takes the concept of creating a safe and approachable drinking

We strive to make craft beers approachable, to bring in fine art lovers, beer tourists and overall fans of the drink. - Kerns environment a step further by offering their patrons a window in to the brewing process itself.

Behind the bar, a wall of glass

is all that separates customers from their seven barrel brewing system. At any given time, they may see Chris Post, Bright

Ideas head brewer and founder of Wandering Star Brewing in Pittsfield, tending to future releases.

Patrons can expect timely changes to the menu, as particular styles and flavors are released seasonally.

Bumpkin, an autumn style ale incorporating hints of pumpkin and roasted butternut squash is currently on tap.

With a rich golden color all too familiar of the fall season, the Bumpkin delivers flavorful shot of pumpkin that mends well with a fairly bitter aftertaste.

“The original idea behind our choice in beer recipes was to brew mostly bright, soft, light, beers,” Howard explained.

“When we first opened, we really didn’t plan on creating a pumpkin beer, but we had a good amount of people asking us about a pumpkin beer, if we were doing one. We sort of had to. People expected one.”

Howard went on to announce that an Oktoberfeststyle beer, or Märzen, will be released later this week, while the brewery’s first porter is currently in the works.

“A very English-style winter warmer will be on tap this January,” Kern added.

“Along with a few other chewy, tasty beers. We should have a lot of darker beers on tap heading through the winter season.”

Bright Ideas Brewery Hours Fall Hours Wed. & Thurs. 3p.m. - 10p.m.

Fri. 3p.m. - 11p.m.

Sat. 12p.m. - 11p.m.

Sun. 12p.m. - 7p.m.

Inside of Bright Ideas, some patrons enjoy their drinks and conversation.

Photo by Ron Leja

Arts & Entertainment

Thursday, october 6, 2016

Photo by Rebecca McBrien

Julie Castagna and Alon Welling auditioning for “Venable 8”. that are passed around for a VENABLE 8 minute or two.

Continued from Page 1 “So often you see [gun violence] on the news, and you Lanza and the Sandy talk about it briefly or you don’t Hook [Elementary] shooting, talk about it at all, and there’s but it’s based upon sort of what no real group conversation,” Ben’s vision of purgatory would he said.

“It’s such a prevalent be like for him,” said Shedd. issue at the moment, I want On Dec. 14, 2012, 28 people, [the audience] to keep talking.

20 of which were students, were killed in the Sandy Hook The point of this is that it’s not Elementary School shooting just a onetime conversation, in Newtown, CT. According it’s something that they’ll to the Washington Post back talk about for days, hopefully in 2012, Sandy Hook was the for weeks. Whether or not second deadliest shooting in they choose to do something U.S. history. Since 2013, there about it, that’s on them, we’re have been 197 school shootings not trying to get them to do in America, according to a gun something about it.”

Shedd also mentioned how safety support site called Every running this type of play, Town Research. For 2016, there something with such a heavy have been almost 300 mass topic, takes a lot of will power, shootings in the United States, especially since he wants it to according to the gun violence be intense.

Audience members archives website. will be sitting in a “classroom” What Shedd and his team want to do though is to spark a setting, literally at desks, but it’s conversation, and not the kind not going to be the type of “all

in your face” kind of play.

One of the challenges of this play was casting, because there are so many trigger warnings, Shedd wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable with their role and that they were going to be okay at the end of a rehearsal.

“It’s a really heavy topic, which made casting the show very hard,” said Shedd. “So for most shows, you cast based upon talent and also how the actors will work together. A huge aspect of this show is casting thinking ‘Can this person get into the mind set of, say, Adam Lanza? And when they leave rehearsal for the night, are they going to be okay?’”

Despite how intense the show seems it’ll be, Shedd talked highly of the way things are coming together, especially with the help of some local organizations.

“We received this $1,500 grant to tour the show, but this time there’s this aspect through Common Folk called The Art of Conversation, and that’s really what this is about, not giving a message but to create a space where dialog can happen,” said Shedd.

With the grant, Shedd hopes to bring the show to four different locations, and hopes they are MCLA, Common Folk, MASS MoCA, and Williams College.

“Venable 8” location and date are not yet available.

Photo from Images Cinema

Images Cinema movie theater celebrates one hundred years

By Jon Hoel A&E Editor Disillusioned by the movie selection at the Movieplex 8? Not to worry. Five miles from campus there is an independent theater that has been entertaining the residents of the Berkshires since the silent film era.

Images Cinema is a non-profit communityserving theatre in the center of Williamstown, where it has been a staple since its inception. It is also the only year-round nonprofit independent movie theater in the Berkshires.

