Issue 6 - Fall 2014

The Beacon

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

For more content, visit online at: Beacon.MCLA.edu Volume 79 ◆ Issue 6

Th u r s d ay, O c t o b e r 2 3 , 2 0 1 4

New Rave Guardian alert system to be used for emergencies

Fall Family/Alumni Weekend

By spring, the college will use a faster, more efficient emergency notification system

By Makayla-Courtney McGeeney Editor-in-Chief

Photo by Osakpolo Igiede

Ben Lamb 07’ poses for a picture during “Look Great at the Gates“ for the Advancement Office.

‘Half the Sky’ author argues plight of oppressed women

Photo by Osakpolo Igiede/The Beacon

Nicholas Kristof converses with press before “Student Q&A’,” Wednesday Oct. 15

By Juanita Doss

Staff Writer Nicholas Kristof told MCLA students the story of a 15-yearold girl in Cambodia who was kidnapped by her neighbor and forced into a brothel. She became a victim of sex trafficking, and not too long after her freedom was bought back by her mother, she died of AIDS. Kristof is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, who gave a Hardman Series lecture October 16. His book Half the Sky was read by the incoming freshman class for their First Year Experience class. The book examines the situation of women in different parts of the world, and

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deals with serious oppression and mistreatment.

“The death of the young teenager haunted me and it inspired me to start unfolding the problem of sex trafficking,” Kristof said of the young Cambodian girl, whom he encountered while working on a separate project.

Kristof began to research the subject and found a great deal to write about. In Boston, Massachusetts, a 15-year-old girl was being pimped out in four states on backstage.com. She was arrested by the police, but her pimp wasn’t arrested once.

Another woman standing on the streets was arrested 187 times and once again, the pimp was never arrested.

According to Kristof, one in five underage girls will run away or are thrown out of their homes. Onehundred-thousand girls are sold and forced into sex trafficking.

“We can do a much better job with sex trafficking by arresting the pimps and not the girls/ women on the streets,” Kristof said during the student question and answer session.

Kristof also says the news isn’t focusing much on women’s rights because it’s seen as a soft situation.

“Terrible things happen to women,” Kristof said. “It’s much

KRISTOF continued on page 4

Campus Police will switch to the Rave Guardian alert system in order to increase communication measures across campus during an emergency, similar to the recent bomb threat.

When the bomb threat happened on Monday, Oct. 6, students, staff and faculty were alerted via text message, fire alarm, and word of mouth.

During a continued conversation regarding recent crime events in and around campus on Oct. 16 in the Campus Center, vice president of Administration and Finance James Stakenas and director of Public Safety Joseph Charon answered questions from attended campus members.

Junior Morgan McCarthy represented the student body and anthropology professor Sumi Colligan represented faculty.

“We are already in front of this and rectify the lack of communication,” said Charon.

“We have a list of things to address and improve upon. In an overview of the bomb threat, we noted what things went right and what went wrong.”

Rave Guardian will be able to do multiple things in a faster period of time including dispatching campus telephones to be used as intercom systems, sending out text messages and ringing the classroom telephones, according to Lieutenant Daniel Colonno.

The Rave Mobile Safety Web site states that it can send anywhere on campus: 2-way SMS text messages, recorded voice delivery, CAP compliant, email, social networking sites, websites, digital signage, PA/Siren systems and RSS feeds.

“We also plan on campaigning to help identify who isn’t signed up for the text alert system, and then we will contact them in person or with an email to encourage them to sign up for the system.” Charon Students have the option to sign up for a free text alert system through the college’s Self-Service Banner website that is also used

News, page 3

RAVE GUARDIAN continued on page 3

Breast Week Ever a collaborative effort to support breast cancer

By Nick Swanson Senior News Editor

The National Residence Honorary Hall (NRHH) and Susan B. Anthony Women’s Center continue the Breast Week Ever events today and tomorrow.

Today, the Black Student Union (BSU) will have a breast cancer jeopardy table in the Campus Center Marketplace. Students will be quizzed on different facts about breast cancer, according to Lucille Germain, co-coordinator for the Breast Week Ever events and the NRHH services scholastic chair.

