Issue 11 - Fall 2013

Student Newspaper of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams, Mass.

The Beacon

For more content, visit online at: Beacon.MCLA.edu Volume 77 ◆ Issue 11

Th u r s d ay, D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 3

Calling attention to global order

Prof. to retire at end of semester

By Nick Swanson Staff Writer

Photos by Gabriel Kogel/The Beacon

Students take part in anti-sweatshop skit as workers in a Honduras factory.

Students host hunger banquet

By Gabriel Kogel

I

Staff Writer

n an effort to bring attention to global inequality, injustice in the prison system, slavery and the plight of sweatshop laborers, students in the sociology, women’s studies, interdisciplinary studies and anthropology class held a banquet on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Diners were randomly assigned socioeconomic classes of the wealthiest stratum, the middle class and the poor. Wealthy diners were seated atop a raised platform, with a table at the center and were served a fancy meal of lasagna, salad and apple pie.

Photos by Gabriel Kogel/The Beacon The middle-class had chairs, but Students held cards announcing different facts about had to serve themselves beans worldwide slavery with plastic tape covering their mouths. and cornbread. The poor sat on One of the faculty organizthe floor, eating only rice and Cardozo. During the meal, two water. Behind the diners, a line diners from each socioeconom- ers, Professor of Anthropology of slaves wore strips of fabric ic class read their stories aloud. Sumi Colligan, explained the across their mouths to signify The banquet took place in Mur- purpose of dramatizing these issues. their lack of a voice. They were dock, lasting from 6 to 8 p.m.

Students and faculty per“I think it provides exposure. not allowed to eat, and were compelled to serve the wealthy. formed skits dramatizing an- From researching identities, “I think experiential learn- ti-sweatshop, fair trade, and writing scripts and performing ing is important,” professor of prison abolition movements. roles, it‘s contributed to stuInterdisciplinary Studies Karen During the anti-sweatshop skit, dents’ thinking,” she said.

During the fair trade skit, a Cardozo, the banquet organizer. students played workers at the “By being randomly assigned a Honduras factory where cloth- student played a child slave, place in the global order, stu- ing sold in MCLA’s bookstore is harvesting cocoa beans for dents got a chance to experience made. The workers suffer from Hershey and Nestle chocolate. health problems due to exces- Enslaved children are fed very these issues first hand.”

Each attendee was given a sively long hours and are not little, forced into hard manual card detailing an assigned iden- allowed to use the bathroom, labor for 80 to 100 hours a week, tity, from a Fortune 500 execu- according to a summary given and viciously beaten if they try tive to a Haitian peasant dying before the skit. When workers to escape, according to UNIof AIDS. Students researched were caught viewing literature CEF. The fair trade farmer ofthe identities, which were real provided by Oxfam, a non-profBANQUET, people, or amalgams of a num- it group working to end global continued on page 3 ber of individuals, according to injustice, they were terminated.

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Professor of Sociology, Leonard Paolillo, will retire at the end of this semester after his long dedication to the community of MCLA and Berkshire County since 1972.

“My academic background was beneficial to all of the things I did during my career, but by being involved with the justice system, legislature and different political types, I was able to bring all of that back to the classroom with me,” Paolillo said.

The classes that he taught were focused on Criminal Justice and Law. “I have worked with a wonderful department. It is extremely student centered, and I am proud to know that there are professors that care a lot about the students and how they progress. It is even more special to know that the current President (President

Photo by Sam Thomson/The Beacon

Sociology professor Leonard Paolillo is retiring this year.

Mary Grant) is a former student of mine,” Paolillo said.

Paolillo has had many titles throughout his career, most recently he administered with Tom Bernard for the Standard Three in

PAOLILLO, continued on page 2

From the days of a typewriter Segalla retires after decades of service

By Nick Arena

Managing Editor After more than four decades of work at MCLA, Marion Segalla, staff associate and payroll supervisor in the office of Human Resources, will be retiring come the end of the month.

Segalla reminisced about the multiple offices she has worked in over the years, as well as the multiple changes that have happened around the College campus since she began working here.

“I started in the Registrar’s Office when we had 2700 students and I did the grades manually,” she said. “We didn’t even have computers then. I figured [cumulative grades], did registration manually, everything.

That was tough.”

One of the things she said she loved about working for the registrar was meeting and forming relationships with the students, and how many of them, including President Mary Grant, are now working for the school

and joining the students for concerts and events.

“They had all of these rock bands that would come like Charlie Daniels and Hall and Oates,” she said. “My kids were very young then. They were around 8 and 10, so they got to go to all of these concerts and it was great. It’s always been great.”

After her time with the registrar she was offered a position in the payroll department by Tom Jones, the former vice-president of fiscal affairs, and while payroll could be a difficult process and has gone through many changes over the years, Segalla says she has enjoyed all of it.

“I’ve loved it. I’ve loved it,” she said. “It’s been more than a job to me. I can truly, honestly say that I’ve never [thought], oh my god I have to go to work today. I love payroll. It’s very challenging. Of course we’ve gone from manually entering payroll -many years ago I did it on an 18 inch typewriter and we got paid once a month-

Students upset over banquet skit

Fall performance opens tonight

Men’s Basketball to host home game this weekend

Opinions vary on controversial slavery skit.

Dance Co. features 10 expressive dances.

Trailblazers to host Tri-State shootout on Friday.

Arts & Entertainment, page 6

Sports, page 8

News, page 3

SEGALLA, continued on page 3

News Arts & Entertainment Sports Campus Opinion Local Events Photo Essay

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Campus News

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Weekend Weather Thursday, December 5

Few Showers High: 50° Low: 40° Precip. Chance: 70%

Friday, December 6

Rain High: 40° Low: 26° Precip. Chance: 90%

Saturday, December 7

Cloudy High: 32° Low: 18° Precip. Chance: 10%

Sunday, December 8

SGA discusses budget spending

By Ryan Flynn

Senior News Editor

Monday, Dec. 2 The SGA executive board and senate debated how to spend the money in their reserve fund. The members discussed the possibilities of purchasing a new game room/lounge in a central location, Mohawk Theatre as a venue for student performances, or a lounge for students and printers for the campus center.

Treasurer Kelley O’Bryant announced a current balance of $244,000 in the reserve fund. After SGA had voted to maintain $100,000 in the reserve fund last year, SGA could spend or invest the remaining $144,000. As both enrollment and student fees could go down in the future, O’Bryant encouraged senators to find ways to spend the money efficiently, but also noted that it could be beneficial to stay somewhat fiscally conservative and not spend all of the money.

“We really need to think this out,” she said.

Senator Stephan Rochefort emphasized that SGA should make a lasting investment or make a purchase that would have a lasting effect. He said the money is not meant to just sit there.

“We have this money, it’s been accumulating for fifteen years,” he said. “Let’s use it to make something that will last another fifteen years or more.”

Senators including Aloysius Street said they support the pos-

Photo by Kayla Degnan/The Beacon

President Jake Powers mentions the upcoming cans for candy food drive. sibility of a central location where a good idea, it would be smart to bus and train stations during long all students could play foosball, see if there are other sources that weekends and holiday vacations. video games, pool and interact could provide these printers other Many senators agreed, stating during their down time. Execu- than the student government. that a shuttle to and from locative Vice President Brendan PelAny feasible ideas for purchases tions such as the station in Wiltier explained that a game room/ and investment will have to be put liamstown during these weekends lounge is something he believes forth to the Budget and Finance could be beneficial. the College could really use, but Committee.

Freshman Colby Harvish it might not be a possibility right Senator Anthony Cancilla brought forth the complaint durnow, because of space issues. proposed the idea of purchas- ing open forum that he believes “It’s just the space isn’t available ing Mohawk Theatre as a venue the Feigenbaum Science Center right now,” he said. for performances. Sterrs, having being completely lit up at night Another possibility proposed knowledge of the venue, said that could be causing unnecessary

by Coordinating Vice President it is more than likely out of price pollution.

Hannah Sterrs was purchasing range.

“It’s not environmentally printers for the campus center.

“I think it would be too costly,” friendly like I think it should be,” She said sometimes students are she said. he said. in a rush and can’t make it to the In addition, Street stated that President Jake Powers said that library and Murdock. Senator many students have complained he will look into the matter.

Rochefort said that while this is about transportation to and from

Paolillo reflects on long career PAOLILLO, continued from page 1

the NEASC reaccreditation process.

He also devoted much of his time to work with committees and groups that focused on several causes that made significant changes in the school community of Berkshire County.

While on the Pittsfield School Committee, Paolillo created a project for Taconic High School that annually builds a four-unit housing structure for the physically challenged.

“I am very proud of this real world experience project and especially in the students that showed incredible interest by traveling to Washington to get the Grant approved in order to complete it,” Paolillo said.