Formerly the Walden Theatre, Images Cinema first opened its doors on Nov. 30 1916.

In the century that followed, it outlasted all of its contemporaries and continues today even in the era clustered by multiplexes - chains of disproportionate and overwhelmed movie theatres, like AMC and Regal Entertainment.

Images is also a single-screen theater, one of the only ones left in the country.

This weekend, Images is playing Nate Parker’s new film, “The Birth of a Nation,” which tells the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved Baptist

preacher who led a slave rebellion that occurred in southern Virginia. The film shares its title with the D. W. Griffith silent film from 1915.

From Monday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. they will have a special screening of Howard Hawk’s delightful 1938 romantic comedy “Bringing Up Baby” starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. “Baby” is often cited by film historians as one of the most important comedy films of all time.

And then, on Wed. Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Images will play Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor’s 1923 silent-film “Safety Last” starring Harold Lloyd.

It will be accompanied by live music, featuring acclaimed silent-film accompanist Donal Sosin and famed soprano singer Joanna Seaton.

Other upcoming films include Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land”, Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” Jeff Nichols’s “Loving”, Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight” directed by Barry Jenkins - which has already attracted Oscar-buzz on the film festival circuit.

For more information, head on over to their website at imagescinema.org

Beacon.MCLA.edu

7

Danny Brown

Photo from Warp Records

Albums to hear series no. 2

By Chris Riemer A&E Writer

From the very first dreary notes and uneven jazz drum fills, it is clear that the bangers of “Atrocity Exhibition” are not of the club variety.

Danny Brown’s newest album is one of this year’s darkest, weirdest, and grimiest rap albums so far. If you’ve been paying attention to his last couple albums, “Old” and “XXX,” that won’t be much of a surprise. Brown made his name rapping about selling and smoking crack; his debauchery combined with his signature high-pitched manic flow are the basis for his semi-fictional persona as a deranged Detroitborn dealer/addict/rapper, always on the verge of overdose or suicide.

This persona is largely responsible for the album’s main theme—Brown borrows the name from Joy Division’s 1980 song “Atrocity Exhibition,” released the same year as frontman Ian Curtis’s suicide.

Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, wrote the song as a response to fans who treated his shows as a spectacle of mental illness.

In recent interviews, Brown has talked at length about his affinity for Curtis’s complicated relationship with celebrity.

All this seems to point to an album filled with introversion and self-examination, and while that’s not untrue, it’s important to remember that this is Danny Brown we’re talking about.

“Atrocity Exhibition” is a blast.

Tracks like “Dance In The Water” and “Ain’t it Funny” are great examples of Brown’s unstoppable circus ringmaster delivery. In the latter, the layersupon-layers of horns and an absurd, bouncy beat clash horrifically (and wonderfully) with lyrics about Fentanyl-laced heroin and coke nosebleeds.

Despite the incredibly dark

themes throughout the album, moments like these represent Brown’s brilliance at somehow crafting fun tracks out of gruesome lyrics and gloomy, New-Order esque synths.

Guest artists are few and far between: just four of 15 tracks on the album include features, and mostly single appearances. There is one notable exception: the Kendrick Lamar-helmed “Really Doe,” where Brown allows a few friends to kick in verses on one of the most grungy and eerie beats on the album. Ab-Soul and Lamar are great, but they wisely left the closing verse to Earl Sweatshirt, who has been murdering posse cuts since Odd Future’s “Oldie.”

Some of the best tracks are the ones that seem on the verge of disintegrating, with beats made up mostly of bass synthesizers and a skeletal drum machine. “Tell Me What I Don’t Know” revolves around a synth and whistle sample.

“When It Rain” opens with a sample from musique concrète artist Delia Derbyshire’s 1968 song “Pot Au Feu,” which Brown then proceeds to spin out into a three-minute song.

It’s startling to realize how little was added between the 1968 original and Brown’s finished product, and difficult to imagine another rapper pulling it off successfully.

“I’m like on black-belt status when it comes to beats,” Brown said in an interview with Zane Lowe while premiering “Tell Me What I Don’t Know” in September. “I can rap over two pots scraping together.” Judging by this track, there’s no doubt he’s right.

Brown’s voice is an acquired taste, and many of the beats and synth “melodies” are wacked-out beyond belief, but any fan of rap (especially experimental—think Gov. Plates-era Death Grips) will find something to appreciate on this strange and genre-warping album.

Features 8 Florida travel course takes on the Everglades Thursday, October 6, 2016

Beacon.MCLA.edu

This course brings students to a diverse ecosystem and costs the least

By Joseph Carew Features Editor

Moving through an expanse with little to no human settlement, avoiding the city and camping in the wilderness, the travel course to the Everglades comes with a lesser cost when compared to others at MCLA, but matches in unique opportunities.

