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Volume 80 ◆ Issue 2
Th u r s d ay, F e b rua r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 5
Dot Houston receives surprise award Assistant Athletic Director recognized for organizing Girls and Women in Sports Day By Nick Swanson Senior News Editor As halftime of the women’s basketball game neared, interim President Cynthia Brown was prepared to honor Dorothy ‘Dot’ Houston, Assistant Athletics Director, to recognize her dedication in organizing National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) since 1990. Through this surprise Houston was awarded with a certificate of appreciation for NGWSD, in addition to other gifts. Dot Houston has been the driving force behind this celebration for 25 straight years, according to an email from NGWSD coordinator Patricia Sullivan. “When the girls and all of the kids say they had fun—that’s what it’s all about,” Houston said. Houston has offered many opportunities to girls and women for so many years, it was fitting to recognize and honor Photo by Isabel McKenzie/The Beacon
her commitment, according to Sullivan. The national theme for NGWSD this year was “Game On.” Records show over 60 participants composed of coaches, student athletes, and non-student athletes who volunteered last Saturday. This year there were 55 volunteers, which is a slight improvement in the number of participants from last year. NGWSD has evolved into a day devoted to acknowledging the past accomplishments of female athletes and recognizing current sports achievements, the positive influence of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports, according to the NGWSD website. The national promotion for NGWSD began in 1987 and is now celebrated annually in all 50 states with community-based events, award ceremonies, and activities honoring the achievements of female athletes and encouraging participation of girls and women in sports.
GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS, continued on page 3
Dot Houston and Cindy Brown pose after the award ceremony
College holds annual Sextival with a twist Staff Writer
A plethora of clubs will join each other once again to educate students about safe sex and sexuality, this time with a burlesque theme at this year’s Sextival on February 28. “Sextival has in many ways been a representation of my love and energy, and this is an event that means quite a bit to me.” Carrisa Sacherski, president of Students Taking Action for Gender Equality (STAGE), said. “I believe that students should attend Sextival because along with the cool raffle baskets and games, each club comes to the event offering a different perspective on relationships, love, communications, romance, sex, sexuality or anything they think is important to bring to the table,” she continued. “All clubs on campus including Inter-Greek Council (IGC) and National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) are invited to Sextival,” Sacherski said. “We invite these clubs not only to table at the event, but to also discuss whatever they think is important or fits well with the theme.” “We also invite these clubs to help promote their upcoming events,” she said. “STAGE believes that any way we can help another club get numbers, members, or get their name out there is a great opportunity for everyone!” Along with the usual clubs tabling, this year Sextival will include a demonstration about safe sex and sex toy use. STAGE is keeping the presenter of this a surprise until the event; however, Sacherski did mention that STAGE has
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Each club comes to the event offering a different perspective on relationships, love and sex.”
myths or misinformation they may hold about sex or condom use,” she said. “In terms of organizing this event, it certainly takes a team!” Sacherski said. “This year the club is split up into committees to organize different components of the event. Everything from decorations to making sure all of the clubs we invite have everything they need,” she said.
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By Gionna Nourse
another avenue they are accessing this year for Sextival. Senior Ashley Avallon said “STAGE is a great program to help people become more aware and recognize that people come in a wide variety, and each one should be appreciated and respected all the same.”
Carrisa Sacherski “Basically, I believe that everyone is equal and there is no doubt in my mind that everyone should be treated that way,” Avallon said. Some of the events taking place at Sextival in addition to the demonstration include a trivia show where participants can answer questions about sex. “This is a fun way to get people thinking about what they know,” Sacherski said. “We also have local resources available, and it is a great event to invite conversation around things people aren’t always comfortable discussing. Or, to help disband any
News
Photo by Agnella Gross/The Beacon
Club member Liz Salvetti and S.T.A.G.E president Carrisa Sacherski pose after creating a playlist for the event.
Arts & Entertainment
Sports
Q&A sessions held for presidential candidates
‘Better Call Saul’ premieres on AMC
Men’s and women’s basketball standings
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News Features Arts & Entertainment Sports Campus Comment Local Events Photo Essay
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Campus News
Thursday, February 12, 2015
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Weekend Brown Bag lecture to touch on new Weather Elementary school recess limitations Thursday, February 12
Snow Showers High: 31° Low: -2° Prec. Chance: 70%
Friday, February 13
By Rominda DeBarros Staff Writer
Education Professor Dale Fink will speak at the first Brown Bag Lecture series of the semester on Friday, Feb. 20. Fink’s lecture ‘Elementary School Recess: Essential or Expendable?’ will focus on school recesses, and why teachers take it away from students in order to discipline them. “I’ve been interested in teachers who use recess as a bargaining chip,” Fink said. “Brown Bag Lecture will be my first attempt at bringing across some of my thoughts and interpretations on the topic.” Fink explained that he first noticed this issue from his children and his students, both of whom
Sunday, February 1
Saturday, February 14
◆ Public Safety responded to a 911 call at Amsler Campus Center, the action was completed. ◆ Public Safety responded to a building check on Church St. The building was checked and secured. ◆ Public Safety responded to a shoplifting incident in the Amsler Campus Center. The issue was completed.
Monday, February 2 ◆ Public Safety responded to a medical call in Berkshire Towers. Individual was ambulance transported.
PM Snow High: 21° Low: 4° Prec. Chance: 80%
Sunday, February 15
◆ Public Safety responded to a motor vehicle accident on Highland Ave. A report was filed ◆ Public Safety responded to a medical transport at the Facilities Building. An ambulance transport was issued.
Tuesday, February 3
◆ Public Safety responded to a medical call at Townhouse Apt. #75. The incident was completed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a transport appointment at Berkshire Towers. Services were completed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a citizen assist in the Berkshire Towers Lot. Services were rendered.
◆ Public Safety responded to a complaint at Campus Police. Informational only.
◆ Public Safety responded to a bank deposit/money escort at Eldridge Hall. Services were rendered.
Wednesday, February 4
Photo From COPCLAC.org
Education Professor Dale Fink will present at the Brown Bag Lecture on Friday, Feb. 20. special education, and children’s literature. The Brown Bag Lecture series takes place in the faculty center on the bottom floor of Eldridge Hall on Fridays at 3 p.m. and is open to both faculty and students.
◆ Public Safety responded to a vehicle jump start in the Hoosac Hall resident parking lot. Services completed.
Thusday, February 5
Campus Center. Services were rendered. ◆ Public Safety responded to a parking issue in the Berkshire Towers Lot. No action was required. ◆ Public Safety responded to a vehicle jump start at Townhouse Lot 1. Services were rendered.
Saturday, February 7 ◆ Public Safety responded to a traffic control. A citation or warning was issued.
◆ Public Safety responded to a 911 Call at the Admissions Smith House. Service was completed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a call for disturbing the peace at the Flagg Townhouse Apartments. Subject was warned and advised.
◆ Public Safety responded to a vehicle lockout in the Ashland Street parking lot. Services were completed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a motor vehicle accident in the Ashland St. lot. A report was filed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a vehicle jump start in the Hoosac Hall residential parking lot. Services were completed.
◆ Public Safety responded to a medical call at Flagg Townhouse Apartments. Informational only.
◆ Public Safety responded to a building check on MCLA Campus. Building was checked and secured.
◆ Public Safety responded to a parking enforcement issue in the Church Street Center lot. Services were rendered.
Friday, February 6
◆ Public Safety responded to a 911 call in Venable Hall. The caller was not found.