At 7 p.m. Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) is hosting a breast cancer vigil in the quad, where attendants can hold candles and discuss how they have been affected by the illness, Germain adds.

Tomorrow, the class of 2016 will give out pink lemonade and accept any donations towards breast cancer.

NRHH will donate all of the money raised to the Berkshire Medical Center Cancer fund,

according to Amanda Beckwith, coordinator of the women’s center. Germain started planning for these events last semester and has worked with Beckwith to form the criteria.

Photo by Osakpolo Igiede/The Beacon

Various clubs and organizations on campus work together to host Breast Week Ever this week.

“The money is being donated to help local people who can’t afford paying for all of the (expensive) medical bills, so this will give (patients) financial assistance,” Beckwith said.

“I hope for this to turn into an annual event, but this is the first

Volleyball team sweeps Prof. Zoltanski analyzes New exhibit, Plastic Fantastic opens at MoCA double header on Senior Day students happiness Students show signs of unhappiness with high stress levels

Photo from ravemobilesafety.com

The Rave Guardian alert system will be provided as a free app to the campus for quick access to emergency resources. when the campus is closed due to weather technicalities.

Colligan spoke on behalf of the

Lee Boroson transforms various types of plastic into art sculptures

Trailblazers won their first game 3-0 and the second 3-1

Arts & Entertainment, page 7

Sports, page 9

year,” Germain said.

Kelsey McGonigle and Nicole L’Etoile are students on the committee who also helped organize the events.

According to Germain, one of the first steps was approaching numerous clubs and people on campus to talk about the purpose of the events.

“I was lucky that many organizations said yes,” Germain continued. “Because most of them are donating in addition to helping run other events there.”

Organizations and clubs such as the Student Activity Council (SAC), BSU, CAC, and Beta Lambda Sorority created their own events that contributed to Breast Week Ever.

Past events started on Monday where the class of 2015 gave out free pink breast cancer bracelets and provided information about the illness.

Later that night, Beta Lambda delivered treats to students from 7-11 p.m. in exchange for

BREAST WEEK EVER, continued on page 3 News Arts & Entertainment Sports Campus Opinion Local Events Photo Essay

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Campus News

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Weekend Newly-elected SGA senators take oath Weather

By Nick Swanson Senior News Editor

Thursday, October 23

Showers High: 53° Low: 45° Prec. Chance: 60%

Friday, October 24

AM Showers High: 50° Low: 42° Prec. Chance: 40%

Saturday, October 25

Students were sworn into their new positions in the SGA senate on Monday evening. The results for the Student Government Association (SGA) fall election are final.

“I am happy to see all of the new additions to SGA; congratulations to everyone who was elected,” SGA adviser Jenn Craig said.

SGA president Brendan Peltier recited the oath to the new members before appointing them to their designated SGA seats.

Sam Gomez Results Last Sunday the 5K Sam Gomez Road Race raised $2,684 to benefit the North Adams YMCA youth program.

The money raised is being donated to help increase the number of students in the program and to fund more decorations at the YMCA, according to SGA executive vice president Alexandra Kadell.

“Thank you to everyone who was there and ran in the race even though it was cold,” Kadell said.

This year 114 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the annual race.

“I was so glad to see how many people were there [at the race], especially seeing so many people were from faculty,” Peltier said.

According to Peltier, Nancy Bullet from the city council plans to attend an SGA meeting to elaborate on the project from the

Centennial Room Concerns Peltier contacted Aramark managers and employees at the Centennial room in hopes to of making the official open times more convenient.

The discussion was first brought up when students approached SGA members and complained about food services not being available till after 11 a.m. on weekends.

According to SGA treasurer Nicholas Hernigle, in prior instances of asking Aramark about hours of operation they said a specific budget allows them to pay employees for a set number of hours each week.

Therefore employees at Aramark have no control over increasing, decreasing, or changing work hours.

“We need to take them to task on this issue,” SGA Greek seat Taylor Krowitz said. “If they are making money why can’t they be open earlier on weekends? There are students awake early who want to get more work done and can’t eat because the cafeteria is closed.”