Professor Shustack’s course is by far the least expensive travel course offered this year and the soonest to arrive. This course takes place in January rather than in March to help decrease costs and to catch the area before peak tourism time. Though this is Professor Shustack’s fourth time running this course, he rarely plans it exactly the same.

“I mean there are certain places that are kind of just quintessential, like we’re going to go down into Flamingo in the Everglades, it’s a great place to see the different ecologies, but then there’s some tweaking I always do on the edges,” Shustack said.

“Try and visit a new site, try and find somewhere that really maybe does a little better kind of telling the story that I want to illustrate.”

The environmental studies professor works to bring in local experts and park rangers who know the area more than anyone else to, “find the best experience, the best way to tell the story and fit in more.”

“There’s just something about starting in the Northern part of the Everglades then moving

publicdomainpictures.net

The Everglade Travel Course takes students through the Floridian wilderness. down to where it empties into Florida bay,” Shustack said.

“We could jump around but just, I feel like it’s a much more compelling experience to follow the watershed.”

By taking this course students will get to see the more natural aspect of Florida and end in the ever-growing human development. Having the split between the urban and the Everglades seems to evoke “stronger emotional but kind of more impactful observations” about the area, Shustack notes.

“We see all sorts of ecosystems, species we just can’t see around here so, yeah I definitely have a

fondness for the area,” Shustack said. “It’s really neat. And the whole human and landscape history piece is really interesting too. And that all intersects with nature and species and ecologies that we see today. We can’t really separate human history from what we see out on the landscape today, so that’s all part of the story, and when I say story not in fictitious sense but like the narrative for understanding this region.”

This course is one of the more rugged, however. Those who have an aversion for the outdoors or tenting will find the course less than desirable but, if you can get past that dislike, it should provide

an interesting look on a unique ecosystem constantly under threat of development. ”As a nation we’re spending billions of dollars on restoring the everglades but I’d say the fate is not certain by any means,” Shustack said. “It’s still…just cause a lot of money’s being spent doesn’t mean the problems are solved.”

While it’s one thing to see photos or descriptions of the area, it is another experience altogether to travel through the Everglades on your own two feet. “You learn about these things differently when you’re there and you can picture them,” Shustack said.

Though this is a course less

than $2,000, the professor does acknowledge that cost is still very much a factor on whether or not a student can attend.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s $200 for the greatest experience in the world,” Shustack said. “If someone doesn’t have $200 it’s still inaccessible; doesn’t matter if its $200 or $200,000.”

Shustack recommends students plan in advance.

“I think this is the fourth time since 2012, specifically with this class,” he said. “It’s pretty much been offered every other year so students kind of know that’s coming so there’s some planning that can go in. Same is true of most of the other travel courses on campus; they usually run multiple times…”

Also available for students for this or any travel course are a small number of merit-based scholarships. They do not cover the entirety of the cost but take out a significant portion.

This year’s deadline is Oct. 21, 2016. Each student is limited to one Travel Course Scholarship and the permission of the instructor is required.

There are other requirements as well: the student must be an upperclassman who attends the College full time with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2, and two faculty letters of recommendation.

More details are available on mcla.edu.

New English Professor professes love of English

By Joseph Carew Features Editor

Nixa, Missouri, the town that produced the fictitious Jason Bourne, now brings you MCLA’s newest member of the English department, Professor Gilson.

“So it’s the Ozark Mountains and it’s a lot like the Berkshires, it’s rural and mountainy but it’s culturally very different; it’s much more conservative,” said Gilson.

“I mean, it was a great place to grow up but I’m glad to not live there.”

Gilson stayed in his home state until he graduated from Missouri State University. He moved north to Pittsburgh and Chatham University for his Masters in Fine Arts, brought there by an excellent Creative Writing Program and scholarship opportunities.

“So when I finished my MFA I moved to Washington, D.C. and did a PhD at George Washington University,” Gilson said. “Even more of a city [than Pittsburgh], so I kept going up and up and up.”

He comes here with plenty of experience teaching at the colleges he attended and hopes to make MCLA his home.

“So first of all I got offered the job, but when I visited last year, when I did my campus visit I just

Domonique Ackley/TheBeacon

Professsor Gilson comes here from Missouri and joins the College’s English department really fell in love with the campus community and how invested students were in learning,” said Gilson. “And I know that sounds like perhaps cliché but students here…I’ve taught a lot of places now and taught a lot of students and I can genuinely say that MCLA students are the most invested and the most eager to learn.”

In the spring, Gilson is going

to teach classes on podcasts and queer films, which fits into his interest in cultural studies. “...just the interdisciplinary nature of this department and of this school as a whole was just a really good fit for me,” he said.