The MCLA Beacon Online AM Snow Showers High: 4° Low: -10° Prec. Chance: 60%
ers use recess in this way. He will bring to light some of the issues that arise out of using school recess in this manner and its effect on students. Dr. Fink has a career spanning 35 years in childcare, early childhood education, out-of-school time care, and research and training related to children with disabilities and their families. He spent a dozen years as a teacher and administrator in preschool and school-age childcare settings in the Boston area, followed by eight years at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women as part of a national project conducting training and research related to “latchkey children.” Fink currently teaches courses in early childhood education,
Campus Police Logs
The week of - 2/1 - 2/7
Partly Cloudy High: 5° Low: -8° Prec. Chance: 0%
brought it to his attention. “My students were telling me that teachers were threatening to take away recess from those who needed it most,” Fink said. “I also experienced it as a father and realized how big of a deal it was when it was taken away from students.” Fink went on to conduct surveys from three local schools in the central and northern Berkshires. He also interviewed students and teachers on what they thought about the topic. His talk will cover the data he collected while conducting these surveys as well as the results. “That sounds pretty interesting,” Katie Glaubitz, class of 2015, said. “I didn’t realize teachers do that.” According to Fink, no one has published any data on why teach-
◆ Public Safety responded to a complaint at the Amsler
◆ Public Safety responded to a vehicle jump start in Townhouse Lot 1. Services were unsuccessful. ◆ Public Safety responded to suspicious activity in Venable Hall. No action was required.
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Thursday, February 12, 2015
Students and faculty attend Q&A sessions for presidential candidates By Nick Swanson Senior News Editor
Administrators, students, faculty and staff members all participated in the Q&A sessions for the first two presidential candidates. All meetings with the candidates are open to the public. Dr. Paula Krebs, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Bridgewater State University, was first to speak with the college community. Krebs taught Victorian literature and culture, and chaired the English department during her 20-year career at Wheaton College in Norton, Ma. Dr. Greg Summers, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, visited three days later under the same schedule. Stevens also held the position of Provost at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Provost, also known as senior academic administrator, is responsible for oversight of all educational affairs and activities of over 9,000 students. The candidates each gave a brief overview of the experience they gained throughout their career at the beginning of every Q&A session. Alyson Stoltz is the speaking voice for students during the election for the next college president, according to SGA President Brendan Peltier. The final presidential candidate, Dr. Jane McBride Gates is scheduled to visit campus from Feb. 12 till Feb. 13. Meeting with administration is from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m., student session 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. and faculty/staff 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Within the next month one of the three final candidates will be named as the twelfth MCLA college president Dr. Paula Krebs Krebs said through the leadership-training program she learned how to be a college administrator and then shadowed college president of the University of Massachusetts. According to Krebs’ candidate profile she participated in the American Council for Education’s ACE Fellowship Program, the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program.
“When you work in an administrative position you can make an impact on the college and its students,” Krebs said. “I love public higher education. Students know more of who they are—social contract is not as articulated in public higher education,” Krebs said. “A liberal arts education is ideal preparation for a job,” she continued. “It prepares you for three years down the road, through course work, community engagement, and activities.” “There’s much attention towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs,” Student Colby Harvish pointed out to Krebs. “How do you plan on enhancing other areas of the college such as the humanities and social sciences?” “Understanding the sciences is a key part of your education, but why do only science classes have need and access to the new science building?” Krebs said. “Students have to know you have their back. That’s what a presidency is,” Krebs said. Krebs said if hired as college president she wants to move near campus for more transparency about data/numbers, information, student achievements and success. “At MCLA there are so many opportunities for real world projects. How can we increase those projects?” Lisa Donovan, Fine and Performing Arts professor, asked. Krebs mentioned the possibility of new internships in the United States: Outdoor leadership, Fort Lewis College Durango Colorado. “A college president has to represent the community and campus. You have to put the institution’s mission first,” Krebs said. “Why do you want us [MCLA]?” Graziana Ramsden, professor of Modern Language, asked. “I’m committed to public liberal arts,” Krebs said. “This job opened up and it was my chance. This institution for me represents the meaning of higher education.” Krebs said students should receive general aid because it is preparing them for the next step, allowing them to identify where they have been successful and where they haven’t. “Find out what’s working, measure that success and
duplicate it,” Krebs said. Dr. Greg Summers “I went to an institution of the public liberal arts, and I’ve spent my whole career trying to pay that forward,” Summers said. “There is always a lot of talk about improving students interest in STEM, what about enhancing curriculum in the humanities,” Harvish said. “STEM only works with humanities and liberal arts right beside it,” Summers said. A student asked Summers his opinion on whether campuses should go smoke free or not. Summers said UW-Stevens Point recently became a completely tobacco free campus because of the strategic plan called, “Partnership Thriving Common.” According to Summers, its an environmental, healthy, vibrant process to sustain. “I would not push campus to be tobacco free, but I would want to talk about it. It made sense at UW-Stevens Point because of the plan,” Summers said. “I always think it’s important to listen and talk to as many people as possible. You have to make time to engage, and always engage,” Summers continued. “What would you identify as your personal leadership philosophy,” Professor of Business Thomas Whalen asked. “To be a good leader,” Summers responds with humor. “Good leaders have to be willing to make decisions in a timely fashion and listen to others.” Summers added that “there is a high value for athletics on an institution, most importantly because division III student athletes overall have a higher retention rates, graduation rates, and GPA scores.” “It is as much an athletic enterprise as an academic enterprise,” Summers continued. “It’s a significantly important category for a campus.” “People say being a college president is a CEO position with fundraising, investing, and outsourcing,” Summers explained. “Presidents are pulled in radically different directions but can’t be external and forget about what’s important, or lose touch with campus.”
3 College celebrates Women in Sports Beacon.MCLA.edu
Photo bh Isabel McKenzie/The Beacon
Participants in National Girls and Women in Sports Day cheer after receiving complimentary t-shirts
GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS, continued from page 1 “I hope that students, athletes, and young women participating pay it forward by spreading the message,” Houston said. NGWSD is dedicated to remember Olympic volleyball player, Flo Hyman, for her athletic achievements and her work to assure equality for women’s sports. The National Girls and Women in Sports Day Coalition organize NGWSD, according to NGWSD website.
The National Girls & Women in Sports Day Coalition is comprised of four premiere girls-and women-serving organizations in the United States including Girls Inc., SHAPE America, National Women’s Law Center, and the Women’s Sports Foundation, according to the website. “Being active is a life-long activity,” Houston said. “Go for a run, play tennis, enjoy yourself— by being active, life is short and 25 years went by very fast.” More information on NGWSD can be found at www. womenssportsfoundation.org
Photo by Agnella Gross/The Beacon
Members of the volleyball team teach their group how to stand before a serve
MCLA ranked in Kiplinger’s Best College Values By Idalis Foster Staff Writer
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has named MCLA one of the nation’s 100 Best College Values in terms of public colleges as of 2015. The college is one of only two public colleges in Massachusetts to make it onto the well-recognized publishing company’s list. The college is also the only school from New England to make it onto Kiplinger’s 24 Best College Values Under $30,000/year list. On this list we were ranked 24, while on the 100 Best College Values list we came in at 97. “It puts us in a category that is highly recognized for its affordability,” said Denise Richardello, Executive Vice President of enrollment and external relations. “Also the
name of the list is Best College Values, which means they are recognizing MCLA value through a comparison of the cost to the value of the education.” Kiplinger’s uses four categories to make accumulative rankings: academic quality, annual costs, financial aid, and student body. The college’s statistics include a 67 percent admission rate, 38 percent 4-year graduation rate, and 79 percent retention rate for freshmen. With the percent of aid need met coming in at 83 percent while the total enrollment is at 1,538, the financial value of the college is apparent. This includes programs for New York State students and students of the arts from out-ofstate. “The NYC tuition reduction offers diversity for our community and draws people in from outside of
Massachusetts,” said Director of Admissions, Gina Puc. Kiplinger is a well-recognized publishing company based in Washington D.C. known for its personal finance advice for people across the nation. It looks at not only college financial values but everything from retirement to home and real estate. “Any time you have an external organization that recognizes the institution, that has high value in terms of the public’s view,” said Richardello. “The state ultimately has control over the tuition so we cannot do anything about that,” continued Richardello. “But we are very careful and cautious in keeping our fees low so that students can still afford to attend.