According to Paolillo, the main purpose for the housing structure was to keep the bottom level fully automated for the physically challenged, and then the top floors for those who are not. The ideal of this was to integrate the two sides so there would be no feeling of isolation.

Paolillo was on leave from the College between 2008 and 2011 to complete his duties on the National Education Association (NEA) executive committee.

As part of the committee, Paolillo went directly to Congress to help government policy set up a strategy to make higher education more important.

“There were multi-pronged efforts on the committee that controlled education,” Paolillo said. “It is about getting the stu-

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dents to understand, and to be more involved with legislatures, legislations, the ways laws could be better, and to inspire them in not only national news but other policies as well.”

Another effort put forth to better schools was in-house suspension specialists.

According to Paolillo, their job was to be in the location where the suspension was held and then interact with the students to find out if there is a bigger problem.

The specialist, according to Paolillo is someone who is a disciplinarian but understanding and knows how to keep order.

In the beginning years of Paolillo’s success he was chair of the Berkshire County Community Justice Board. While on the board he was able to get Archibald Cox,

a special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal, to be a guest speaker at a political event.

He was also a delegate to the democratic national convention radio station. The radio station would contact him in order to get the political news to broadcast over the air.

Paolillo went to high school in California where he graduated with a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. He then went on to attend graduate school at the University of California in Los Angeles. From there he got his doctorate’s in Sociology from Florida State University.

The first college he taught classes at was University of Portland in Oregon. After retirement, he still plans to teach a few classes at a local college.

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Campus News

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Beacon.MCLA.edu

3

Segalla to retire after 40 years at College

SEGALLA, but I think that I really will enjoy my free come through and not really plan for a got a lot of information to give,” Bonatz payroll position.” said. “It’s amazing how she helps this whole continued from page 1 time.”

to a computerized [system], and learning all of the new computer systems and the oracle we’re on now.”

Post-retirement, Segalla is looking forward to travelling and getting to spend a bit more time with her family.

“I think I’ll enjoy spending time with my granddaughter,” she said. “My son lives in Oxbridge, south of Worcester, so I’ll get the chance to go down there more often. I really don’t have much time to do that now,

Even with the extra free time, she said that she is going to miss the job especially her coworkers.

“She will definitely be missed. She’s been here 42 years,” Linda Lazzari, administrative assistant at the Office of Human Resources, said. “She knows not just payroll, but she knows a lot about the College. She’s worked in different departments and worked her way up.”

Without a college degree that’s pretty impressive for somebody to pick up and

Lazzari has worked with Segalla for 13 years now and said she will miss Segalla’s homemade treats and her smoke breaks throughout the day.

“She’ll go out just take a couple of puffs and she’s done she just comes back in!”

Lazzari laughed.

At the start of the semester, Segalla began training Maya Bonatz, assistant to the payroll manager at the Office of Human Resources.

“There’s been a lot of information, but she’s

place continue to run. She always has right there on the tip of her tongue.”

Segalla plans to keep in touch with all of her coworkers, both current and former, who have brought her so many great memories.

“MCLA will always have a special place in my heart,” Segalla said. “You can’t work anywhere for 40-some-odd years and not really have some memories. They were always good memories, the best really.”

Students, administration differ on controversial skit

By Nick Arena

Managing Editor As students from multiple majors gathered into Murdock 218 to take a stab at social stratification and inequality at this year’s Hunger Banquet, controversy arose when one skit was pulled from the event.

The skit involved the portrayal of modern-day human slaves, according to the students of the social problems class that were acting the part. Cynthia Brown, vice president of Academic Affairs, said there were concerns voiced about the content of the skit and she addressed them with Professor of Sociology Jennifer Zoltanski, who is teaching the class in question.

“I got information that there was some concern about the content and the format of what was planned by Professor Zoltanski,” Brown said. “As soon as I got that information, which was really late, it was after hours on Monday.

I made contact with Professor Zoltanski on Tuesday and we had a conversation because it’s my role. If I get concerns expressed about something on the academic side, I find out more and ask questions, and figure out what the story is.”

The students performing in the skit were to be wearing all black outfits with a ribbon around their mouths to represent the voicelessness of those in slavery, while holding placards with statistics about slavery.

Skit out of context

Brown added that the concerns stemmed from the representation of the slaves and the educational value that this provided.

“This is a class that’s had a whole semester to think about these things, but you’re walking into a group where people have not had that context and there are people from outside the classes that are involved that come,” Brown said.

“It was hard for me to understand what the context was that people were going to get, and it’s a very galvanizing kind of visual to have people who have something over their mouths who are portraying a category of person that is extremely oppressed and who bring their own life experiences to this. It causes everyone to think that the students portraying don’t have any agency, they aren’t expressing out, or providing any information in that portrayal.”

Brown stressed the fact that while Zoltanski pulled the skit, there was no order issued to her from anyone in the Academic Affairs department to do so.

The students and faculty had a different perspective on the issue, seeing this as a form of censorship on the part of the administration in what should have been protected under the umbrella of academic freedom. Students such as Seniors Stacy Fisher and Joselyn Walk heard there was an urge to change the format of the skit due to the striking image portrayed and the skit’s possible lack of function, but there was not enough time to change it.

“Lack of faith”

Sumi Colligan, professor of anthropology and facilitator of the Hunger Banquet, voiced her concern about the lack of faith she felt was displayed here.

“I think that the administration needs to trust us as educators,” Colligan said. “I think that they need to appreciate all of the effort that went into a collaborative event both on the part of the faculty and the students that put it together. I think that they need to understand that the different parts of the event fit together in a particular way so that each part enhances the other parts. And I think that they need to understand that being provocative in different ways makes students think, and we’re here to encourage students to think.”

Walk and Fisher, who were set to depict two of the slaves, took matters into their own hands by organizing their fellow students to come to the Hunger Banquet and perform as slaves on their own, using their own costumes and materials.

“Personally I think that it’s bogus,” Walk said. “I think that we should have been able to be here and to educate people especially because of the fact that slaves are the lowest class and it was about inequality. I don’t think that it’s fair that we weren’t allowed to project our views in the ways that we were supposed to and in ways that would have been meaningful.

I’m glad for the people that came, but I also think that it would have been even stronger if more people had come.”

Fisher noted that she felt the administration was being “sneaky and underhanded” by not reaching out to the students instead of just the professor.

Photo by Gabriel Kogel/The Beacon

Students taking part in fair trade skit dramatize Ivory Coast child-slavery.

“That is very disrespectful and it’s rude to the [professor] and all of the students, because our feedback was not solicited,” Fisher said. “Since they think they’re the ones protecting us, we’re the ones they should have contacted first.”

Other students representing slaves such as Junior Katelyn Lantagne and Sophomore Jenna O’Connor also felt that the process was unfair to their professor and the students had prepared for their skit for half of the semester.

Short on notice

“I think they could’ve gone about it better instead of waiting until less than 48 hours before it happened and giving [Zoltanski] no feedback about how she should go about doing it,” Lantagne said. “I’m pretty sure that the way we were doing it is the least controversial. We were going to be silent bystanders just like the slaves normally are, with simple signs, they don’t even get that chance. They’re silencing our voices for the people that have no voice.”

O’Connor echoed the statement of that the method the students were going to portray the slaves was the least controversial way.

“We were learning about it for half a semester, so we were learning about all of the things that they have to go through, everything that happens to them we were trying to portray that to raise awareness for human slavery and trafficking,” O’Connor said.

“I don’t think that we would’ve represented that wrong.”

Somewhere between 10 and 20 of the original 30 plus students

that were supposed to perform as slaves attended the banquet, but Fisher wanted to make sure that their voices were heard loud and clear. On the back of every placard read, “We will not be silenced!” in bold text. She said that this statement had a double meaning from the perspective of the slaves with no voice, and as the students who felt censored.

Colligan hopes that this is not a repeated pattern in future banquets.

“I hope in the future this doesn’t happen again, but I also hope that the administration has learned that faculty are committed to the educational process and we attempt to do it creatively and in an engaged fashion and we believe that we know best as to how that should happen,” Colligan said.

Brown has extended the

conversation of the issue to students across the campus, in order to get their feedback and thoughts on the topic of controversial issues and academic freedom.

“I think it’s an important conversation around academic freedom and what that means, the freedom to explore, and provoke, and have controversial discussions is extremely important,” Brown said.

“It’s one of the things that makes higher education, a college education, valuable and unique to students. It’s also something in American higher education is important. There are plenty of places with higher education systems that don’t have that same kind of freedom of inquiry so we always have to be careful to make sure that it’s safeguarded.”

Social stratification demonstration Students performing the BANQUET, continued from page 1 role of slaves silently held signs offered an alternative, explaining that chocolate produced by sustainable agriculture and ethical labor practices is a better choice.