Gilson spent some of his life, between undergrad and graduate school, in Seattle where he worked as a grant writer but this didn’t sit right with him. The job

wasn’t giving him what he wanted out of life and so he returned to school.

It was when he was given a teaching assistantship that he discovered he could combine his two loves of writing and teaching.

Gilson is fresh off of one of his more eventful summers which saw him partake in a writer’s residency in South Carolina where he also adopted a dog.

“I really love the South… and I consider myself Southern which my students and I like laugh about because like I say things funny ways sometimes and like giving the New England accent and learning how to pronounce things here has been, like they’ve been making fun of me, in a fun way.”

Having grown up in the South and spent a great deal of time in the North, it seemed like a difficult decision when it came to highlighting his favorite spot.

“I would probably say Savannah, actually. Yeah it’s probably my favorite place, I love the ocean so I love being close to the coast, I also like to be warm so I’m really nervous about winter here but I’m also really loving it here.”

Gilson is an author and recipient of the Robin Becker Prize for his chapbook “Catch and Release” and after two months here Gilson seems to be enjoying what Berkshire County has to offer.

“I love it, I really do,” Gilson said. “It’s a lot like where I grew up but in a way that I can now appreciate.”

Campus Life

Thursday, October 6, 2016

MCLA adds Biochemistry concentration

By Kelsey Kistner Staff Writer The field of biochemistry has been the matter of discussion and study in the science and medical communities due to its growing number of advances. This popularity has extended all the way to MCLA with the addition of the biochemistry concentration.

Dr. Carolyn Dehner, assistant professor of chemistry, explained that biochemistry is the study of biological processes by using chemical concepts to understand and explain these different occurrences. She made it clear that biochemistry is not simply a combination of biology and chemistry.

“In biochemistry, we look at biological phenomenon at the cellular and molecular level, and ask: why?” Dehner said. “To answer this question, we must take an excruciatingly close look at the structures and chemical reactions involved in the process we’re investigating.”

Students who plan on going into the medical or pharmacology fields would benefit by concentrating in biochemistry. According to Dehner, biochemistry majors will understand, at the molecular level, the processes of health and disease, allowing them to be more competitive when applying for graduate school.

Photo from mcla.edu

Dr. Carolyn Dehner

Cynthia Brown, vice president of Academic Affairs at MCLA, assured the importance of adding this concentration.

“This is where some of the more cutting edge research is being done in the intersection between chemistry and biology,” Brown said. “It is a great way to give that opportunity to our students and prepares them to explore some different career options and different graduate school options than they could have otherwise explored.”

The significance of biochemistry lies in its interdisciplinary nature. Dehner explained biochemistry is a science that addresses chemistry, biology, and environmental science, allowing students to absorb different perspectives to solve world problems.

“This multi-viewpoint approach is needed to tackle our big

problems such as sustainability, making it indispensable for our future,” Dehner said.

The addition of the biochemistry concentration was decided because of growing student interest and Dehner’s expertise. She is a microbial biochemist who has conducted research at several academic institutions including Smith College and University of Utah.

“It always helps to have an organized program of study so that people who are looking at a transcript can say you had a concentration in biochemistry, these were the courses you did, this is the research you’ve participated in, whatever it was that you did so that people have assurance that you had not only a breath of exposure but depth of knowledge,” Brown said.

MCLA will use its current faculty and resources to build this concentration. New professors will not be hired, unless there is substantial growth in the number of students enrolled.

While the addition of biochemistry is not meant to bring in more students, Brown would be delighted if it did. She believes that showing prospective students the greater range of academic opportunity will elevate our school and student body.

HARDMAN LECTURE SERIES

MEDIA PORTR AYAL OF ISL AM

ABDERRAHIM FOUKARA

Al Jazeera’s Washington DC Bureau Chief and host of Min Washington

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 7:00 PM CHU RCH S T REET CENT ER Eleanor Furst Roberts Auditorium

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. The Hardman Lecture Series is made possible through the generosity of the Hardman Family Endowment.

Fourkara’s appearance arranged through Gotham Artists.

MASS A CH U S E T T S CO LLE GE O F L IBE RAL ART S

in the Ber kshires

375 Church Street, North Adams, MA 413 662 5224 MCLA.EDU

FINANCIAL AID ANNOUNCEMENT

FAFSA Update For 2017-2018!

Complete Your 17-18 FAFSA Starting Oct. 1st!

Make Sure You Complete It Early Financial Aid Will Be Awarded On A First Come, First Serve Basis.