This semester, the late night grill days in the centennial room were changed to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, instead of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Kadell, who is on the SGA food committee, said changing the

The week of 10/12-10/18 Tuesday, October 14

◆ 9:18 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a report of a disturbance at the Amsler

Campus Center. The report led to the summons of James Galusha of Williamstown on the charges of operating to endanger.

Mountain Lion Monument Peltier said SGA is currently in search of a company or person to create a mountain lion sculpture to place somewhere on campus.

“We found a person who could make the monument, but it was priced at $100,000, so we are still looking for a less expensive way to make it,” Peltier said.

Thursday, October 16

Wednesday, October 15

◆ 2:13 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a drug offense at the Flagg Townhouse Apartment Complex number 83. A report was filed.

◆ 2:52 a.m. - Public Safety responded to a parking/enforcement issue on the MCLA Campus. A warning/citation was issued.

◆ 2:29 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a drug offense at the Flagg Townhouse Apartment Complex number 84. A report was filed.

Sunday, October 26

5 O’Clock $5 Nachos!!!

Weekend entertainment

Dine-In and Take-Out menu online.

Showers High: 51° Low: 40° Prec. Chance: 50%

hours of the late night grill has increased revenue and popularity.

Now, at least 60 students go each hour the grill is open.

One night, the late night grill made more in three hours than Subway did all day, according to Kadell.

She said Aramark employees have started pre-making items like mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders, but Aramark reassures students that if anyone receives cold food, it will be replaced with fresh food.

Another concern that a student addressed to SGA concerned the very high prices of POD Market items.

“The POD retail is an ongoing issue but [Aramark] sets the amount, and since it’s a convenience store, the convenience of it makes it more expensive,” Kadell said.

Coming soon, Aramark decided to add pumpkin spice coffee and more additions to the menu for Halloween.

Kadell said Aramark wants students to give feedback on popular meals to add to the menu for next year.

SGA Fall election results: Senators Seats

Senate At-Large: Jamie Burdick, Lucas G. McDiarmid, Ryan Robison, Lauren Tomaszczuk Athlete Seat: Svetlana Morrell Commuter Seat: Bethany O’Neil Greek Seat: Taylor Krowitz Class of 2015: Osakpolo Igiede Class of 2016: Sherley Jules Class of 2018: Jennifer Baptiste, Rachel Durgin

Class Council 2015 Vice President: Lucas G. McDiarmid 2017 Vice President: Bridget Forson 2018 President: Meghan DeLuca Vice President: Lauren Tomaszczuk Secretary: Shannon Eposito Treasurer: No Winner

Campus Police Logs

◆ 6:22 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a report of suspicious activity at the Campus Police Office. A report was filed.

PM Showers High: 60° Low: 45° Prec. Chance: 30%

last Sam Gomez race. During the meeting she will explain why it has taken this long to complete and when it will be done.

Gift Certificates & Discount Programs Available

www.TheParlorCafe.com fb.com/TheParlorCafe (413) 346-4279

◆ 7:35 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a report of a disturbance on the lower quad.

No action was required.

Friday, October 17 ◆ 12:40 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a weapons offense at the Hoosac Hall Complex. The call was completed.

Campus News

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Zoltanski presents field notes analyzing students’ happiness

Sociology professor analyzes student happieness and presents at Brown Bag Lecture

Photo by Agnella Gross/The Beacon

Professor Zoltanski addresses her peers during a Brown Bag Lecture titled “Undergraduate Happiness: Some Preliminary Field Notes From the Classroom.” the content of her paper and foBy Isabel McKenzie cused mainly on the process used Staff Writer to write her essay.

She concluded that the age Sociology Professor Jennifer group of college students here at Zoltanski used research from her MCLA is a demographically unown students to formulate field happy population, and students notes on their happiness levels, range from having a moderate to and constructed a paper to dishigh stress level.

Elements of poscuss this data. itive psychology helped to relieve “Undergraduate Happiness: the students and raise happiness Some Preliminary Field Notes From the Classroom” presented levels. She discovered that those

by Zoltanski was the second who had good social connections Brown Bag Lecture of this semes- had higher scores.