Sue Birns, chair of the Sociology Department, spoke about ways students can take action after being informed by the event.

“Boycotting is one way to empower students. We’re teaching students to think critically, and that means thinking about how you spend your money,” she said.

across their chest throughout the banquet, each detailing different facts about worldwide slavery. Junior Stacy Fisher, took off her gag at the end of the banquet to declare the need for action.

“I found it interesting getting into the mindset of a slave,” she said. It was depressing, but empowering at the same time.

Slaves may try to escape, and then they’ve got to run and hide and sneak around until they get to freedom. So it’s not about giving up, as much as waiting for your moment.”

4

Thursday, December 5, 2013

World News

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Fast and Furious 7 filming put on hold Amazon hopes to deliver Death of main character requires script adjustment orders via drone by 2015 MCT Campus

“Fast and Furious 7” on Monday began what could be an extended hiatus in the aftermath of the death of actor Paul Walker.

The Universal Pictures film was set to resume shooting in Atlanta after a holiday break, with Walker slated to appear in key scenes throughout the week, but the ameras stayed down.

It is unknown when shooting will resume as filmmakers consider how to adjust the storyline.

Director James Wan, lead producer Neal Moritz and Universal executives have been convening to figure out how to recalibrate the movie without Walker, who shot only some of his scenes as ex-cop Brian O’Conner before he was killed in a car accident Saturday.

“Fast” veteran Chris Morgan wrote the script, which centers on rival racing crews; it is not yet clear whether he will be brought back to rework the movie’s plot.

If it becomes protracted, the production delay could lead to a

postponement of the film’s July 11 release date. The movie is an anchor of Universal’s summer schedule.

A Universal spokeswoman declined to comment on any delay or future plans.

Walker, who was 40 at the time of his death, had been a key part of the “Fast” franchise, starring in all but one of the global franchise’s series.

Meanwhile, the director of Walker’s previously shot “Hours,” in which the actor plays a man who must save his infant daughter during Hurricane Katrina, said he is pleased the film’s release schedule will move forward as planned on Dec. 13.

“Paul was so anxious to get the movie out into the world so that everyone could see what he’d done,” said Eric Heisserer, who also served as screenwriter on the $4-million production.

Heisserer, who spent the last month promoting the movie alongside Walker, told the Los Angeles Times that he has yet to discuss any shift in marketing plans with distributor Pantelion Films.

MCT Campus

Photo by Universal Pictures

Paul Walker , 40, died Saturday in a fiery car crash.

But the filmmaker said that the tragedy has caused a change in mind set.

“I’m sure we’ll have to be very mindful, going over things four or five times making sure we are honoring him properly,” he said.

“You don’t want to be insensitive.”

Before Amazon.com Inc. can deploy its fleet of delivery drones, the company will have to wait for the results of drone tests at six state-run sites, which the Federal Aviation Administration will select later this month.

At least 24 states are competing to host these sites, which are expected to bring jobs and investment from a rapidly growing industry. Congress has directed the FAA to safely integrate unmanned aerial vehicles, or unarmed drones, into the national airspace by 2015. Until then, the FAA has said it will grant flight privileges to operators of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, on a case-bycase basis.

Bezos, the CEO of the Seattlebased e-commerce giant, said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Amazon hopes to use drones to make same-day deliveries within five years of FAA approval. “It will work, and it will happen, and it’s

gonna be a lot of fun,” Bezos said.

Amazon’s plan is yet another example of how drones could transform everyday life. Manufacturers tout the machines’ ability to carry water to a wildfire, monitor storm systems, locate missing persons or even deliver pizza.

“It will work, and it will happen, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Governors are well aware of the technology’s job potential for engineers, programmers and pilots.

New Mexico, which has a long history of testing military aircraft, has already secured a site.

The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the trade association for drone manufacturers, estimates that integrating drones into national airspace will generate at least 70,000 engineering, manufacturing and piloting jobs within the first three years of FAA approval.

Penn State racing to be the first college on the moon MCT Campus

Pennsylvania State University is racing to be the first college on the moon.

Since 2011, a team of faculty, researchers, and students has been hatching “Lunar Lion,” a robotic spacecraft that is four feet in diameter and weighs 500 pounds.

The team hopes that by landing in December 2015 and completing a precise series of tasks, it will win an international competition known as the Google Lunar Xprize.

“What we are doing was once

the business of national governments, and now we, a university, are doing this,” said Michael Paul, director of space systems initiatives at the university’s Applied Research Lab. The project costs $60 million, and donors have provided more than one-third of that amount.

Paul presented an update on the team’s work to Penn State’s trustees during their meeting Friday afternoon.

Of the 22 teams vying for the prize , the winner gets $20 million . Penn State’s is the only university-led group, Paul said in an in-

terview last week. Among the six other U.S. teams competing is one from Astrobotic Technology Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company spun off from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in 2008, according to the team’s website.

“We have to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon, return high-definition video and images, and move the spacecraft from where it lands to another spot 500 meters away,” Paul explained.

If Penn State wins, Paul said, the university will use the money for an endowment to fund research and exploration.

To develop a baseline design for the mission, five students went to the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where they worked with engineers across many fields.

Other students began working on public relations for the project.

“Right now we’re preparing for a really big PR campaign in January,” said Ajeeth Ibrahim, 23, a graduate student in aerospace engineering.

Ibrahim said the project had opened a world of career choices to him.

The Collegeville, Pa., native said, “I can’t imagine having gone

Photo by GoogleLunarXprize.org

A rendering of “Lunar Lion.” through a program like this and not working on something incredibly innovative and gamechanging.”

U.S. students lag behind Google Earth reveals unreported fish catches MCT Campus

Fifteen-year-old students in the U.S. lag behind many countries around the world when it comes to reading, science and math, according to test results released Tuesday.

The scores, which place the U.S. in the middle of the global pack, showed little change from American students who have taken the test over the past decade.

At the top of the rankings are Asian countries including South Korean, Japan and Singapore. The Chinese city of Shanghai scored the highest average scores in each subject matter.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development administered the exams to 15-year-old students in more than 60 nations and school systems under the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA. About 6,000 students in the U.S. took the test.

The test scores are viewed by some policymakers and analysts as an indicator of future economic competitiveness in the world and also an indication that spending in education could be more wisely invested.

The U.S., which shells out about $115,000 per student, is ranked fifth in spending behind Austria, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland, the results show. However, it scores roughly the same as the Slovak Republic, which spends about $53,000 per student.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan slammed America’s performance as “a picture of educational stagnation.”

He told The Associated Press that the U.S. must “invest in early education, raise academic standards, make college affordable and do more to recruit and retain top-notch educators.”

In reading, the U.S. ranked 17th in the world, about equal with countries such as France and Great Britain. American students ranked 21st in science with scores on par with Italy and Portugal.

In math, however, the U.S. lags behind at 26th place.

The results show that while U.S. scores remain little changed, other countries such as Poland and Ireland have jumped ahead in recent years. Even Vietnam, a developing nation, outpaced the U.S. in math and science.

MCT Campus

All it took to reach a more realistic estimate of how much fish is being harvested from the sea was one scientist with an Internet connection and an inquisitive mind.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia used satellite imagery from Google Earth to discover that large fish traps in the Persian Gulf could be netting nearly six times more fish than official statistics report.

The study began with a Ph.D. student messing around on the Internet.

“I was just playing around with Google Earth, doing what most people do when they first get on, which is try to find their house,” said Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak, a doctoral student at the university’s Fisheries Center and lead author of the study.

The Kuwait native noticed that three fish traps, known as weirs, could be seen near her parents’ home on the Persian Gulf.

“I had a light-bulb moment,” she said.

It was the start of a research project that used the Google program to count 1,900 fishing

Photo by The Daily Catch

A large fish trap is made highly visible thanks to Google Maps. weirs, huge, fencelike structures that use the changes in tides to trap sea life, off the coast of six countries in the Persian Gulf.

The study used the inventory to estimate that the region caught about 31,000 metric tons of fish in 2005, nearly six times the amount reported in official fisheries statistics.

The research is part of a larger project led by University

of British Columbia marine biologist Daniel Pauly that aims to construct more reliable estimates of the global fish catch, which is often underestimated in official reports.

“In this case we have a really simple, easy-to-use method that countries can use to improve their catch statistics,” Al-Abdulrazzak said. “Basically anyone that’s got a little patience and access to the

National News

Thursday, December 5, 2013

National and World News Briefs

New York train derailed going 82 mph MCT Campus

NATION Notre Dame re-files lawsuit against birth-control mandate

The University of Notre Dame has re-filed its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, challenging the controversial mandate that employers cover contraception in the health care benefits they provide workers.

Filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the lawsuit states that the government does not have the right to impose rules on the university that violate its religious beliefs.

-Chicago Tribune

NEW YORK A speeding passenger train barreled into a sharp curve at about 82 mph when it should have been traveling 30 mph, and there was no attempt to slow down until “very late in the game,” investigators said Monday.

Four passengers were killed in Sunday’s New York City derailment, the worst in the 30-year history of the Metro-North Railroad, and more than 60 were injured. All were expected to survive. About two dozen remained hospitalized Monday as the first details of the National Transportation Safety Board’s probe brought calls for stricter safety standards. It was the first Metro-North crash to involve passenger fatalities, but the third serious incident involving the railroad since May. At a news briefing, Earl Weener of the NTSB said two “event recorders” retrieved from the wreckage had provided investigators with de-

Six people were killed and 13 wounded Tuesday in two separate insurgent bombings in southern Afghanistan, according to the governor’s spokesman in restive Helmand province.

Four civilians were killed and two wounded when a private car struck a roadside bomb in the Gereshk district of Helmand, a southern province where much of the rural countryside is controlled by the Taliban, -Los Angeles Times

North Korea’s No. 2 official may have been ousted

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle, the Pyongyang regime’s de facto No. 2 official, has probably been ousted from his posts, South Korea’s state spy agency said Tuesday.

In a report released at a meeting with lawmakers, the National Intelligence Service said that two close confidants of 67-year-old Jang Song Taek appear to have been publicly executed in late November for “anti-party activities.”

The intelligence agency concluded that the executions of Ri YongHa and Jang Soo-Kil couldn’t have taken place unless Jang, holding the position of vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, had lost his job.

-Los Angeles Times

tails on the speed, brakes and throttle control on the seven-car train, which went off the tracks at 7:20 a.m. about 10 miles north of its destination, Grand Central Terminal.

“The preliminary information from the event recorders shows that the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30 mile per hour curve,” Weener said.

“That speed, again, was 82 miles per hour.”

That exceeds the 70 mph speed limit on the straight portion of track.

The brakes weren’t fully applied until just five seconds before the engine stopped, Weener said. By then, the train, including the engine, was careening off the rails, and it was far too late to stop the catastrophic derailment that sent train cars rolling onto their sides and sliding down a hill toward the Harlem River.

Three of the four people who died were thrown from the train. Rescue workers had

MCT Campus Photo

A New York commuter train derailed in the Bronx. to cut through a tangle of metal, glass and broken seats to reach victims inside the cars.

Residents of nearby buildings described the screetch of metal-on-metal and loud bangs.

Cell phones disrupt driving Methane omissions

WORLD

6 Afghans killed, 13 injured in Helmand bombings

5

Beacon.MCLA.edu

on the rise in America

MCT Campus

CHICAGO The light had turned green, but the driver preparing to turn left from Dearborn Street onto Upper Wacker Drive sat there for four seconds until a chorus of honks behind her jolted her away from looking at her phone.

This scene and others like it involving drivers who look at their phones while stopped in traffic are becoming increasingly familiar across the nation. And, according to transportation experts, police officers and researchers, the distracted driving is snarling traffic and causing many crashes, some of them likely deadly.

Illinois bans using phones in traffic in many cases and will crack down on it even more next year.

“If your foot is on the brake pedal, and you are texting, it is a violation” punishable by a fine ranging from $90 to $500 in Chicago, Chicago police Lt. Steve Sesso said. “I’ve seen people texting and putting their makeup on while stopped. There are all sorts of scenarios that you can find.”

Traffic disruption occurs when fewer vehicles make it through intersections during each green light, according to police officers who say they often observe more eyes at intersections pointed down than on the road.

Texting while stopped can also

MCT Campus

MCT Campus Photo

A teen struggles to text and drive when he takes the AllState Safe Driving Challenge. spark road rage in drivers delayed by the texting motorists and can lead texting motorists to pull jackrabbit starts and other erratic maneuvers once they snap out of their reverie.

Put another way, it takes 4.6 seconds on average to read or send a text while behind the wheel, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So in less time than it takes to type “AYTMTB” (shorthand for “And you’re telling me this because”), any one of thousands of “smart” signals in Chicago and the suburbs that react to vehicle volume can change from red to green.

This year through October, state police troopers issued about 2,300 citations and more than 1,300 warnings for texting while driving.

Federal, state and local officials have shined a bright light on distracted driving.

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WASHINGTON The United States may be emitting 50 percent more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than the federal government had previously estimated, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency said that better pollution control by the oil and gas industry had resulted in an average annual decrease of 41.6 million metric tons of methane from 1990 to 2010.

That was roughly 20 percent lower than earlier estimates by the agency.

The EPA’s findings bolstered supporters of the domestic oil and gas boom, who claimed that fossil fuels could be extracted without methane leaks and flaring worsening greenhouse gas emissions.

But the report this week from an international team of researchers tells a different story.

The study was conducted by Scot M. Miller, a doctoral student in Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University, and researchers from seven other institutions. The team took a different approach from the EPA’s to measuring methane. It analyzed al-

epa.gov

Common U.S. emissions that are happening today. most 5,000 air samples collected in 2007 and 2008 from tall towers around the country and more than 7,700 samples gathered over the same period by research aircraft operated by federal agencies.

The study arrives two months after another research paper in PNAS found that well-completion work at oil and gas extraction sites emitted less methane than EPA estimates. The EPA does not regulate emissions from the equipment, the authors of the September study said.

Methane emissions in the United States dropped slightly from 2011 to 2012, according to federal data.

But emissions from oil and gas operations have risen in Colorado and other states where energy production is roar.

6

Thursday, December 5, 2013

PSave theP PDateP

Arts & Entertainment

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Dance Company brings back the beat Choreographers and dancers show off their skills in their annual fall performance this weekend

Tonight 99 and NINE: We are Mused!

Gallery 51 5 - 8 p.m.

2013 Student/ Alumni Art Show Branch Gallery 5 - 7 p.m.

Friday Auditions for the role of Pericles for Yorick’s “Pericles: Prince of Tyre” Sullivan Lounge 7- 9 p.m.

Monday Artists Anonymous Art Sale and Showcase Achievement Lounge 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Tuesday Acting Showcase Venable Theater 7 p.m.

House Concert Gallery 51 7 p.m.

Thursday MCLA Presents!

The Sweetback Sisters Holiday Concert

Church Street Center Auditorium 7:30 p.m.

Free for MCLA Students

ddd

Beacon File Photo

Students in Dance Company celebrate a succesful performance during the curtain call of last fall’s show. haven’t had any problems reexpressive montage of upbeat, port to abuse victims, as well as

garding costume pieces or stagtropical songs. suicide and self-harm prevenBy Shannen Adamites ing, and everyone has been very Emily Dessingue, the other tion.

Arts and Entertainment Editor cooperative while we got the co-president of the club, is cho“My dance’s purpose is to raise stage and lights set up.” reographing a hip-hop piece inawareness and explore these The College’s Dance Company Dance Company is one of the spired by the 1940s icon Rosie unstable relationships and ultireturns to Venable Theater tolargest clubs on campus, and the Riveter. Her predominately mately open discussion about night, tomorrow, and Saturday, strives to bring the community female ensemble, along with these difficult topics,” Ewing said. for their fall semester show with together through artistic expressome of today’s popular hip-hop The title of her dance is “Some a short and sweet selection of sion. tunes, allowed for Dessingue to Things We Don’t Talk About,” student-choreographed pieces.

Tickets are selling quickly, so express a more feminine side to which is the same title as the Choreographers and dancers exsong by The Fray she is using. reserving in advance is recomthe genre. pressed their skills, telling stories She feels that the song expresses mended. Tickets are $2 and can “I got to use more girly dance about social awareness, celebrat“the relationship you can have be ordered via phone by calling moves in my choreography,” she ing diversity, and empowerment where you’ll say you’ll never go the box office voice mail at 413said. “My goal for every dance is through movement. back, but there’s always tempta662-5123, or reserving by email to have my dancers feel nothing “Even though we only have ten tion because at some point, they at dancecoreservation@gmail. but confidence, which is what pieces, we all decided this would made you happy.” com.

Rosie the Riveter is all about.” be enough to showcase our skills Despite a few room-reserving Hannah Ewing is taking a more and variety,” co-president Alexa What: Dance Company’s fall conflicts due to the lack of space, social approach to her dance by Hebard said. semester show a high demand for rooms on incorporating heavy themes of Among the 10 pieces featured When: Thurs. Dec. 5 at 8:00 campus, and a shorter academic this semester, aside from the substance abuse and domestic p.m., Fri. Dec. 6 at 9:00 p.m., Sat. abuse in order to raise awareness year, choreographers diligently typical hip-hop, lyrical, and belly Dec. 7 at 8:00 p.m. on these issues. Her dancers are persevered to ensure the quality dances, Olivia Bailey and GabriWhere: Venable Theater sporting To Write Love On Her performances for which the club elle Ievy are choreographing a Cost: $2 Arms shirts that were purchased is known.