Financial Aid Disbursements Will Be Happening Soon! Check With Financial Aid And Student Accounts To Make Sure Your Paperwork Is All Set!

Beacon.MCLA.edu

9

Campus Safety Log Monday, Sept. 26 • 12:18 a.m. – Campus Police responded to a medical call from Berkshire Towers early Monday morning. Subject was transported to the hospital. Refer To Incident: 16-283-OF • 2:29 a.m. – Public Safety secured Bowman Hall early Monday morning.

• 1:23 p.m. – Campus Police escorted funds from Eldridge Hall to the bank for deposit Monday afternoon.

• 4:22 p.m. – Public Safety tested the accuracy of the Guardian App. Monday evening.

• 9:10 p.m. – Campus Police responded to a medical call from Berkshire Towers Monday night. Subject was transported to the hospital.

Refer To Incident: 16-284OF Tuesday, Sept. 27 • 12:39 a.m. – Campus Police secured Eldridge Hall early Tuesday morning.

• 6:11 a.m. – Campus Police secured 94 Porter St. Tuesday morning.

• 6:04 p.m. – Campus Police secured 100 Porter St. Tuesday evening.

Wednesday, Sept. 28 • 1:05 a.m. – Campus Police secured Venable Hall early Wednesday morning.

• 1:26 a.m. – Campus Police secured the Campus Center early Wednesday morning.

• 1:44 a.m. – Campus Police secured Mark Hopkins Hall early Wednesday morning.

• 1:48 a.m. – Campus Police secured Eldridge Hall early Wednesday morning.

• 7:14 p.m. – Public Safety handled a disturbance on Montana St. Wednesday evening.

• 7:35 p.m. – Lost item was taken to Public Safety Wednesday evening.

• 8:27 p.m. – Campus Police investigated suspicious activity Wednesday night in Venable Hall.

Thursday, Sept. 29 • 12:23 a.m. – Campus Police secured the Campus Center early Thursday morning.

• 12:46 a.m. – Campus Police secured Murdock Hall early Thursday morning.

• 1:00 a.m. – Campus Police secured Mark Hopkins Hall early Thursday morning.

• 1:02 a.m. – Campus Police secured Eldridge Hall early Thursday morning.

• 1:19 a.m. – Campus Police secured the Facilities Building parking lot early Thursday morning.

• 2:15 p.m. – Public Safety responded to a safety

• •

hazard on Blackinton St. Incident was handled

by City Police Thursday afternoon.

6:05 p.m. – Campus Police secured 100 Porter St. Thursday evening.

8:07 p.m. – Campus Police investigated a 911 call from the Advancement Office Thursday night.

Friday, Sept. 30 • 4:01 a.m. – Public Safety investigated suspicious activity on Blackinton St. early Friday morning.

• 6:53 a.m. – Campus Police responded to fire alarm trouble in the Campus Center Friday morning.

• 8:16 a.m. – Campus Police solved the alarm trouble at the Facilities Building Friday Morning.

• 9:12 a.m. – Lost item was brought to Public Safety from the Brewer Perkins Lot Friday Morning.

• 10:31 a.m. – Campus Police escorted funds from Eldridge Hall to the bank for deposit Friday Morning.

• 6:26 p.m. – Campus Police secured 100 Porter St. Friday evening.

Saturday, Oct. 1 • 12:53 a.m. – Campus Police completed status checks early Saturday morning.

• 3:34 p.m. – Campus Police received a Direct Panic Call from the Guardian Ap. At the Center for Science and Innovation Saturday afternoon. Incident was not found.

• 5:16 p.m. – Campus Police handled suspicious activity in the Townhouse Lot Saturday evening.

• 9:16 p.m. – Campus Police investigated suspicious activity in the Mark Hopkins Lot Saturday night.

• 11:22 p.m. – Public Safety investigated a disturbance on Blackinton St. Saturday night.

Sunday, Oct. 2 • 12:24 a.m. – Public Safety investigated a disturbance at 12 Blackinton St. early Sunday morning. No actions were required.

• 12:47 a.m. – Campus Police completed status checks early Sunday morning.

• 12:50 a.m. – Campus Police received a report of a disturbance. No action was required.

• 1:11 a.m. – Campus Police investigated an alcohol offense in Berkshire Towers.

No action was required.

Refer To Incident: 16287-OF • 3:36a.m. – Campus Police investigated the wellbeing of a subject Sunday morning.

10

Thursday, October 6. 2016

Sports

Soccer: MCLA v. SVC 1-1

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Tennis: MCLA, now 6-5

By Brady Gerow Sports Writer

The MCLA Trailblazers Women’s Soccer team met with Southern Vermont College Mountaineers at Shewcraft Field on Sept. 27, where the late action from both squads ended the game at a 1-1 tie after double over time.