BEST COLLEGE VALUES, continued on page 4
Campus News 4 Locally published collection reflects on author’s journalism experience Thursday, February 5, 2015
Features Editor
The Devil is a Black Dog is a series of fictional short stories based on the author, Sándor Jászberényi, and his experiences in the Middle East and beyond. Jászberényi, a writer and a foreign photo journalist, has covered the Darfur crisis, the revolutions in Egypt and Libya, the Gaza War, and the unrest in Ukraine, according to the New Europe Books website. “Good books, great books are the part that transcends cultural divide,” said Paul Olchvary, publisher of New Europe Books. The book was translated from Hungarian to English by M. Henderson Ellis, the author of “Keeping Bedlam at Bay in the Prague Café” and “Petra K and the Blackhearts,” which are also published by New Europe Books. The Devil is a Black Dog, published in 2013 in Hungary, was also recently published by New Europe Books located in Williamstown. New Europe Books is a nationally distributed small independent press owned by Penguin Random House. Their mission is to get books out to the world that is devoted to fiction and
non-fiction. “We like to find books that do not speak strictly to an audience of Czech, Polish or Europe decent, but to people anywhere,” Olchvary said.
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Good books, great books are the part that transcends cultural divide.
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By Juanita Doss
Beacon.MCLA.edu
Paul Olchavy, publisher of New Europe Books
According to Publisher’s Weekly, the recurring protagonist Daniel Marosh, is an ill-fated, sardonic war journalist. In “The Strongest Knot,” Marosh reveals that he is a chronic insomniac due to problems with his adulterous wife, who has blocked his visitations with their child. “The Dead Ride Fast” finds Marosh covering the political revolution in Cairo, where
he bumps into an old colleague and kindred spirit, the German photographer Sahra Gamalt. In “Something about the Job,” an older, crankier Marosh is told by his boss that his subpar work makes him expendable unless he is willing to show a promising young photojournalist the ropes on assignment in Chad. Publisher’s Weekly also said The Devil is a Black Dog was an impressive debut collection by a Hungarian news correspondent Photo from NOR.hu who has covered conSándor Jászberényi, above, drew from experience as a flicts in Eastern Europe, journalist to write the stories in The Devil is a Black Dog. North Africa and the Middle East. Black Dog is one of the most honest books he Brian Dabbs, former contributor to the New has ever read. “A truly authentic dive into the York Times and Al-Jazeera said The Devil is a psyche, spirituality and frailty of mankind.”
College named to Victims’ father says Chapel Hill triple homicide was a ‘hate crime’ Kiplinger’s List Tribune News Service
BEST COLLEGE VALUES, continued from page 1
The college has made many strides in the past that have led up to this ranking in both internships for students and resources for them on campus similar to those of private institutions. “We’ve done a lot to create high impact activities for students like internships and the creation of Center for Student Success and Engagement (CSSE), as well as the addition of majors and expansion of programs shows the continued support for students,” said Puc. In the future, the college hopes to improve these rankings by continuing to keep fees low for both current and prospective
students as well as maintaining the quality of the academics on campus. “We are very similar programmatic in comparison with private colleges and would like to keep this access to education at the price point we are currently at,” said Richardello. In regards to future students, Puc sees the value of the college already gaining attention across state borders. “High performing students are recognizing that value that the college has and having this ranking in addition to the U.S. News & World Report is great,” Puc said.
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ The father of two of three students shot to death in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Tuesday says the shooting was a “hate crime” based on the Muslim faith of the victims. Chapel Hill police said Wednesday morning that a dispute about parking in the neighborhood of rented condominiums may have led Craig Stephen Hicks to shoot his neighbors, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, and his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and Abu-Salha’s sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh, N.C. But the women’s father, Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, who has a psychiatry practice in Clayton, N.C., said that regardless of the precise trigger Tuesday night, Hicks’ underlying animosity to-
ward Barakat and Abu-Salha was based on their religion and culture. “This has all the signs. It was execution style, a bullet in every head,” Abu-Salha said Wednesday morning. “This was not a dispute over a parking space; this was a hate crime. This man had picked on my daughter and her husband a couple of times before, and he talked with them with his gun in his belt. And they were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far.” Abu-Salha said his daughter who lived next door to Hicks wore a Muslim head scarf and told her family a week ago that she had “a hateful neighbor.” “Honest to God, she said, ‘He hates us for what we are and how we look,’” he said. Police charged Hicks with three counts of first-degree murder.
“Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking,” said police spokesman Lt. Joshua Mecimore. “Hicks is cooperating with investigators. Hicks appeared in Durham County District Court on Wednesday morning and asked for a public defender. Chief District Court Judge Marcia Morey told Hicks there would be a probable cause hearing on the charges on March 4 and sent him back to the county jail to be held without bail. Barakat was a doctoral student in UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Dentistry. The sisters were North Carolina State University students. Chapel Hill police found all three victims dead at the scene, after responding to a report of gunshots at 5:11 p.m. Tuesday.
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Students to attend a youth summit in Albany ordinator of ALANA programs and International Programs and Services, will be heading to Albany, NY, to attend the summit. “I’m going to get as much information as I can and bring it back to help to address issues,” said Alexander. Perry is the honored speaker at the event. He is featured in CNN’s “Black in America” series, and is the founder and principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, CT, which U.S. News and World Report has cited as one of the top schools in the country. Photo from Si4all.com His dedication to improving today’s social Dr. Steve Perry will be presenting at the 44th Annual New York State Black & Puerto issues has inspired many across America. Rican Youth Summit. “He has been very successful in helping to address some By Kaliegh Hayes of the setbacks that have made it Features Writer difficult for youth to succeed in schools,” said Alexander. Alexander plans to teach his findThe importance of making a difference in today’s schools is the fo- ings from summit to the ALANA cus of Dr. Steve Perry’s presentation clubs, and to the students that coat this year’s New York State Black facilitate the Campus Conversa& Puerto Rican Legislators Youth tions on Race, to enhance the curSummit. This year is the 44th an- rent programs. The summit is at the Convention niversary of the event. According to thedemocracycom- Center, Empire State Plaza- South mitment.org, the event allows the Mall Arterial in Albany, New York. association to raise scholarship The event starts at 10 a.m. Deparfunds for the educational advance- ture is at 8 a.m. Contact Thomas ment of African-American, His- Alexander at Thomas.alexander@ panic, and other minority youth. mcla.edu for rides and more inforSaturday, Thomas Alexander, co- mation.
Features
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Boucher named 2014 Newman Civic Fellow
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By Kaliegh Hayes Features Writer With a passion to better the community around her, senior, Deanna Boucher has had an impact on those who surround her. Boucher is a Residence Assistant for Berkshire Towers, a choreographer for the Dance Company, a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and is on the Residential Programs and Services Recycling Committee. Her drive, passion, and leadership skills are just a few traits that led her to be awarded the Newman Civic Fellow award. The Newman Civic Fellow Award honors inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country, according to compact.org. “It was nice to be recognized,” said Boucher. Majoring in arts management, with a minor in leadership, Boucher hopes to get hired by a museum, or start a career in city government doing cultural work. As a member SADD for six years, Boucher thanks the organization her sister for pushing
Photo from MCLA Website
Senior Deanna Boucher was named 2014 Newman Civic Fellow for her leadership roles on and off campus. her to become a leader when she was in high school. “My sister kind of forced me to do it,” said Boucher. “She knew that I needed some place where I felt like I belonged.” Her leadership skills followed
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as being the SADD National Student of the Year, serving on the SADD National Board of Directors and traveling to Capitol Hill to lobby for policy and provisions to the hallmark transportation bill, according to compact.org. “It’s very important to stay true to yourself, as cliché as that sounds,” Boucher said. “It’s sometimes hard to stand up for what you believe in. It’s just really important to concentrate on who you are and to know that what you’re doing is actually making a difference.”