Bermudian dance that celebrates Reserve: dancecoreservation@ directly from the charity, which “Rehearsals have been going diversity and life on the islands gmail.com or call 413-662-5123 aims to provide advice and supreally well,” Hebard said. “We through colorful flags and an

“Dorme” provokes dreamy thoughts with puppets

By Nick Arena

Managing Editor The MCLA Presents! Inaugural Puppet Fest delved into the nightmarish and fantastic side of sleep with its most recent installment “Dorme.”

Monday evening at the Branch Gallery, Laura Bartolomei’s dreamscape attempted to shine a bit of light onto good dreams, bad dreams and how conscious people are of where their minds go in their sleep.

“My biggest inspiration was to see my children sleeping [looking relaxed] and then they would just go crazy when they woke up, they’d be screaming because they had nightmares,” Bartolomei said. “It made me think of when I was little. For a while I was kind of worried because my daughter would be screaming half an hour without waking up.”

The puppet Bartolomei used for the show was one she had created. It utilized wrist and finger mechanics with a very detailed mechanic for the arms and upper body, which allowed the puppet to move and interact with its environment in a very human manner.

“The meaning over this puppet was very special,” she said. “When I saw this puppet I felt like I really wanted to do this show. When I saw this Russian master using it I thought, that is the puppet I want. I think without her, this show wouldn’t exist.”

With all of the lights in the model house extinguished, a small spotlight followed the sleeping puppet as it progressed through multiple different dreams. Some were calm, some were convoluted and others were a bit disturbing.

“I started to think about my dreams and I realized that I had recurrent dreams like walking on the dead cats,” Bartolomei said. “All of these things are pretty

much things I used to dream and I thought I wanted to make a show with this.”

From floating among a life-sized mobile, to walking through a yard strewn with dead cats, to drowning in a pool surrounded by darkness, Bartolomei’s dreams brought the psyches of the audience on a ride.

At the end, the protagonist awoke abruptly, groping at everything around her to determine whether or not it was real, only to fall asleep again. The conclusion was designed to ask the question of whether or not people are deeply affected by dreams they have.

“I always had this scene in my head of sinking in the water,” Bartolomei said. “Some people have dreams about flying; I always had dreams about swimming. Like real dreams, I’d wake up thinking, where is the water?”

Even though the show ended and provided the crowd with no clear answer to this question, it left the audience with something to ponder.

Photos by Jess Gamari/The Beacon

MCLA Presents! featured “Dorme,” which explores the concept of nightmares, dreaming, and sleep through handmade puppets by Laura Bartolomei. The show asks the question of how people are affected by their dreams.

Arts & Entertainment

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Beacon.MCLA.edu

7

Students refine their classical acting skills in “Twelfth Night” Despite some awkward staging and technical choices, the cast of “Twelfth Night” conquered the challenges of performing Shakespeare.

Review by Raanan Sarid-Segal Arts and Entertainment Writer “Twelfth Night” was an enjoyable and generally competent performance of Shakespeare’s classic comedy. The show delivered a respectable interpretation of the Bard’s play, with dedicated actors, easy chemistry and a clear understanding of comedic timing.

Nearly everyone in theater, in the English-speaking world at least, works on Shakespeare at some point in their career. Everyone wants not only to live up to the material, but since it has been done so many times before, put their own spin on the characters and setting -- and it is here that this performance was flawed.

This version relocated the action of the play to Edwardian times, as that period affords lavish costumes and grandiose set design. The play does not skimp on either of these aspects–the costuming and set designs are all lovely. Changing the time of Shakespeare’s plays always seems the cheapest way of shaking up the formula, and it serves the plots and themes very poorly in just about every case, including this show.

In addition, the staging of the show shifted between enjoyable and ineffectual too many times for comfort. I understand the impulse to use the stage space more dynamically, and so allow actors to turn their backs to the audience. Unfor-

tunately, the result is a distance in these moments. Theater is predicated on the audience creating an emotional bond with the characters moving before them, and the second an actor turns around, they become a mystery. The already tenuous connection that an abstract medium like the stage allows for vanishes.

Finally, the great bugbear of the show was the constant stream of unnecessary smoke which poured out from below the stage, frequently blocking the actors from view. The smoke got so bad that it induced a coughing fit in this audience member, and required near constant fanning so that it would not build up to truly troublesome levels. There was little sense in its use or reason for its quantity.

A positive note, all of the actors acquitted themselves well during the show.

Shakespeare comes with an intimidating weight, but all of the actors approached the material with an encouraging ease.

No one labored beneath the text, and they all worked to give the archaic language the same rapid-fire, back-andforth quality that you would see in any modern play. Their work illuminated just how modern Shakespeare’s sensibilities truly were, at least when it came to story structure and rhythm. Particular standout performers included Jacquelyn Gianetti as the fool, Feste, and Benjamin Baylon as Sir Toby Belch. Of course these are the eye-catching, showy parts, and

Photos by Shannen Adamites/The Beacon

Above: Joshua Lapierre performs a monologue as Malvolio, where he plots to seduce Olivia, played by Clarissa Henebury. Below: Erik Dabrowski (left) as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and McLaren confront each other in a silly sword fight. praising them should not denigrate the All in all, the show was decent, and fine, if somewhat more restrained, work were it not for some poor decisions on that much of the cast was putting in as the technical side, one could lob very well. little criticism at it.

Sophomore lands leading role in “Twelfth Night”

By Hannah Sterrs Staff Writer

After growing up in Malden, Mass., fifteen minutes outside Boston’s brightly shining lights, sophomore Clarissa Henebury now finds herself under the bright lights of the College’s stage.

“Everything about MCLA intrigued me,” she said. “The small class sizes, the beautiful learning environment, and, of course, the theater program,” she said.

A Fine and Performing Arts major concentrating in theater, Henebury has performed in five productions at the College. Most recently, she played the role of Olivia in “Twelfth Night.”

Olivia, a wealthy, grieving countess, was Henebury’s first leading role at the College. She specifically auditioned for this role, as well as the role of Viola, and initially expressed a bit of anxiety about auditions.

“I was extremely nervous throughout the entire audition process,” Henebury said. “I was almost sure I wasn’t going to get cast as either role.”

Yet, she was cast, and that started her journey into Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare wrote “Twelfth Night” between 1601 and 1602, which required Henebury to rely heavily on text analysis. Through this, she was able to play around with different pitch inflections and word emphases, which resulted in Henebury

bringing the character of Olivia to life.

“It’s important to know what you’re saying,” she said. “If you don’t know what you’re saying, the audience isn’t going to know either.”

Although “Twelfth Night” was her first dive into Shakespeare, she has been involved with theater since her sophomore year at Malden High School.

After seeing a production of The Laramie Project, Henebury was inspired to enroll in her high school’s Play Production class.

She hasn’t looked back since.

“Theater is truly addictive,” she said.

Henebury’s favorite role was Hunger from the play “Metamorphosis.” In this role, she was able to step out of her comfort zone.

Acting on all fours as she crawled around the stage, she clung to the backs of her fellow performers as they tried to fight her off.

“It was a very different role for me but I enjoyed letting loose and just going crazy,” she said Theater is not the only art form that Henebury enjoys. Some of her other passions include dancing, singing and drawing.

While she says she will always love theatre, she hopes to someday be acting in front of the camera. Henebury considers herself to be a huge movie buff and draws a lot of inspiration from cinema.

“Whenever I come across a re-

ally riveting performance in a film, I just want to do it myself,” she said.

Describing herself as “adaptable,” Henebury hopes to brave what she calls the “real world’s critique” as she ventures out of Berkshire County this summer to audition for roles.

“As a performer, I always have to find ways to adapt and connect with a new environment or persona,” she said.

Henebury was fortunate enough to be cast in the very first play she auditioned for, “Cabaret,” last fall.

She plans to continue to confidently move forward on the path toward her dreams.

With a strong sense of adaptability and her self-proclaimed, “it is what it is attitude,” Henebury moves into the second half of her sophomore year with plans to audition for more performances.

Photo by Shannen Adamites/The Beacon

Above: Henebury as Olivia and Courtney McLaren as Viola converse.

Below: Henebury performs a monologue.

8

Sports

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Chris’ Corner Kick

Men’s ball to host Tri-State Shootout Jesse Collings Sports Writer

Chris Oxholm Sports Editor

Give the Yanks another... Sure.