Both squads played 78 minutes before any success on the offensive side of the ball. It was the Trailblazers who struck first in the contest.

Senior forward Natalie Caney played a ball forward to freshman forward Kaylyn Holliday, who worked the ball into the box and past the goalie for the first score of the game. “...it was a beautiful goal,” stated Coach Deb Raber. “...the lead up to it, playing a through ball. I loved what I saw.”

Their late play in the game would grant Holliday her second goal of the season, along with awarding Caney her first assist of the year.

Only moments later in the game, the Trailblazers had a defensive breakdown leading to an SVC goal.

The 80 minute of the game proved to be the equalizer, after a turnover towards the middle of the field. After a dive-in from an MCLA player, SVC won the ball and looked to go on the attack.

Down numbers, the Trailblazers

Photo from athletics.mcla.edu

By Brady Gerow Sports Writer

Photo from athletics.mcla.edu

failed to shift its defensive efforts well enough to stop SVC freshman forward Danielle Biggers.

Sophmore Molly Madore would play the ball to Biggers.

Biggers, with numbers up on the Trailblazers, moved to the middle of the box and fired a shot into the back of the net. “...that puts us numbers down at that point,” said Raber. “Then things get chaotic with people shifting and trying to cover and diving in is gonna kill you every time.”

This ended scoring for the remainder of the game. MCLA had another near goal in the game, but it would be called back on an offsides call from one of the sideline refs.

Both teams fought hard, going back and forth at one another for both 10 minute overtime periods.

SVC’s junior goalkeeper Mellissa Mascari was tested the most in the game. She recorded a total of 12 saves over the duration of the contest, where MCLA outschot SVC 19-12.

On the other end of the field, MCLA’s freshman keeper Megan Richardson recorded only four saves, on a mostly lack luster night. Besides the breakdown, Richardson and her defense played a strong game.

This allowed the MCLA offense to control the ball for much of the game, keeping the pressure on Mascari and her defense. Despite the late slip ups from both teams, the defenses played a strong game despite all of the pressure that the Trailblazers exerted.

MCLA is now 2-3-4 after facing off against Westfield on Oct. 1. While SVC, now 5-42 faced off against Newbury College on Oct. 1 to a 3-0 win.

Daily Fantasy: Curing the Bye Week Blues

By Jake Mendel Web Editor

The first three to four weeks of the NFL season are usually the easiest. When drafting, everyone has short term thinking on their mind.

Combine that with the lack of information about players in only two or three weeks, there aren’t usually a lot of line up changes.

Last week was the first time teams were on their bye week and from now until about week 13, different teams will be on their bye weeks, meaning that there are plenty of players you are going to have to take out of your lineup.

With that being said, there isn’t a single team that doesn’t average at least two touchdowns a week. That may not be a lot, but it tells us a lot about the players on the team. When looking at receivers and even running backs, it is important to not only look at a single

players stats, but also a team in general.

For instance, the New York Giants have one of the best receivers in the game in Odell Beckham Jr. but the team is only averaging 18 points a game and OBJ doesn’t have a touchdown.

Obviously, he is going to get his touchdowns over a 16-game season but the offense isn’t efficient enough for him to be a lock in daily fantasy.

So when looking at weeks in which your go-to receivers are on their bye, start by looking at teams before names. There are currently 12 teams that average at least 24 points a game, which seemed to be the league average over the past three or four years.

These teams that average 24 points likely means they’re going to get into the end zone two-or-three times a game.

That means that there are three, or so, chances for you to pick a player that scores a touchdown.

Don’t play John Kuhn. Yes, he is the perfect example of how to win Daily Fantasy, but there is no way he is going to get six touchdowns in two weeks.

But, the Saints are the perfect example team to use in the case.

The Saints are a very strong offense that features plenty

of, not no-name players, but cheap players who is going to be volume type-players.

When it comes to running backs, it is a lot harder to find a direction to look in. While volume is a great indicator of who to play, it isn’t when it comes to the NFL. Lamar Miller currently leads the NFL with 101 touches in four games, but doesn’t have a single touchdown.

That is the longest touchdownless streak in the NFL. Instead, it is important to look at yards per carry (YPC), instead of just carries.

A player with a larger YPC has more big plays, not that they average more per play.

With that type of thinking, if you are looking for a big week, look at players like Spencer Ware (depending on Jamal Charles health) and Isaiah Crowell instead of bigger names like Todd Gurely and Reshad Jennings.

In a struggle to keep the playoff dreams alive, the MCLA Women’s Tennis team nearly swept opponent Thomas College 8-1 on Oct. 1 at the Bennington Tennis Center.