It’s very important to stay true to yourself, as cliche as that sounds Deanna Boucher
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her throughout college and helped her achieve goals such
Alumna pursues singing career in Nashville Kish ‘14 also founded ‘The Solider Prayer Project’ in the Summer 2014
music and competed in competitions, such as Berkshire Idol and The Voice, where she auditioned four times and has yet to receive a phone call. “It was a fun experience,” Kish said. “There were thousands of people, and we were all there to pursue one dream.” Despite not hearing back from The Voice, Kish continued to keep her eye on the prize, Photo Courtesy of Brittany Kish Nashville. A couple Kish started ‘The Solider Prayer Project’ a non-profit orga- months after her Dec. graduation, she emnization last summer. barked on her trip to Nashville to hunt for jobs and search for an By Juanita Doss apartment. When she arrives in March she Features Editor will have a job as a singing waitress. “It’s great, I get to serve food to customers With her blue jeans and cowgirl boots, as well as getting up on a stage to perform,” alumna Brittany Kish ‘14 is ready to start Kish said. her singing career in Nashville, Tenn. While roaming the streets of Nashville, As a little girl Kish would hum tunes as country songs and sounds of acoustic guishe roamed around her home. From that tars rang in her ears as she passed by the moment on, she pursued her interest in
various street performers. Along with pursing her country career, Kish also hopes to expand her non-profit organization “The Solider Prayer Project”, which she created last summer to support the military and their families through the power of prayer. “I’m a part of a military family and we’re very religious,” Kish said. The Solider Prayer Project has three different ways to help the families; the T-shirt campaign, creed card, and prayer card. One can purchase a T-shirt for $20 and a member of the military will receive a personalized handwritten prayer card and a creed card, which represents their branch of service. Her nonprofit organization also caught the attention of Marcus Luttrell, a former United States Navy Seal, who was the main focus of the movie “Lone Survivor”. “He came across a video I posted on Instagram where I was singing the National Anthem wearing the Soldier Prayer Tshirt,” Kish said. Luttrell became interested in the organization and his agent contacted Kish. When Kish received the news, she was ecstatic. She sent Luttrell a Soldier Prayer T-shirt that he agreed to wear, and he posted pho-
tos on Instagram to support the organization. “They went on my website and they enjoyed what they saw and wanted to be a part of it,” Kish said. For more information on “The Soldier Prayer Project,” you can like the Facebook page, follow on Instagram @ SoldierPrayerProject, follow on Twitter @ SoldierPrayer, and the website soldierprayerproject.org.
Photo Courtesy of Brittany Kish
Kish visted the Nashiville Songwriters Hall of Fame in Jan.
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Arts & Entertainment
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Beacon.MCLA.edu
Dark comedy ‘Better Call Saul’ returns to Albuquerque, N.M. By Matt Hotaling A&E Writer
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This past weekend AMC premiered the much anticipated “Breaking Bad” spin-off prequel “Better Call Saul”. “Better Call Saul” focuses on the titular crooked lawyer Saul Goodman six years before the events of “Breaking Bad”. Comedian and actor Bob Odenkirk reprises the role of Saul Goodman, real name James McGill. In “Breaking Bad” it is established that Saul Goodman is simply an alias. Though the show is a prequel, it opens with a despondent view of Saul in what can be assumed is his new life following the events of “Breaking Bad’s” finale. Saul is a balding, emasculated, manager at a food court Cinnabon, jumping at shadows as he tries to stay incognito in his new life. What we see of James McGill so far, before the events of Breaking Bad, is an honest attorney barely making it by, defending clients who would have no representation otherwise, but it’s not enough for him. McGill has much bigger dreams than defending petty criminals for a $700 case. Odenkirk’s character admires his brother Chuck McGill, played by Michael McKean, who is a successful lawyer and a title partner of a very profitable law firm. McGill is struggling to keep himself above water while supporting his brother, who has been unable to practice law due to an unusual
health condition that leaves him housebound and living without electricity. McGill feels that his
So far, this is the comedy that Breaking Bad could never commit to being. Alumnus Raanan Sarid-Segal. brother’s firm has wronged him, and is trying to convince McGill to retire and acquire his share of the firm’s wealth. “I don’t think you needed to have watched ‘Breaking Bad’ to enjoy ‘Better Call Saul’,” Series director
Vince Gilligan said in a promotional video on AMCTV.com. With the first two episodes that premiered Sunday and Monday night “Better Call Saul” seems to offer more comedy than drama compared to its predecessor. Fans of “Breaking Bad” will be sure to notice the subtle references and nods to the original show. However, those who have not seen “Breaking Bad” won’t be missing out on more than little jokes, like McGill parking his run-down car next to the same car he will eventually own and drive during the events of “Breaking Bad”. “So far, this is the comedy that Breaking Bad could never com-
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mit to being.” Alumnus Raanan Sarid-Segal said. “BB could be funny, which leavened its darker moments and allowed us to get swept up in Walt’s euphoric rise, and trick us into forgiving his failings.” “Breaking Bad” veterans will notice Jonathan Banks returns as his character Mike Ehrmantraut, the enigmatic private-investigator turned drug enforcer from “Breaking Bad,” seen as a simple parking lot monitor. The other familiar character seen so far is Raymond Cruz as Tuco Salamaca, the short-tempered and incredibly violent drug boss. Despite some reappearing old characters, “Better Call Saul”’s
cast features new characters like Patrick Fabian’s character Howard Hamlin, one of the other partners at Chuck’s firm, and Michael Mando as Nacho Varga, a gangster who sees value in having a lawyer as an accomplice. “Breaking Bad” fans already know how the show is going to end. They know the character of Saul Goodman, and for them the show will be an exercise in watching Odenkirk’s character as he climbs in power and wealth while sinking into moral bankruptcy. The show will be the journey from James McGill to Saul Goodman, just as “Breaking Bad” was the evolution of Walter White into Heisenberg. “I think ‘Better Call Saul’ continues to deliver the Vince Gilligan quality of television we’ve become accustomed to: fantastic actors like Bob Odenkirk, a dark sense of humor, and incredibly flawed characters,” sophomore Lindsey Smith said. “’Better Call Saul’ reminded me of how much I missed Gilligan’s unique style and tone, that just isn’t found in other current, critically-acclaimed television shows right now.” New episodes air on Monday night at 10 p.m. on AMC. Each episode will also be available for online streaming for a month after the episode airs for those unable to catch the episode on television. To watch episodes online visit www.AMCTV.com.
Photo from Urusula Coyote/AMC
Jimmy McGill (aka Saul Goodman) demands more money for his services as a lawyer.
Slam Poetry Night reveals great talents By Matthew Aceto A&E Writer
Some call it poetry, others call it therapy. Through performing her compositions live, Kyla Lacey is able to turn her personal struggles into narratives that all can relate to. As a professional spoken word artist, Lacey travels the nation performing poems that are both heartfelt and humorous. On Saturday, students from MCLA and Williams College crowded the Sullivan Lounge to witness an unforgettable Slam Poetry Night. Throughout the evening, Kyla Lacey performed six emotional poems, several of which dealt with relationship problems. Her first poem demonstrated her talents as an imaginative wordsmith, as she intertwined many algebraic and geometrical terms to keep the audience intrigued. “If you love me to my face, you should love me behind my back,” Lacey said during her third poem which dealt with a past boyfriend. “I can’t delete your number if I know it by heart.” A survivor of domestic violence, Lacey was hesitant at first to leave
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her ex-boyfriend. In her poems, she taught students valuable lessons about how to deal with such abuse. “You cannot love somebody into being a better person,” she said.
You cannot love somebody into being a better person. The smell of oppression is one you can never forget.