F

or the past 100 years, it has been a tradition of Boston to lose an amazing player to a rival team: notably, those players leave and head for the Yankees’ locker room.

Jacoby Ellsbury joined that tradition on Tuesday when he signed a contract with the Red Sox rival New York Yankees.

That’s left Sox fans furious, again.

Everyone remembers when Johnny Damon did the exact same thing when he fled to New York two years after winning the infamous 2004 World Series with the Sox. Roger Clemens did it before Damon when he left the Toronto Blue Jays after one season to go to the Yankees.

Prior to the Jays, he was on the Red Sox for 12 years.

The oldest, most notable transfer came when Babe Ruth placed the 84-year-long Curse of the Bambino when he was traded by the Sox to the Yankees in 1920.

Wade Boggs also disappointed Sox fans when he left Boston after 10 loyal years, only to head to the Yankees where he won his one and only World Series in 1996.

Baseball isn’t the only sport where Boston has sent key players to their rival city, New York. The Boston Celtics traded Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and longtime loyal player Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets over the summer.

Ray Allen shocked Boston when he left Beantown for the Sunshine State to play in Miami, the year after Miami knocked out the Celtics in game seven of the Easter Conference Finals.

After his tie breaking field goal, Adam Vinatieri left the New England Patriots to join Tom Brady’s longterm rival Peyton Manning in the Indianapolis Colts.

And most recently, Pats fans felt it again when Wes Welker took his All Star skills and made the walk of shame to Peyton Manning in Denver.

As the tradition continues, Boston will continue to win and lose games and hopefully more championships, just like every other team. All that’s left to say about Ellsbury is “thanks for the two championships.”

Beacon.MCLA.edu

The Men’s Basketball team will continue their first home stand of the season this weekend as they host the Tri-State Shootout.

The tournament will open tomorrow as the Trailblazers (24) hosts Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (0-4). Tip-off is at 6 p.m., with the Blazers looking to snap a 3-game losing streak against the winless Engineers.

Following the first game, Southern Vermont (3-1) will take on College of St. Joseph’s (3-3) in other first-round matchup. It will be Southern Vermont’s third game this season played at MCLA, after competing in the Williams College Tip-Off Tournament on Nov. 15 and 16.

The winners of the first two games will face off in the finals on Saturday, after the losing teams play in the consolation game.

The Trailblazers are looking to use this tournament to get back on track after a slow start to non-conference play. After the Shootout, the Blazers have just three more non-conference games before MASCAC play begins.

“This is a really important series of games for us as players,” junior guard Anthony Barbosa said. “When we start conference play, we want to have a lot of confidence, and we need to play well during these two games to

build that confidence.”

The Trailblazers will be counting on their usual boost from senior forward John Jones. Jones was the top player for MCLA last Sunday against Williams College, shooting 8-16 from the field and 9-15 from the free-throw line to lead all scorers with 25 points.

Jones also added seven rebounds and two steals to his great scoring.

MCLA ended up dropping the game 106-71, as Williams, ranked 10th nationally, improved to 5-1 on the season. The Ephs were led by junior guard Daniel Wohl, who scored 23 points and freshman forward Duncan Robinson, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for a double double.

MCLA was led by Jones and junior guard Jeremic Bennett, who added 11 points and 5 rebounds off of the bench.

Last Tuesday, the Blazers lost a dramatic slugfest on the road against Nichols College. Nichols (3-2) ended up the victor with a 96-93 win, but they had to really work for it against a feisty Trailblazer squad.

Senior guard Ruben DelRosario exploded for a career-high 32 points, and added 6 assists and four steals on-top of his fantastic scoring day. Sophomore guard Paul Maurice had his best outing of the young season, scoring 19 points and adding a needed outside threat to DelRosario’s penetration.

Nichols was led by senior forward R y a n Sheehan with 24 points, and s ophomore guard Jalen Hurst who scored 18 points and had 4 steals.

The Trailblazers j u m p e d out to an early lead, dominating Nichols and opening up a 40-26 lead with 8:26 left in the first half. Nichols c a m e storming back, ending Photo by Kayla Degnan/The Beacon the half on Juniors Anthony Barbosa, left, and Ruben a 21-2 run, DelRosario reach for the ball. to go into halftime steal, and an assist to Barbosa cut with a 47-42 lead. the lead down to one, with only 6 The second half was devoid seconds left on the clock. Nichols of any team breaking away and Senior guard Nick Horning was filled with tough baskets. After fouled, and swished both free trading baskets for most of the throws to seal the Nichols victory. half, Sheehan drained a freeThe Shootout tournament throw with 18 seconds left to begins this weekend at 6 p.m. in play, giving Nichols a 94-89 lead. the Campus Center Gym. A DelRosario layup, a Maurice

Daughter of murder/suicide parents: One year later The Jovan Belcher incident MCT Campus When Becky Gonzalez looks into her 15-month-old granddaughter’s eyes, she often sees something reassuringly familiar.

“She has some of the same expressions as her mom, and sometimes it’s like my daughter’s looking back at me through her eyes,” Gonzalez said. “And it just flashes through my mind: I’m thinking, ‘Kasi, is that you?’

“But of course she has her own personality.

She’s a very happy baby. She’s just delightful.”

No wonder the baby, Zoey Michelle, was at the center of a celebration of the life of her mother, Kasandra Perkins, who a year ago Sunday was the victim of the murder-suicide committed by Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher that remains largely unexplained.

The rampage left then-3-month-old Zoey orphaned and the most piercing surviving symbol of Belcher’s actions.

Zoey then was the object of a custody battle between the maternal and paternal side, ultimately settled in Kansas City last summer when Perkins’ cousin Sophie was awarded guardianship of Zoey.

Now Zoey is “the apple” of all the eyes around her, Gonzalez said after the upbeat, intimate service attended by about 50 people Saturday.

And while what befell her remains deeply disturbing and her parents can never be replaced, it’s clear that not only is she doted on but also that she now is more a symbol of love and hope than anything else.

It wasn’t scripted this way, but it was most visible during one element of the ceremony: When the LoneStar Cheer & Dance group that Kasi used to participate in and help coach performed to one of her favorite songs, “Lean On Me,” the group walked around the pews of the Memorial Chapel at Cook-Walden

Funeral Home engaging those in attendance to follow them.

Suddenly, Kasi Perkins’ sister, Angela Moore, was cradling Zoey at the front of the line. She then held her aloft to an admiring audience just as a photo presentation of Kasi Perkins began to roll.

The slide show ended with juxtaposed pictures of Kasi and Zoey, each making similarly scrunched faces at the camera, and then the words, “Until we see you again...”

“When I look at her sometimes, of course it makes me cry,” Gonzalez said. “But it’s always the sad tears turn to joy because she’s just delightful.”

Even 364 days later, of course, conducting such a ceremony was difficult for Gonzalez.

“I had to come to terms with a lot of things, but I couldn’t not do it,” she said. “It’s like a milestone. I mean, after her death, we went straight into of the legalities of Zoey. And that took up more than half a year. And then we had other milestones: Zoey’s birthday, Kasandra’s birthday.

“And then this. And it feels like now maybe it’s, now that I’ve celebrated, maybe it’s a time that I can try to ... I think we’re all ready to work on our healing. And this was a good way to start.”

There’s still an unfathomable ways to go, but Gonzalez has found herself able to make some crucial decisions as she tries to recover.

“But it’s a difficult thing,” she added, beginning to cry before catching herself. “Because in a lot of cases somebody’s in prison, so you’re able to take your anger out on someone.

“But there’s no place to place it. So you give it to God. And those aren’t words. Those are the honest truth. You get on your knees, and you ask him to take it. Because it’s too much.

And miraculously, he does.”

She could see some of that miracle in the

love at the ceremony on Saturday, where Kasi’s smile was the most shimmering theme and her mischievous sense of humor and fascination with dance came up again and again.

Many, including Zoey, were clad in at least some purple, in honor of Kasi’s favorite color.

Others wore various shirts commemorating her, including one that on the back read, “We smile because she did and we were (a part) of it.”

All of this in some way explains how Gonzalez and the rest of their family have been coping.

“And bitterness will destroy you. And it could have easily taken me down. ... It could have destroyed me,” she said, pausing to clear her throat and adding, “and Kasi wouldn’t want that.”

Not that there aren’t moments that Gonzalez doesn’t struggle to manage, including things she has read and heard said about her daughter that implied somehow her behavior was a “catalyst.”

For instance, a person who suggested he or she was close to Belcher emailed the website Deadspin that Belcher had developed severe issues with drinking and prescription drugs and was reeling from head injuries. But the friend also seemed to be seeking to absolve Belcher to some degree, referring to Perkins’ behavior.

Former Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel told police that Belcher had missed a team meeting a few weeks earlier and that Belcher had blamed it on Perkins for leaving him to watch the baby when she hadn’t come home the night before.