The Trailblazers started the match with great pace. Juniors Emily Deaso and Mariza Sfakianaki battled to an 8-6 win starting the match off on a good note for the MCLA squad.

This set the tone for the entire Trailblazer team, with the freshman duo of Briana Higgins and Sarah Hachadourian taking an 8-4 win over the opposing pair.

MCLA’s squad then turned up the tempo even more.

The duo comprised of senior Anna Despart and sophomore Sam Garwon were next to the court. They cruised past the opposing Thomas duo having scored an 8-0 shut-out for the Trailblazers.

This pace from Garwon and Despart carried over into the singles sets, where MCLA won

all but one of their sets.

The singles sets began with Sfakianaki defeating Thomas’s Lindsey Allen in commanding fashion with a final scoreline of 8-2.

In the third singles set of the match, Despart cruised to another 8-2 victory over Amelia Guimond of Thomas.

The final three sets of the match all resulted in sweeps in favor of the MCLA squad.

Garwon, Higgins, and senior Shelby Gauthier all won their matches to help the Trailblazers cruise to the win.

Deaso was the only Trailblazer to lose a set in the singles section of the match, but the 2015 all NAC singles competitor has only dropped four sets all year.

This match was of high importance for the Trailblazers, as it was what they needed to keep the playoff dream alive. A team that was unable to make the playoffs last year is looking to make its return after a year away from postseason play.

MCLA, now 6-5, faced off against Husson University on Sunday and scored a loss.

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Campus Life

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Beacon.MCLA.edu

New social media hub released

By Emily Gabert

Staff/Features Writer A new social media hub has been launched at the College to help better inform the campus community about events and other things happening on and around campus.

The new social media hub can be located on the College’s website or via the MCLA portal page, at the top left corner of the page.

The page is hosted on “Swizly” a web-page geared toward filing together social media content in one central hub.

“So it’s not only a tool to say ‘hey look at all the amazing stuff we’re doing,’ but to easily showcase everything that is going on here,” Francesca Shanks, the new social media and marketing manager, said. “[Help] keep everybody on the same page, and make as much impressive content that we possibly can.”

Shanks, who was at Williams College before joining MCLA in April, implemented a familiar tool presented on a different platform, “Rebel Mouse,” to house all of Williams’ social media and other happenings going on at campus. "Rebel Mouse" recently received different funding and their structure and what they do

changed, and it is no longer able to be used. Shanks did research on different methods other colleges across the country were using for social media. She found "Swizly" from Pomona College in California.

Users are given a basic foundation that they can base their social media center on.

From there, each user can link different profiles to the hub.

Unfortunately, not every club’s social media pages can be posted due to costs, but the main pages hosted by MCLA are linked, such as, its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Athletics, Student Affairs and the Freel Library are also among other sections available for viewers to check out.

Shanks encourages clubs and other organizations to contact her if they would like their groups social media platforms to be advertised in the social media dictionary. Groups that have not been updated are being audited from the directory.

“It’s supposed to be [updated] in real time, but I think the Swizly API updates [probably] once a day,” Shanks said. “But I wish it would be updated more in real time; if you’re away from here, if you’re a parent, student,

Letters to the editor Freel Library is useful To the Editor: I am writing to you to tell you why I think it is important for students to visit MCLA’s Freel Library. The college’s library is a very useful place that has many helpful features. The most obivious feature are the books found in the library. There are thousands upon thousands of books based on various topics, ranging from History, Science, Math, English, Business, Politics, etc.

Students can use these books to help find out important information on whatever topic they were assigned in their classes.

Another interesting thing about the Freel Library is that it houses many computers. These computers are available for students to use at any time the library is open. Students can work on their online assignments at these computers and print them out at a nearby printer, if needed.

These computers are just about the same ones that you can find in Murdock Hall and Bowman Hall; that means they come with all the necessary software students need. They also hand out laptops for students to use as well if they wish.

Other great things about the Freel Library is that they have a reserve section for textbooks. If their professor has it, students who don’t currently have their class’s required textbook can check out the reserved one and do their assigned work so they

don’t fall behind. Another thing the library offers, is an massive amount of databases found on their webpage. These online databases are very useful in finding information, such include many books which are free ebooks to use, and some have educational vidoes for use. Another fact is the library is one of the quitest places on campus, so students can work in relative silence most of the time. For entertainment purposes, students can check out an DVD for a day. Now I hope you understand why students here should visit the Freel Library.

Sincerely, Stephen LaForest

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Kelly believes it will have a good turn out due to its unique student perspective. Shanks still finds Facebook to be the College’s main social media hub, as it attracts the most visitors.