Kyla Lacey
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“The smell of oppression is one you can never forget.” Students showed their appreciation for Lacey’s lines by snapping their fingers, a common courtesy of slam poetry audiences. Some shouted out “replay!” when they wanted her to repeat a memorable verse. Though her poems were mainly about touchy subjects, Lacey kept the mood light by conversing with students between performances. Her sense of humor was perhaps her most uplifting trait. At one point, she told the story of how she recently ran into a deer while
driving. “ M y f r i e n d called me like, ‘You hit Bambi’s m o m ? H o w could you do that?!,’” she joked. Lacey was the star of the show, but other performers had similar impact on stage. Au d i e n c e m e m Photo by Liz Quirk/The Beacon bers such Kyla Laceyexpresses herself with humor and semias Avery Alex Huang, a student from WilWoodbury and Ama Bemma Adwetewa- liams College, expressed a fondBadu were among those who ness for the wide variety of demoperformed their poems. Student graphics at the event. “I really liked the energy,” Huang Lynn McEnaney thought the said. show went very smoothly. In a world shadowed by nega“I thought it went amazing,” McEnaney said. “[Kyla Lacey] is tivity, poetry offers a way to turn one of the best artists I’ve seen those negatives into something special. perform live.”
Global Film Series
Photo from newyorkerfilms.com
Life + Debt “If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see...”
Tuesday, Feb. 24 7 p.m. Murdock 218 Editor Shirin Hijab is affiliated with this event
Arts & Entertainment
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Beacon.MCLA.edu
7
‘Binding of Isaac’ remake overdone By Matt Hotaling A&E Writer
From the mind of game designer Edmund McMillen, comes the definitive version of his blasphemous and grotesque “The Binding of Isaac.” “The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth”, released digitally last November, is a remake of the original “Binding of Isaac” which was released in September 2011. McMillen originally intended the game to be a small project to help him wind down after the release and meteoric success of his “Super Meat Boy”, but “Isaac” quickly became a large and robust game. Mechanically “Isaac”’s, top-down dungeon crawling resembles the original “Legend of Zelda” on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but where Zelda’s protagonist defeats enemies with a sword, Isaac’s character shoots at his foes with tears. “Binding of Isaac is [a] wellmade and entertaining game that thrives on simple mechanics and consistent themes,” senior Elliot Ryan said. The aspect of design that will strike those unfamiliar with
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Isaac is its rogue-like gameplay. Rogue-like is a subgenre of games which are characterized by semirandomized dungeon-crawlers where a session may end abruptly. Rogue-likes are intended to be played many times; each run a player hopes to do a little better as they learn the patterns of the
counter different items and bosses “I wanted the graphics to be in future runs. totally remade in 16-bit but still Isaac is challenging but fair. look and feel like the Flash ver“While frustrating at times,” sion.” McMillen said in interview Ryan said. “The gameplay usually with Gamasutra.com. feels in the player’s control and “Rebirth” plays like the original, runs tend to be brought to an end but feels much more polished. A by either bad luck or a player’s new engine solved many of the own fault and not by poor or un- bugs that plagued the original. The game is much stabler, and has Binding of Isaac is [a] fair mechanics.” “The Binding of Isaac” opens no sign of the frame rate issues well-made and entertain- with a short cut scene explaining that are notorious in its predecesing game that thrives on how a young boy named Isaac re- sor. treats into his basement to “If I had known that anyone simple mechanics and escape from his murder- would have cared about Isaac, I consistent themes. ous mother who believes wouldn’t have made it in Flash at that killing Senior Elliot Ryan her son will game and understand what the show her devogame is capable at throwing at tion to god. them. The original As opposed to playing one sus- game’s depictained game over multiple sit- tions of mistings, games of “Isaac” can last shapen bodies, anywhere from two minutes to gore, and other two hours. As a player traverses revolting images through the dungeon of Isaac’s are juxtaposed by basement they acquire items and McMillen’s signaupgrades to survive and thrive, ture hand-drawn, but one too many mistakes and unsettlingly cute they are dead, losing all prog- art style. For “Reress. If the player achieves certain birth,” McMillen milestones throughout their run decided to adopt they will unlock different start- a retro-inspired ing characters or the ability to en- pixel art style. The adorable creatures battle to the death.
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all.”McMillen said. “Also, launching on PC meant launching on 10,000 different PC configurations, so we had bugs that would be caused by antivirus software, clean-up tools, and even some types of keyboard configurations.” “Rebirth” promises to keep fans engaged for hours after hours as they discover all the twisted secrets the game has to show. It is available for digital download on Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, GNU/Linux, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita.
Photo from Edmund McMillen
US and Egyption artists BSU movie night exhibit work at Williams By Mitchell Chapman A&E Writer
By Shirin Hijab A&E Editor
On entering the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), a great portrait of Andy Warhol stares down from behind while a Sol LeWitt rainbow on a wall at the back of the museum screams: Welcome, this is a very peculiar place you’ve just walked into. On the first floor is the exhibit “Three Centuries of American Art,” which opened January 31 and goes until October 4. Going chronologically, one can see the boredom and dryness of the puritan furniture and portraits. It still brings back the memory of a time no one now has experienced but has as a collective memory. But the next room over allows more thought and cerebral excitement with some household masters like Edward Hopper and George Inness. Others like Lyonel
Heininger, Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, George L.K. Morris and Morton Livingston Schamberg create a wider, albeit still limited sense of what American art is. Exhibits like this propose to show viewers the evolution of art, but this exhibit really shows that it is almost impossible to call two artists the same. The atmosphere in the second room is almost cacophonous because of the sense of different approach and theory in art. This makes being in their presence overwhelming in the best way possible. There is a small number of artworks in this exhibit for three hundred years, but a viewer can imagine all that they’re not including and be reinvigorated about art history and art itself. In the next room, for maybe a more particular taste and viewer, are early drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright in which one can see the early innovations he was starting
George Inness’s painting “Twilight.”
to make in the approach to architecture. It’s evident in these that his mind worked a different way, and while he saw a need for some designs having purpose, many of them are based on such a purely aesthetic sense that the drawings, at first seeming hollow and meaningless without pictures of the finished buildings, gain meaning and beauty the longer one looks at them. Fathi Hassan, an Egyptian-born painter, has several works combined in the exhibit called “Migration of Signs” (on view until April 26). His works, apart from the ancient artifacts also on display on the second floor, are the most interesting and riveting pieces at the museum. Hassan’s works use written Arabic in a distorted or altered mode to create a painting and show and great variance of meanings. It’s easy to get involved in the endlessness of his works, and because they are considerably massive, they are worth spending a good couple of hours looking at. His works evoke the long and beautiful history of Islamic art in such pieces as “Rosario” which is 99 small boards, supposedly riffing on the 99 names of Allah. (This is not at the museum, but can be found on his website, fathihassan.com) the works at the museum are Quranically beautiful and evoke a solitude disrupted by an invasive power seeking to change the Photo from web.williams.edu knowledge and culture of the artist.
lawyer,” critic Edward Guthmann. Hailey’s trial prompts a response from the Ku Klux Klan, who present a real danger to Brigance and his team. “This is a story of elemental, emotional, and legal issues splashed across a large canvas, and director Joel Schumacher has done a solid job of keeping the many components in focus and balance,” critic Todd McCarthy concluded. “We have a lot of events planned this month,” President Kenya Joseph said. “They’re all listed on our Black History month calendar, so be sure to be on the lookout for it!” Tomorrow the BSU is holding a screening of “Brown Sugar” at 7 p.m. in Sullivan Lounge, followed by a continuation of the Campus Conversation on Race Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. in the same room.
Last week the Black Student Union (BSU) kicked off a series of Black History Month events with a showing of “A Time to Kill.” The film follows Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughy), an attorney defending Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), a distraught father, in a double homicide case. Taking place in the southern town of Clanton, Miss., the film was selected for its portrayal of racial tensions in the South. Hailey is at a disadvantage for most of the film. He is a poor factory worker with little-to-no legal prowess and faces the reality that his daughter’s rapists (Nicky Klatt and Doug Hutchinson) could be free in 10 years. Unable to cope, he guns them down and injures an innocent (Deputy Looney, played by Chris Cooper). He’s an easy target for District Attorney Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey), who seeks to use Clanton’s racial inequalities to win the case. Enter Jake Brigance, who sees the case as a means to make a name for himself. Brigance, who previously defended Hailey’s brother, is a small-town lawyer who feels as if he’s never on a “case that mattered.” “Untrained as an actor, with only three minor roles to his credit, McConaughey holds the screen against Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, and Kevin Spacey, and completely justifies the buzz surrounding his role Photo from Warner Bros. as a greenhorn Mississippi BSU hosts movie night with pizza.