Zoltanski took her research ter. Zoltanski’s paper was pubfrom the Sociology of Happiness lished in the 2013 edition of “The course she designed. She was Mind’s Eye: A Liberal Arts Jourthe recipient of the Curriculum nal.” This journal is published evAward in 2012 for the course. ery year by MCLA to display arZoltanski felt the need to counticles of scholarly merit and ideas terbalance her interests in dark of interest to the college. subjects such as genocide, crimi“As faculty here at MCLA, we’re nology, victimology and issues of all very busy with teaching, which violence with the lighter topic of makes individual research a real happiness. challenge,” Zoltanski said.

“I don’t teach people how to The setting of the lecture was be happy,” she said. Instead, the very informal, with attending course focuses on how happiness members casually sitting around is studied and taken measure of, Zoltanski in the Faculty Center along with cross-disciplinary fealocated in Eldridge Hall. Zoltanstures that tie together across difki incorporated listening ears into

ferent subjects, such as political science and psychology.

She suggested that in the future, the course could be co-taught, or even be made a Capstone course.

For the moment, it is a special topics course that is capped at 20 students, with heavy enrollment and interest. It is offered once a year.

“The best way to measure people’s happiness is through their own objective opinion,” Zoltanski said. Throughout the course, students take self-evaluative “Happiness Inventory Tests” created by the University of Pennsylvania to determine their own happiness levels. They also take a stress test featuring real life events with correlating point values, ranging from family member death to traffic violations.

On the topic of positive psychology, students create empirical evidence with the premise that happier thoughts makes one a happier person. They keep a journal reflecting on an activity through which they enforce positive psychology into their daily lives.

Activities that worked for students included less TV watching, less social media usage, gratitude lists, spending time alone, keeping a plant, exercising, and visiting someplace they’ve never been.

At the end of the course, students can sign a consent form allowing their test scores to become a part of Zoltanski’s student database. The data is anonymous.

“I really loved writing that essay,” Zoltanski said. “It felt really fun, as a professor, to do something looser and not as empirical. It’s something we don’t always have time to do.”

The next Brown Bag Lecture will take place on Nov. 14 featuring Professor David Langston on “What Anthropology Taught the Humanities.”

Public Safety to improve notification system RAVE GUARDIAN continued from page 1

faculty and noted that students broke the academic policy of not having cell phones on in class, but actually notified the professors of the alert by using their phones in class. She said that most professors have their phones turned off and out of sight during class time.

Colonno said that they are transferring the old notification data into the new system and then will train others how to use it.

There will be a test phase and a full service startup potentially by the end of November or beginning of December, but will be fully ready for the spring 2015 semester.

Rave Guardian will also include a mobile smart phone app that public safety will provide to the campus at no cost. The app contains safety features including a panic button, tip texting and

personal guardians.

UMass Dartmouth, Providence College and Brown University are all current users of Rave Guardian along with 100 other colleges across the country, according to the Boston Globe.

According to the Rave Mobile Safety Web site, the panic button is a direct immediate connection to campus safety that gives a personal profile and GPS location.

Tip texting allows anonymous crime tip reporting and 2-way communication, and personal guardians is a short list of friends, family and roommates that are considered ‘guardians’ to assist campus safety in an emergency.

McCarthy suggested another emergency box be implemented along Blackinton St. near the Feigenbaum Center for Science, because a large amount of students also live in the Boardman

Apartments.

“While building the Science Center, we issued additional lines to generate more emergency boxes, so that is already planned to happen,” said Charon.

In addition to the campus being notified about the bomb threat, Stakenas said that the 90 construction workers in Bowman Hall were informed in-person to evacuate.

“We have a community that is relatively safe at any given time,” said Charon. “We distribute information under the limits of the law while also balancing safety. We sent a message that was timely and looked at the most efficient way to do so.”

Charon continued by saying that safety is their priority and urges the campus community to adopt safe practices on and off campus.

Beacon.MCLA.edu

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Whalen brings business experience to academia New business professor brings previous careers into business and marketing courses

By Idalis Foster Staff Writer

Thomas Whalen, professor of Business Administration, is the newest member of MCLA’S business department and has come a long way to teach in North Adams. He hails from New Jersey but he has lived in multiple places, including Spokane, Washington and most recently Kansas.