By Emily Gabert/The Beacon

Juinor, Shannon Esposito, calls out Bingo numbers during SAC’s Bingo night. or grad student and you’re looking at it you see right away... it’s a participatory engaging a live world that people are involved in, and interested in showing.”

Content shown inside the hub is manually filtered and fed into the system by Shanks.

Hash tagged items are picked and chosen based on the subject matter to ensure that it is appropriate.

Shanks also noted that in the past six months, that MCLA

has gathered almost double the amount of Instagram followers than they originally had. Snapchat is something that Shanks and her intern Jackie Kelly, ‘17, are planning on releasing to the campus this upcoming week.

"I'm really excited about MCLA's new Snapchat!" Kelly said. "It's a fun social media to get to use and showcase what life is like for students here."

this season.

Due to the placement of our field at Zavattaro Complex, the best solution is also the most expensive. Transform our grass and dirt field into an artificial turf field. In doing so, a proper drainage system can be installed, which will increase the number of home games we can play at home. This can also be said for practices since games are not the only thing affected by rain.

An artificial turf baseball field at MCLA will benefit every team, now and in the future!

Thank you for your time and attention.

embarrassing for all parties involved, but completely and utterly uncalled for. If the school has chosen to forgive and forget the incident then there is not reason to bring up old issues.

This was supposed to be a new year, a new start. And because of this article that doesn’t seem possible anymore.

Sincerely, Myles Candelet

Baseball field needs better drainage system

Slanted Student article unfair

To the Editor: As a member of the MCLA community and baseball team, I am writing to you in regards to the MCLA Baseball field conditions.

My team and I have only been able to play a handful of games at our home field up at Zavattaro Complex. The lack of a proper drainage system turns an overnight thunderstorm into a nightmare for our field. We once had to drive 3 hours to Salem to play a “home” game because our field was “underwater”. Last season a majority of our home games were held at Joe Wolfe Park in the center of North Adams, and it will most likely happen again

The latest article of The Beacon contained a story that I, along with my peers, consider slanderous and unnecessary.

You decided to report on a personal incident from last year involving two students.

This is the second time this issue has been addressed in this newspaper and it was not even done accurately. The charge that was in its headline was incorrect in a way to make it shed an even worse light on the student, whom I consider a great friend and person. Not only that, but you went and printed his picture on the back with his name in an attempt to point him out even further. This is not only

Sincerely, Simone I am writing in regards to the article “Student admitted to domestic assault and battery” by Nick Tardive. I personally know Joshua Richards and I feel as though this article is very biased and doesn’t truly represent who Joshua is as a person and member of the MCLA community.

The article fails to speak about any of the positive things Joshua has accomplished while being at MCLA, such as making Dean’s List. I feel as if this article is biased, repetitive and unnecessary for the public to view. As a student at MCLA I am ashamed that anyone let this article get published and no one asked Josh for permission while submitting the article about him. Yes the information maybe public information but that is someone’s personal life and past that needs to be left alone.

Sincerely, Daysia The article written about Joshua Richards is inaccurate and disrespectful and arguably qualifies as libel. I don’t think

“Facebook is where the programmatic information is.

It’s where the next club meeting is, it’s where everybody has a profile because like a billion people are on Facebook,” Shanks commented. “So I think, as the most important messaging tool overall…I do think that many college students today either don’t have a Facebook or are very serious about curating that.”

Shanks hopes to implement the center of social media on dedicated screens on different parts of the campus. Bowman and the CSI building are two places she mentioned bringing the hub to; also having it displayed at Admissions events or even at club events is something she’s thought about doing.

“I don’t want to put it everywhere, I feel like if you see everything everywhere your eyes are just going to glaze over it,” Shanks said, “but as a point of interest in common areas it would be great.”

it justly reflects his character because you are slandering his name through your “coverage” of his personal life just to get a few more papers read. You chose to write a story that puts a friend of mine in the worst light possible.

I won’t stand for this and if you have even a shred of integrity you will make the best effort to undo the damage that you’ve done and write a story free of bias and full of discretion.

Sincerely, Andrew Clarke

Check out our new Beacon Web newscast. On our website and around campus.

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Photo Essay

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Besides the gloomy weather on Sunday, the beginning of the parade was marked with the 61st annual Fall Foliage Parade banner.

Children dress up as mermaids, sit along the sinking boat as the North Adams community look from afar.

Following the “National Parks” theme for the parade, participators dressed up as a captain and a mermaid wave to the crowd as they walk by.

State Senate candidate Adam Hinds walked in the parade.

Photos by Shunquell Dennis

Winners from the 2016 Children’s parade proudly showed their victory by being a part of the Fall Foliage Parade.