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Thursday, February 12, 2015
Sports
Beacon.MCLA.edu
Red Sox GM visits Berkshire County
Red Sox Vice President and General Manager Ben Cherington appeared as a special guest speaker at the annual Pittsfield Sun’s Hot Stove event By Jesse Collings Sports Editor
The weather outside was a bitter, biting cold and the snow on the ground made downtown Pittsfield look more like the North Pole than a city, but despite the icy climate, fans from all over Berkshire County came to the Old Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield to talk about baseball. The Pittsfield Suns, an intercollegiate summer baseball team that plays in the city, hosted their 2nd annual Hot Stove event, which featured an appearance by Boston Red Sox Vice President and General Manager Ben Cherington. Following a brief interview with the management of the Pittsfield Suns, it was onto the main event, as Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington came out, sporting a Suns jersey, while his wife and co-owner of the Suns Tyler Tumminia sported a Red Sox jersey. Cherington began the evening by discussing his roots in intercollegiate baseball. While he was a pitcher at Amherst College, Cherington and a friend organized their own intercollegiate team during the summer, the Lebanon Black Bears. “I did everything for that team,” Cherington said with a smile. “I scouted players, I drove the team bus, I took care of all the landscaping of the field, I pretty much did anything that was needed.” After suffering a career-ending
injury at Amherst, Cherington began to get antsy without baseball, and was determined to find a career in the game, regardless of whether he could play or not. “When you are not playing or you are unable to play, you really realized how much you miss it and how big of a part of your life it was. I thought about it, and I realized I was going to be paid to play, so what else can I do?” Cherington broke in first with the Cleveland Indians as an advance scout, and then was employed by fellow Amherst alum Dan Duquette in 1999, when Duquette was the GM of the Red Sox. After serving as an area scout in the Pennslyvania/New Jersey area, Cherington was sent to work in Latin America, which he credited with being extremely influential on his career. “I barely had any experience, I didn’t know Spanish, I had no business being down there,” Cherington said. “I learned everything I know about scouting from my time down there. I signed Hanley Ramirez as a 16 year old to a $16,000 contract. 14 years later, I just signed him to a $90 million contract.” Cherington was then asked about his strategies as a GM and how it wasn’t always peaches and cream for someone in his position. “You have to be available at all times, I can get a phone call at midnight, or 2 am that could
change the course of the franchise.” Cherington also talked about the difficulties that come with being the boss and letting players and coaches know that there time with the club has ended. “I have only had to fire a manager once, and that wasn’t a hard decision,” Cherington said, referencing Bobby Valentine’s ill-fated tenure as Red Sox manager during the 2012 season. “As farm director it was really tough having to let go of some players in Class A or AA, because you know that this might be the end of their baseball playing career. In the majors, you figure that a team will pick them up off waivers and they will get to play, but for the lower level players, that might be the end of the line.” Cherington closed the Hot Stove event on a more positive note, talking about the joy he gets from working with the players and coaches. “The best thing about my job, whether it was a scout, farm director or GM was that I got you help people succeed. When you see someone that you drafted or signed succeed at something, it is just an awesome feeling.” The Red Sox begin spring training on Feb. 20 when pitchers and catchers report. They open their regular season on April 6, when they travel to Philadelphia to play the Phillies. The Suns open their season on June 4.
Suns plan on staying in Pittsfield Popular intercollegiate team announces new contract with city to continue to play in Berkshire County By Jake Mendel Sports Writer
The Pittsfield Suns aren’t leaving anytime soon. Friday night at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield an event was held where Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington was going to speak with the city. The co-owner of the Suns, Jeff Goldklang, along with Mayor Daniel Bianchi had a surprise, announcing that the Suns will be in Pittsfield for at least three more years. When the owners of the Suns came to Pittsfield, they were hoping they could get 1,000 people in the stadium for every game, but they have gone above and beyond that as their average attendance was right around 1,800 in 2014. The attendance total skyrocketed 45% from the previous year and as a result the team set a futures league record in attendance. The 46,913 fans over 26 games was a tremendous success as the second closest team was
about 3,000 fans behind the Suns (Worcester Bravehearts). “I’ve been in the Berkshires for 40 years and one thing that I knew that is that Wahconah Park is one of the most amazing ball parks and the Berkshires is one of the best baseball areas in the country,” said Goldklang.
“We’ve been very, very pleased,” added Mayor Bianchi. “We’ve had some great experience with the Suns and hopefully [the team will stay] for many, many more years to come.” Ben Cherington, the General Manager of the Red Sox and husband of Co-owner Tyler Tumminia showed his support by showing up with a Pittsfield Suns
Jersey on when he met with the public Friday night. Wahconah Park, which was built in 1919 has been home to more than 15 times in its history including minor league teams of the Astros and Mets. Famous players like Carlton Fisk, Bill Lee, Joe Girardi, A.J. Burnett, and Mike Piazza all played at Wahconah Park at one point. Pittsfield has prided itself on having a professional team and have gotten recognized for it throughout the United States. The Mayor mentioned that whenever he would mention where he was from, someone would bring up how much they enjoy Wahconah Park. The Mayor and the city knew it is important to keep the Suns around and as a result, contract negotiations were very easy. “The city wanted us back. We wanted to come back,” he said. “It took a couple of months just back and forth from a legal aspect. It was absolutely one of the easiest negotiations we’ve ever experienced,” Goldklang said.
Photo by Jake Mendel/The Beacon
Cherington sported a Pittsfield Suns uniform during the Q&A in support of his wife, Tyler Tumminia, who is a co-owner of the Suns.
Fair Territory
ESPN coddles recruits By Jesse Collings Sports Editor
Last Wednesday, ESPN had an all-day special spread out through a variety of its networks. What was the special for? A deserving group of veteran athletes? Pioneers of sport, like Jackie Robinson, Bill Russell or Billie Jean King? No, it was for a group of elite teenage athletes. National Signing Day has become a must-watch for hardcore fans of college football. High school seniors from around the country got their very own press conferences to announce where they plan on attending college next spring. Although, using the term “attend college” is probably pretty strong, since this is hardly about education. Nope, like many things in America, it is all about football, football, football. National Signing Day has given teenage athletes a platform to hold their own press conferences, in front of the media, while college coaches and boosters grovel for their services. These kids have never done anything remarkable in their lives other than play football at a very high level, and yet they are courted to these universities like they are princesses searching for a noblemen’s hand
in marriage. One of these recruits, Cordell Broadus, who is also the son of hip-hop legend Snoop Dog, had his own mini-series broadcasted on ESPN leading up to National Signing Day (where he signed with UCLA). Meanwhile, both the NFL and NCAA are currently going through a major crisis in the behavior of its athletes. It seems like every day there is a new story about an athlete getting in trouble with the law, posting something inappropiate on the internet, or just being guilty of simple moranic beahvior. It makes me think that perhaps putting these athletes on such a grand stage at such an early age and telling them how great they are affects their attitudes towards normal social actions? Is it any wonder that certain athletes act like the regular rules of society do not apply to them? From an impressionable age, these athletes have been told that they are special, that they are better than other people, and now they are paying the price. The improvement of the athlete begins at an early age, but because “amateur” sports has become such a buisness, both the media and youth sports themselves look like they are going the other way.