This semester Whalen is teaching two sections of Explorations in Business, Marketing, and an MBA course called Management.

Next semester he is looking to teach Explorations in Business again, as well as Marketing and Communications, and a senior level course called Contemporary Topics in Business.

Before teaching, Whalen served as an aviator in the US Navy for 12 years and then went on to work multiple management positions before moving into the laptop computer industry until April 2009. When the company he worked for was bought out by Gerald Dynamics, Whalen wrote a 20 page paper for tuition funds as a displaced worker, which led to him getting a PhD in leadership from Gonzaga University.

“I wouldn’t say I ever had an interest in business and economics.

I just was using it and I was immersed in it and I was really good at it,” Whalen said. “Then it came time to start my third career after they closed the plant. I had a PhD in leadership, a master’s in management, all this business experience and all this military leadership experience…I thought, let’s see if I can make that work in the business world academically.”

Whalen had two main reasons for making the transition from Kansas to Massachusetts.

Photo by Kaleigh Anderson/The Beacon

New Business Professor Thomas Whalen will teach a number of business, marketing and communication courses.

“Kansas is a land of extremes,” Whalen stated. “We had two tornadoes, one in 2012 and one in 2014, close by. I also wanted to be closer to my mother because she’s getting older and I wanted to be closer so I could help out my family.”

So far, Whalen has found both the city and campus communities to be welcoming, and he and his wife Cheryl have become active spectators.

“We went to a volleyball game and I was really surprised at the number of students that were attending and supporting the women’s team, that was cool,” Whalen said. “We also went to the improvisation play Broadway’s Next Hit Show.”

But most of all, Whalen was very passionate about how much he liked the students here and the general community.

“I really enjoy the students here.

All of them are engaged; I ask questions and everybody answers them. They’re very polite here and everybody calls me Doctor Whalen or Professor Whalen. I really like that,” Whalen said. “The community in general is just fabulous.”

Women’s Center Breast Week Ever ends tomorrow BREAST WEEK EVER continued from page 1

donations.

On Tuesday, the Women’s Center had an information session titled ‘Everything you need to know about Ovarian, Breast, and Testicular Cancer’ in Sullivan Lounge. SAC also sold cookies in the marketplace in order to raise money.

On Wednesday, NRHH encouraged all students on campus to wear the color pink, according to Germain.

During the day they also sold raffle tickets. Germain said the Alumni Office and the bookstore

donated items to raffle off to students.

Breast Week Ever is a way for NRHH to branch out and do more important things with organizations on campus, Germain adds. “(Breast cancer issues) are very dear to me and a lot of other members in NRHH, so I thought it was important to get more awareness and facts out there,” Germain said.

Germain chose Breast Cancer because she had a personal experience with the illness in the past.

“It’s something that affected me so much,” Germain said. “Why not try to help?”

Visit our website to listen to a WJJW podcast of this week’s Beacon news.

4

Campus News

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Fall community day of service to commence MCLA, the North Adams Chamber of Commerce and the City of North Adams announce that a “Day of Service – Fall Edition” will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., throughout the community Service sites will include the Hillside Cemetery on Route 2 in North Adams, the North Adams Goodwill and various pocket parks.

For more than 20 years, MCLA and local residents have come together to clean up and improve the community. The scope and type of projects have evolved over the years, and the number of volunteers has increased significantly. This surge in service helps to make North Adams a better place to live and connects MCLA students to North Adams, according to Spencer Moser, coordinator of the Center for Service and Citizenship.

The Hillside Cemetery Restoration Project is a large and long-term effort. With the ongo-

ing work of local resident Roger Eurbin and the support of Mayor Richard Alcombright and the City of North Adams, this project will continue.

Last year, MCLA students and local volunteers cleared brush, catalogued stones and performed some basic stone cleaning and maintenance. This year, students and other volunteers will further support the City’s interest in modernizing and beautifying the Hillside Cemetery.

Students also will provide needed assistance at the Goodwill, and help garden and clean up several pocket parks in the area.

The community is invited to join in this effort. Work will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. Volunteers should feel free to stop by any of the service sites for whatever amount of time they may have to help.