“Of course you can’t control what people say,” Gonzalez said. “But some people are just horrible. They try to villainize the victim, and they don’t know my daughter. They don’t know what a joy she was.

Sports

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Ephs stay undefeated over Blazers Coach Holly McGovern earns 100th win James Hunter

points, the only Trailblazer in double figures.

Sports Writer Williams made their first six shots and did not let up throughout the The Women’s Basketball team entire game, jumping to a 17-4 lost a tough one this past Sunday lead. MCLA did not cut the lead against the undefeated Ephs of to single digits for the rest of the game, leaving Williams with a Williams College, 81-43.

The Williams team had control 22-point with 5:39 left to play. of the game from the very start Digging themselves into a hole at until the final whistle. With five halftime, 35-18, the Trailblazers players in double figures, the would not cut into the lead.

Tuesday, Nov. 26, the Women’s Trailblazers had a tough time Basketball team went to Becker responding.

Williams was led by sophomore College to capitalize on an Kellie Macdonald, who had important win, giving Coach numbers across the stat sheet: 13 Holly McGovern her 100th career points, seven rebounds, and five win here at MCLA. McGovern assists. Katie Litman had a solid still remains the all-time leader 12 points and seven rebounds. To for wins in the Trailblazers’ finish off the stat line, Williams program. had Ellen Cook, Jane Thompson, MCLA had three players in and Deon Caveney, all with 10 double figures, led by senior points. captain Kaitlyn Chenevert with The Trailblazers had senior 14 points, Brayleigh Hanlon with captain Danielle Scolpino out her first career double-double of for the night; however, it was 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Courtney McLaughlin Ashley Clawson with 10 points.

Becker scored the game’s first who had a season high of 18 four points, which would be the only time they would lead in the game.

With a 17-2 run in the first half with twelve minutes to go, Becker responded with a 6-0 run towards the end of the half to make it a five-point game at half time.

Becker College got within four points early in the second half, 23-27, but MCLA responded with a run of their own, going on a 7-0 run with 16 minutes to play.

The Trailblazers maintained a double-digit lead Photo by Kayla Degnan/The Beacon until the Hawks went on a 14-2 Brayleigh Hanlon with a jumper. run to get within five points, 51-46.

MCLA responded with a pair of free throws and a layup from McLaughlin with 30 seconds left in the game.

The Women’s Basketball team also traveled to New Hampshire

the game going back and forth the remaining of the second half, MCLA would soon lose the lead at 52-51 with less than three minutes to play.

Later, Daniel Webster would

Former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith recently was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Charlotte Observer NBA writer Rick Bonnell talked to Bobcats owner Michael Jordan and Brad Daugherty, both former Tar Heel stars, about what they learned from Smith.

The telephone call would come pretty much weekly during Brad Daugherty’s rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

There would be niceties and maybe some cursory talk about basketball, yet that clearly wasn’t the intent. Quickly enough the caller would revert to three basic questions/warnings: How many watches do you own,

because no one needs more than one expensive watch. How many cars do you own, because you can only drive one car at a time. And whatever you do, don’t let anyone talk you into owning a restaurant.

This was Dean Smith checking up on his kids. He was playing dad, and not just with players drafted in the first-round by the NBA. It was student managers.

And athletic trainers. And tall guys who proved to be nothing more than towel-wavers who got a free education at the University of North Carolina.

That’s what Michael Jordan, probably the best player Smith ever coached, found compelling about his relationship with Smith: Not how much Smith cared about his success and happiness, but how equally vested Smith was in anyone who became part of the

9

Scores Nov 21, 2013 Women’s Basketball Vs. Western New Eng., L 77-61 Nov 23, 2013 Women’s Basketball @ Daniel Webster, L 61-57 Men’s Basketball @ New York U., L 83-62 Nov 26, 2013 Men’s Basketball @ Nichols, L 96-93 Women’s Basketball @ Becker, L 60-53 Dec 1, 2013 Women’s Basketball Vs. Williams, L 81-43 Men’s Basketball Vs. Williams, L 106-71 Dec 3, 2013 Women’s Basketball Vs. Utica, L 68-49

Standings Men’s Basketball

Photo by Kayla Degnan/The Beacon

Danielle Scolpino goes for a lay-up against WNE. to play Daniel Webster College, where they would lose a close one, 57-61.

The Trailblazers had a comfortable lead throughout the entire game and went into half with a 30-21 lead. In the first ten minutes of the second half MCLA increased their lead; it wasn’t until the last 10 minutes that Daniel Webster made a comeback.

Going on a 14-3 run to tie the game at 45, Daniel Webster couldn’t regain the lead. With

hold a 58-53 lead with just 38 seconds left in the game. They closed the game by making three of four shots from the free throw line.

The Blazers also fell to Utica on Tuesday night at home, 68-49.

Scolpino was the highest scorer with 18 points.

Tomorrow the Trailblazers travel to St. Joseph and on Wednesday they host Fisher College at home.

Tip off is at 6 p.m.

Michael Jordan on North Carolina’s Dean Smith MCT Campus

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Tar Heels’ family.

“Players with different backgrounds, different outlooks, different potential: He seemed to be able to reach all of them the same way,” Jordan said in an exclusive interview.

“If you talk to a guy who never got off the bench, he says the same thing I say. That’s what a father figure is really like _ he never put one kid above the other.

“The love that came from him: The caring, the advice, the education, and the persistence and determination he had in pushing all his players, not just me.”

Jordan isn’t big on storytelling.

Daugherty, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1986 draft, is. Daugherty wasn’t all that into basketball. He grew up in Black Mountain, N.C., preferring to have his head under the hood of a race car. Smith

saw his 7-foot size and athletic grace, and helped him become an eight-season pro who built major wealth.

Now Daugherty has motorsports-related businesses and is an analyst for ESPN’s NASCAR coverage. In a 40-minute interview on Smith’s legacy, Daugherty never once brought up basketball.

That’s because what he got from Smith was more than how to defend a pick-and-roll.

“I learned so much about how to treat people,” Daugherty said.

“The first thing I learned was humility. He never made it about him and that was an exceptional lesson. It’s not what you accomplish. It’s never about you, it’s about what the people around you did to help you succeed.”

Framingham St. Westfield St. Salem St. MCLA Bridgewater St. Fitchburg St. Worcester St.

4-1 4-1 3-2 2-4 1-3 0-4 0-4

Women’s Basketball Framingham St. Bridgewater St. Fitchburg St. Salem St. Worcester St. Westfield St. MCLA

4-2 3-2 2-2 3-3 3-4 2-3 2-4

Schedules Dec 6, 2013 Men’s Basketball Vs. Rensselaer 6:00 PM Women’s Basketball at St. Joseph (Conn.)

6:00 PM Men’s Basketball @ Southern Vt. 8:00 PM Dec 10, 2013 Men’s Basketball Vs. Castleton 7:00 PM Dec 11, 2013 Women’s Basketball Vs. Fisher 6:00 PM

10

Opinion

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Do you have a comfort food that you eat when stressed?

“Buttered porcorn with chocolate melted on top.”

“Tostidos, because they’re salty, crunchy, and loud.”

-Shannon Lindlau, 2017

-Lydia Guerrero, 2017

The Beacon The Beacon is published Thursdays during the academic year and is distributed free to the College community. The Beacon is funded by the Student Government Association, the English/Communications department and from ad revenues.

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“Cookie dough ice cream. It’s amazing.”

“Mac and cheese. It’s what my mom used to make a lot.”

-Monique Lemay, 2016

-Mallory Schettine, 2017

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.

“Tuna melt. It’s a childhood thing.”

“Chinese food. Sesame chicken covered in MSG.”

-Matt Losavio, 2013

-Griffin Thayer, 2014

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

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

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Editorial Board

Photos compiled by Gabriel Kogel

Attack of the killer drones

By Michael Dahlroth Web Editor

The future is here, maybe.

On Sunday night, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, announced the future of Amazon deliveries: “Prime Air.” The service, announced on 60 Minutes, a TV program

on CBS, promises deliveries by octocopters (octocopters are essentially automated drones) to your doorstep within 30 minutes of placing an order on Amazon.

This is a delivery system apparently geared toward the catatonically lazy and those with the patience levels of a preschooler.

“Prime Air” is a gift from the skies, apparently–finally freeing a country of impulse buyers from the nuisance of two-day shipping.

If you have not yet seen the video of Prime Air’s “test footage,” just picture an infomercial for a remote controlled toy helicopter.

Currently, the drone is about the size of a cocker spaniel, and can carry a package the size of a hardcover book.