Sports
Thursday, February 12, 2014
Beacon.MCLA.edu
9
Men get upended by Fitchburg Scores Men’s Basketball
By Tyler Bacon Sports Writer
The visiting Fitchburg State Men’s basketball team picked up a huge 70-68 conference win on Saturday with the help of 18 points and 7 rebounds from Givaughn Jones. The Falcons swept the season series with the Trailblazers and improve their record to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the MASCAC. MCLA drops to 7-14 overall and is now 4-5 in the conference. The Trailblazers controlled most of the first half and led by nine points by a score of 44-35 with just under 15 minutes to play. The Falcons would turn the tide however and immediately went on a quick 11-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 46-44 lead. The Blazers quickly took the lead back when Paul Maurice hit a three pointer to make the score 47-46. This would be the last time the Blazers would have the lead for the rest of the game. The Falcons Kwame Lee would make another basket to make the score 48-47 and then Keyon Armstrong would follow that with a jumper of his own to make it 5047 with 9:11 to go in the game. Adam Conquest would pull the Blazers within one but Fitchburg would put the game out of hand with another 11-0 run to extend the lead to 61-49 with 5:55 left in the game. With a score of 65-55, the Trailblazers would make one final run. MCLA would go on a 6-0 capped off by a pair of free throws by Maurice to pull within four points. Fitchburg’s Jones would get a shooter’s bounce on the next possession as the shot clock buzzer went off putting the Falcons up 67-61 with just over two minutes to play. MCLA’s Khalil Paul would answer again with a three pointer from the corner bringing the Blazers within three with a score of 67-64. MCLA would get a big
Saturday, February 7 MCLA vs Fitchburg State 70-68 L Women’s Basketball Saturday, February 7 MCLA vs Fitchburg State 65-46 L
Standings Men’s Basketball
Photo by Isabel McKenzie/The Beacon
Junior guard Paul Maurice pulls up for a deep three-pointer against Fitchburg State. Maurice hit six three-pointers during the game on Saturday. blocked shot by Dakari HannahWornum on the defensive end of the floor giving the Blazers a chance to tie the game. However, Rueben DelRosario’s three point attempt was too short giving the Falcons the ball back with 44 seconds left. Fitchburg State would then turn the ball over while trying to run out the clock with 20 seconds remaining and Maurice cruised in for all alone for an easy layup to cut the score to 67-66 with 14 seconds left. Anthony Muccioli was fouled on the inbounds pass and he would step to the foul line and knock down one of two free throws to extend the lead to two. DelRosario’s shot once again came up a little short forcing MCLA to foul.
Armstrong would head to the line and sink both three throws to ice the game for the Falcons and earn them the season sweep over the Blazers. Maurice ended up going 8-21 from the field, including 6-13 from the three point line leading to his 21 point effort. DelRosario was the only other Blazer to reach double figures in points. Coach Jamie Morrison thinks the offense became too stagnant against the Falcon zone. “I thought offensively we got stagnant against the zone in the second half and our inability to get to the line again is what hurt us.” Morrison said. “The disparity in points from the free throw line versus our opponents has been staggering. That has to improve.”
DelRosario can find some positives in what was a hard loss on Saturday. “We all played hard and kept fighting when we lost the lead.” DelRosario said. “We kept putting ourselves in a position to win the game.” After his 24 point scoring outburst, Maurice said he didn’t expect to have that kind of night offensively. “I’m not really sure but my coach told me to be more aggressive on the offensive side.” Maurice said. ”But I didn’t think I was going to have that kind of night.” MCLA is back in action on Saturday as they host Fisher College at 2pm.
Women drop home game to Fitchburg By Jake Mendel Sports Writer
The Trailblazers couldn’t keep up with Fitchburg’s high powered offense as they fall 65-46 on Saturday afternoon. Fitchburg shot 43.9% from the field, almost 9% more than their season average. The Blazers were able to keep it a tie game until the Falcons went on a six point run to make it 2317. Turnovers were too hard to overcome (15 in the first half), as Fitchburg lead 32-24 going into the second half. In the second half the ’Blazers were outscored 33-22, Fitchburg was lead by five different players having ten or more points. Two of Fitchburg’s top scorers, Rebecca Fluet and Kristen Enright were able to score a combined 25 points while neither were on the court for more than 20 minutes. MCLA was buried in the second half by a long scoring drought that
allowed Fitchburg to break ahead. Courtney Durivage made a free throw with 17:17 to play in the second half to cut Fitchburg’s lead down to 37-29. It was until there was 11:48 left when sophomore Brayleigh Hanlon made a free throw, ending a scorless drought that lasted nearly six minutes. By that point, MCLA was trailing 4530 and Fitchburg was able to coast for the rest of the game. The Blazers were lead by Courtney Durivage’s 12 points and nine rebounds while Courtney McLaughlin added another 10 points including a perfect percentage from the free throw line making all four of her attempts. MCLA falls to 7-14 overall and 1-8 in conference play. The Falcons improved to 12-8 overall and have a 4-5 record in conference play. If the Blazers can win two of their last four games they will have their best record since the 2011-2012 season.
Team
W-L
Westfield St. Bridgewater St. Fitchburg St. MCLA Salem St. Worcester St. Framingham St.
7-1 7-2 6-3 4-5 3-5 2-6 1-8
Women’s Basketball Team Westfield St. Bridgewater St. Framingham St. Worcester St. Fitchburg St. Salem St. MCLA
Thursday, Febrauary 12 Women’s Basketball MCLA vs Suffolk 5:30 p.m.
Men’s Basketball MCLA vs Fisher 2 p.m. Tuesday, February 17 Women’s Basketball MCLA @ Westfield State 5:30 pm Men’s Basketball MCLA @ Westfield State 7:30 pm Saturday, February 21 Women’s Basketball MCLA @ Salem State 1 pm Photo by Isabel McKenzie/The Beacon
8-0 6-3 5-4 4-4 4-5 2-6 1-8
Schedules
Saturday, February 14
MCLA sophomore Ashley Clawson leads the Trailblazers with 2.4 assists per game and is second in MASCAC in minutes played.
W-L
Men’s Basketball MCLA @ Salem State TBA
10
Opinion
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Beacon.MCLA.edu
What is your favorite part about winter? “The snow, it looks so pretty when it first falls on the ground.”
“I like taking out my snow mobile out for a spin in the snow.”
-Megan Wojciechowski, 2016
-Aaron St. Martin, 2018
- Chanielle Enomoto, 2018
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.
“I really like all the icicles hanging from the buildings around campus, they’re cool.” -Natalie Shea, 2015
“I love the snow; I’m from Hawaii so I never really see it.”
The Beacon
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.
“I like to go snowboarding a lot during the winter, it’s a big hobby of mine.”
“The snow days!!” -Stephanie Collins, 2018
-Cody Gawle, 2016
Photos compiled by Liz Quirk Health & Fitness
Bigger than biceps
Art & Politics
Notes on Unknown Places
How much recess is enough? “Better Call Saul” portrays a realistic America?
By Makayla-Courtney McGeeney Managing Editor
Back in elementary and middle school, we were given about 3060 minutes of recess. This included the most popular activities like hopscotch, tag, foursquare, kickball, etc. Recess was everyone’s favorite period of the day, even in the winter when we could bring our snow gear to school and have snowball fights to act as a break in the day. Modern day recess time is much less significant to schools, apparently. Every week I work with a volunteer group called The Write Stuff, and aside from our planned activities, we get some insight on what the kids’ lives are like in and outside of school. Sometimes the writing prompts involve them describing their school day and last semester, I recall almost all of them complaining about the length of their lunch and recess time. Both are almost cut in half from the time that I had as a kid. One student said their lunch time is 20 minutes and their recess is about 15 or 20 minutes. In the real world, this ‘break time’ is an ideal length for fulltime workers because of a list of reasons. But, for children who are consumed with courses for almost six hours out of the day, I think
maybe at least a 30 minute recess break is necessary. Even now, you see articles and segments on the news about how everyone should be getting at least 45-60 minutes of active time a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Depending on what those children do when they leave the school bus, those 20 minutes may be their only free/active time that day. Some students are consumed with other academia in the afternoon, while others are involved in sports and hobbies. Earlier this month in a “Today Parents” article, Orange County mothers in Florida are fighting for their child’s recess time, because some schools are cancelling it entirely or gradually cutting back to increase class time. The story goes on to point out that some students have ADHD and truly benefit from breaks in the day to burn off energy. A mother of two said “They [children] have become machines that produce data as opposed to children.” Overall, the school board dictates recess time, but the mothers concerns regard having a child who is socially inept versus the pressure on schools for grades and scores. At least in my elementary school career, recess time was the most important part of the day and that’s something adults can learn from as we slowly get pulled into the busy whirlpool of the working world. Twenty minutes is something we can afford now, but it’s not enough for growing, learning children. You can read more about the push for recess in the Today article at http://www.today. com/parents from Jan. 13.