Now, before you go grab a rifle (or perhaps a powerful supersoaker) and go “sky shopping,” realize, it’s not drone-hunting

season yet. The kind of flight proposed by Amazon is currently illegal per FAA regulations. Bezos, a self-proclaimed optimist, claims these problems will be resolved by 2015.

This might not be the last of their worries, as some speculate on black market tampering of the octocopters. Will the police of the future be issued a butterfly net with their firearm and badge?

Amazon is notoriously secretive about their future plans, and their website reflects this. The first F.A.Q. on their “Prime Air” information page modestly assures the public that the plan “looks like science fiction, but it’s real.” The “Prime Air” information page is not even particularly easy to find. Researching the website on Monday, the most prominent links from their home page were to Cyber Monday deals. Whether

it was coincidence or not, announcing an industry changing service the night before one of the biggest online shopping days probably wasn’t a bad idea.

Whereas the 2015 release date may be overly optimistic, it’s hard not to get excited about drone delivery. In a world where glowin-the-dark toilet paper could be delivered to a front door in less than 30 minutes, how long will it take to get a large cheese pizza?

What does a future consumer tip a drone?

I look forward to the day when I can get a pack of cigarettes dropped into my hand. I hope the drone has a light. What if it’s the night before the big dance and I’ve ran out of Acu Creme? And just think of all the STDs and pregnancies that will be prevented by emergency condom deliveries.

Yes, this is the future.

Editor-in-Chief Jess Gamari Managing Editor Nick Arena Photography Editor

Sports Editor Christopher Oxholm

Kayla Degnan

A&E Editor Shannen Adamites

Web Editor Michael Dahlroth

Copy Chief Marc Latour

Senior News Editor Ryan Flynn

Staff Staff Writers

Jesse Collings Candice Crow James Hunter Gabriel Kogel* Raanan Sarid-Segal Hannah Sterrs Nick Swanson

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Emily Boughton Gabriel Kogel* Amy Modesti Sam Thomson Design Team

Shannen Adamites* Nick Arena* Jess Gamari* Nicole Ngoon

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Avery Finnivan Rachel Fitterman Advisers

Jenifer Augur Gillian Jones Jim Niedbalski

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Adam Larson Aloysius Street Advertising

Darcie Sosa

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Local Events

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Honky tonk holiday carols Back for their second appearance in North Adams, The Sweetback Sisters will help the College and the greater community ring in the holidays with their honky tonk music, set to some holiday favorites on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Church Street Center’s Eleanor Furst Roberts Auditorium.

In addition to the Sweetback Sisters, MCLA’s Jazz Band and choir, directed by composer/ musician Jeff Link of the College’s music department, as well as MCLA’s award-winning Allegrettos, and – for the first time – students from The Academy at Charlemont also will perform at this event.

This MCLA Presents! singalong event started as a tradition three years ago. Students and staff at the College will transform the MCLA Church Street Center into a holiday oasis for the evening, with free hot chocolate and cookies to be provided at the performance.

“This annual traditional holiday sing-along has become one of my favorite events of the year,”said Jonathan Secor, director of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center. “What is better than having great talent on stage and the opportunity to sing your favorite holiday songs with them?

The event connects MCLA with our neighbors through a good old fashion sing-along.”

Sweetback Sisters Emily Miller and Zara Bode may not be blood relations, but their precise, family-style harmonies recall the best of~country~music from the 1950s and ’60s, according to Secor. The band takes their inspira-

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11

Check it out!

Upcoming events on campus

Photo from BCRC Flickr The Sweetback sisters will perform their honky tonk music set on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Church Street Center.

tion from the Davis~Sisters~and Louvin Brothers, as well as the spirited honky tonk energy of Wanda Jackson and Loretta Lynn.

The Sweetback Sisters started the Country Christmas Singalong in 2009 at the Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn, N.Y. The first year brought an intimate gathering of family and friends close to the stage with lyric sheets so all could sing along. The audience was a combination of 20-somethings drinking beer and 60-somethings drinking mulled cider who sang so loudly that they nearly drowned out the old sound system.

In 2010, they brought the singalong to North Adams, filling to capacity what was then Taylor’s (now Public Eat and Drink).

Miller was first inspired to host a sing-along while participating in a Christmas charity event in Chicago called “Songs of Good Cheer.”

“The audience knew songs like ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Walkin’ in a Win-

FINANCIAL AID ANNOUNCEMENT IT’S TIME TO GET READY FOR 2014-2015 FINANCIAL AID!

Stop by the Financial Aid table outside the Centennial Room and pick up a financial aid information packet for next year!

Table Schedule Friday, Dec. 6, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 9, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Don’t miss out on important financial information!

Scholarship Opportunity: CenturyLinkQuote.com Internet Safety Laws Scholarship Applications due by Dec. 18 http://www.centurylinkquote.com/scholarship

ter Wonderland’ by heart because they’ve been singing those songs for most of their lives. I was so moved hearing the entire audience sing that I knew I wanted to recreate it with the Sweetback Sisters,” Miller said.

Rehearsals were called, lyric sheets were passed out and the first year’s sing-along was a success. It has now been a tradition for four years, culminating with the release of a Christmas singalong record.

“People would always ask us if we were doing the sing-along again and if we would come to their city next year,” Miller added.

Ticket prices to MCLA Presents! performances are $10 for general admission. Tickets for MCLA alumni are $8, $5 for staff and faculty and non-MCLA students, and members and students are free.

Tickets may be reserved by calling MCLA Presents! at (413) 662-5204.~For more information, (413) 664-8718, or go to www. mcla.edu/presents.

J. Geils founding member to perform

Concert tickets on sale now at Berkshire Emporium & Eagle Street Music on Main Street in North Adams, and Drury High School’s Main Office at Drury Performing Arts Management Class presents Danny Klein’s Full House on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m., featuring Danny Klein, a founding member of the legendary band, the J. Geils band.

Danny Klein is a bassist and one of the founding members of the J. Geils Band who performs with Jim Taft, a percussionist and a Drury Class of 1984 alumni.

Danny Klein’s Full House is a 6-piece rocking band that celebrates the music of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame nominee; the J. Geils Band. The concert will start at 7pm and will be opened by local band, One Way Out and the Drury Jazz Combo. During the show, favorite J. Geils hits will be performed such as Centerfold, Love Stinks, and Freeze Frame.

Advance tickets are available in the Drury High School main office at 1130 South Church Street in North Adams, as well as Berkshire Emporium and Eagle Street Music on Main Street. Admission is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students. Limited quantities may also be available at the door the day of the show.

Today, Dec. 5

Friday, Dec. 6

Society of Music Stress Free Drum Circle Venable Gym 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Financial Aid Information Booth Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Dance Company Performance Venable Theater 8 - 11 p.m.

Class of 2014 Cans for Candy Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 11 a.m. - noon Dance Company Spring Proposals Table Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Class of 2014 Cans for Candy Amsler Campus Center 11 a.m. - noon Initiative Photography Holiday Art Sale Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Dance Company Performance Venable Theater 9 - 11 p.m.

Class of 2014 Cans for Candy Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 5 -7 p.m.

Class of 2014 Cans for Candy Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 5 -7 p.m.

Holiday Celebration: Cookie Decoration & Logo Design Amsler Campus Center 5 - 6:30 p.m.

Artist Association Bake Sale Amsler Campus Center Marketplace 11:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.

Campus Discussion: Conversation for the Campus Safety Initiative Murdock Fitzpatrick Room 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Saturday Dec. 7

The Write Stuff Amsler Campus Center 3 -5 p.m.

Dance Company Performance Venable Theater 8- 11 p.m.

Native American Month Celebration Amsler Campus Center 7 -10 p.m.

Rock out withPB& Jam The National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) will host a PB and Jam event in the Greenhouse Today from 5 -7 p.m. NRHH is looking for volunteers to “jam” to music and create peanut butter and Photo courtesy of Martha Pratt jelly sandwiches Alumni Alyson Carey, Alexandra Elwell and to donate to the junior Martha Pratt pose in front of the sandBerkshire Food wiches they made last year at PB and Jam. Project located at the Congregationalist Church in shire Food Project serves hot North Adams. All supplies are lunch five days of the week to anyprovided by NRHH. The Berk- one who would like a free lunch.

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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Photo Essay

Beacon.MCLA.edu

From left Nick Hernigle, Allie Kadell, and Amanda McField from the Class of 2016 host a snowflake-making table.

Members of SAC gave away free t-shirts, popcorn, sunglasses, stickers, and clips.

Campus center takeover Campus clubs took over the Amsler Campus Center Wednesday, Nov. 20 Photos By Emily Boughton

Freshman Colby Harvish participates in a game of Twister hosted by the BT advisory board.

Andy Martin, president of the Biology Club, represents his club during the Takeover.

The Allegrettos led a competetive game of musical chairs.