By Shirin Hijab
Arts & Entertainment Editor It’s been a while since “Breaking Bad” was labeled as one of the greatest shows of all time and this past Sunday we experienced the tragicomic spinoff “Better Call Saul” (see page 6). Vince Gilligan, the creator of both shows and sometimes director of episodes, doesn’t seem to have particular sympathy for the line of work of Latinos. This issue is a complicated one in film studies: Gilligan could easily just be showing these people in a realistic environment while personally acknowledging that there are similar Latinos who live different, perhaps more legal and safer lives. But we only rarely see this; one exception is the side-story with Jesse Pinkman’s girlfriend, Andrea Cantillo. And while there is the occasional attempt to humanize the Latino antagonists, the characters are still antagonists. Gilligan does some interesting things with regard to the relationship between white Americans and Latinos such as the white Americans speaking horrific, earsoldering Spanish, as seen with the idiotic skate-boarders in “Better Call Saul” this weekend. All this is probably superficial analy-
sis and Gilligan’s shows are probably more subversive than even their biggest fans realize. But it raises the bigger issue of knowing the private lives of the immigrants in this country. These lives are not often represented to a full enough extent and leave a white, hollow understanding. It’d be great if there could be more of a person-by-person character study instead of this approach of having proper representations of people of color which is the usual language used. Representations don’t make a subversive kind of cinema and neither does having token characters and neither does having antagonist characters of color. It’s something more complex which TV might be close to producing. Let’s not rule out the possibility that “Better Call Saul” will still show a criminal underworld in a realistic way, where the southwest is a kind of battlefield of drugs and immorality. But, um, what do the people of the southwest say about Gilligan’s shows? Tuco Salamanca, who is the second character cross-over from “Breaking Bad,” may be a parody of criminal machismo with his penchant for excessive punishments. That isn’t a defense for his criminality or the ricocheting interpretations that can come from this kind of parody. But what about los machos who aren’t criminals? Perhaps in a couple years, they will have a chance to act in a show that isn’t doled out as a token to remind the US’s white population that Latinos exist, and always have existed, as a subculture, a very powerful one.
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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Brittany Gallacher Sports Editor Jesse Collings
Managing Editor Makayla-Courtney
A&E Editor Shirin Hijab
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Events & Announcements
Thursday, February 12, 2014
Check it Out!
Today, Feb. 12
The college continues its spring semester Green Living Seminar series on climate change at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, with a lecture by Eric J. Walberg of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Plymouth, Mass. Walberg’s lecture, “Climate Change, Green Infrastructure and the Interconnected Nature of Everything” will be held in the Sammer Dennis Room (218) in Murdock Hall. It is free and open to the public. Walberg manages the Climate Services program at Manomet. Recent projects include the Climate Smart Land Network, which involves more than 15 million acres of forest land in North America, as well as the development of climate change adaptation plans for multiple sites in New England. Prior to joining Manomet, Walberg was the administrator of the Physical and Environmental Planning Department of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission in Chesapeake,
V-Day Tabling, Marketplace 11a.m.-2 p.m. It’s On Us Tabling, Marketplace 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Valentines Day Sonnets Marketplace 12 noon-5 p.m. Performance by Rutha Harris CSC Auditorium 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Green Living Seminar Murdock 218 4:15 p.m.-7 p.m. Women’s Basketball vs Suffolk Campus Center Gym 5:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13
Sexy and Safe Valentines Marketplace 2-6 p.m. Arts Association Murdock Fitzpatrick 6-8 p.m. BSU Movie Night Love Jones Sullivan Jones 7-9 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 14 Mens Bball vs Fisher College CC Gym 3 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 15 Intramurals Venable Gym 6-11:30 p.m.
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‘Green Series’ to discuss climate change and green infrastructure
Upcoming events on campus
Berkshire Beads Marketplace 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Beacon.MCLA.edu
Va. In that capacity, he focused on climate change adaptation in southeastern Virginia. He also is responsible for the development of the first regional green infrastructure plan in that state. Walberg holds a master’s degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.; a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. He is a member of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners. This spring’s Green Living series focuses on contemporary issues of climate change and features experts speaking on various facets of climate change. Weekly topics include science, energy, carbon foot printing, planning and adaptation.
‘American Sniper’ depicted terrorists Dear Editor,
I am writing to you to comment on the article “Islamophobia and the barbarity of imperialism,” in the Arts & Politics column of this past week’s issue of the Beacon. Personally, and I hope I’m not alone here, but I was offended and disgusted by the comments made about the film biopic of American military veteran Chris Kyle. To say the film is fictional is downright offensive to Kyle, his family, and all of the brave men and women who stood by his side. The movie was based on the life of a man who sacrificed his health and his relationship with his family to protect his fellow mankind from evil. The man experienced more than many of us can even begin to comprehend. The man was faced with some of the hardest decisions that could be put before an individual. The film did not depict an evil picture of all Arabic people;
it depicted a portrait of terrorists who murder not only foreign innocents, but their own people as well. The intent of the film was not to incite more Islamophobia or hatred of Arabic people, but to paint a picture of the life of a man who risked his life to protect others all over the world. People who have taken that view are misinformed, ignorant and are not seeing the bigger picture. To say that terrorists including ISIS are trying to effect change is correct, but the change is a negative one. To say they are not barbaric as well is wrong however. Personally, I would say decapitating people, murdering innocents and displacing thousands more from their homes is pretty barbaric, but that’s just me. Yes, Kyle also killed a lot of people. However, his duty before pulling the trigger was always to do so in order to protect his fellow brothers and sisters in arms. To the writer of the article I say, go see the
movie, go read the autobiography, and get more informed. To be so downright offensive and harsh to a man that gave up so much to protect people that didn’t even know he existed is completely despicable. Being a relative of multiple members of the armed forces I again am personally offended and disgusted. The man spent his career, saving the lives of those he served with and the lives of innocents, and he died doing so. I could probably go on here, but I believe I would run out of words. I apologize if this comes off as hostile as well. Finally, I thank Chris Kyle for his service to his fellow mankind. Thank you for your time, Jordan Goyette Class of 2017 401-527-4415
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FINANCIAL AID ANNOUNCEMENTS IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!! Time to re-apply for financial aid for next fall! Don’t forget the MARCH 1st priority deadline date!! ****************** SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts www.communityfoundation.org March 1, 2015 deadline
5 O’Clock $5 Nachos!!! Weekend entertainment
Dine-In and Take-Out menu online. Gift Certificates & Discount Programs Available
www.TheParlorCafe.com fb.com/TheParlorCafe (413) 346-4279
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Photo Essay
Thursday, february 12, 2015
Beacon.MCLA.edu
Get Funky! MCLA Presents! 10th Annual Blues and Funk Festival Photos by Osakpolo Igiede
Above, Gina Coleman lead vocalist of the Misty Blues Band.
Above, gutarist Jason Webster performs a solo during the Misty Blues performance.
Above, a close up of the Misty Blues Band.
Below, right the Misty Blues band performs. Below, left the Arthur Holmes performs with his band.
Above, Arthur Holmes performs a solo.