For more information go to www.mcla.edu or contact Moser, spencer.moser@mcla.edu, or 413662-5251.

Beacon file photo

Junior Kelsey McGonigle in costume paints a child’s face at last year’s Boo Bash in Berkshire Towers.

Boo Bash returns to Towers on Monday The Residence Area Advisory Boards and the Center for Service and Citizenship at MCLA will host the 20th Annual “Boo Bash” for children and their parents on Monday, Oct. 27, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Berkshire Towers .

This event is free and open to

area children between the ages of 6 and 11, when accompanied by a parent or guardian. Boo Bash has been a very popular event for local families.

The Berkshire Towers residence building will feature a decorated entrance, trick or treating and a

costume party for the expected crowd. Berkshire Towers is on Church Street, across the street from Mark Hopkins Hall.

For more information, please contact Devon O’Dowd at the Residential Programs and Services Office, 413-662-5249.

Domestic assault and battery reported Beacon file photo

Students and community members participate in the spring 2014 Community Day of Service.

Kristof stresses importance of women’s education in lecture KRISTOF continued from page 1

more complicated to say because of men, it’s not their gender, it depends on their education and areas which they live.”

As Kristof sees it, if a man is educated and lives in an urban area they see themselves and women as equals. However, a non-educated man who lives in a rural area sees nothing wrong in beating women. Kristof also cited a survey taken in 1978 showed that most men in the U.S. found it acceptable to some degree to hit their wives with a belt or stick.

According to Kristof, every six hours a woman dies from domestic violence. However, there has been progress overtime; it’s a small victory, but this statistic is lower than it was a year ago.

Another problem Kristof noticed while traveling abroad was the lack of girls receiving education. Kristof sees education as an escalator. Here in the United States we have a working escalator with more opportunity, but for other countries their escalator is broken.

Kristof explained that it’s important to have both girls and boys in school. However, in many parts of the world, girls are strongly discouraged from going to school. Progress is being made, though; currently, a high school in Bangladesh has more girls than

boys.

Kristof travels to different countries and helps people in those countries to pay it forward, to give back. He believes that most people only give to charity around the holidays, or people don’t give because they don’t have money.

However, Kristof shows that there are other ways to help.

He shared the story of nineyear-old Rachel Beckwith, who began raising money to build wells through an organization called Charity Water; instead of receiving gifts for her birthday, Rachel insisted that her family and friends help her raise money.

Her goal was $300, but by the time of her birthday she only made it to $220. A month after her birthday, she died in a car accident. After her death, her goal was exceeded and she set a new record on the Web site charitywater.org with the raising of $1,265,823. In Ethiopia 37,770 people received clean water.

Freshman Marty Willis was inspired by Rachel’s story. “I enjoyed his lecture,” he said. “It made me think of what I’m doing now and how I can better myself to help others.”

Kristof expressed hope that students, faculty and the community will pick up the issues that most newscasters and journalists don’t pay attention to, as well as finding their own path to pay it forward.

By Makayla-Courtney McGeeney

ca with no license plates. Allen is a white male, 6’ tall, weighing 205 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Late Monday, another alert was released to the campus community noting that the suspect was arrested

by New York State Police. On Tuesday, another alert stated a matter of miscommunication and that Allen is not in custody, and is still at large.

According to the most recent crime and safety alert, the campus community is urged to stay aware of personal safety on and around campus. If there is any information regarding this incident, please contact the police immediately by dialing 911.

Editor-in-Chief

A domestic assault and battery was reported on Monday that occurred at 10 Montana Street early Saturday morning. A student commuter was physically assaulted and injured by their domestic partner involving a knife, according to the crime and safety alert.

Suspect Joshua Allen, 26, is said to have ties to New York and operating a gray or silver, 2002 Toyota Celi-

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Acknowledgment:

The Beacon mistakenly used The Onion as a source in issue 5 for “UN Member to speak on ISIS.” Even though The Onion is satire, the information was accurate.

Correction:

In the issue 4 feature on Professor Jenna Scuito, she received her Masters of Art degree at Boston University, not Boston College.

US &World News

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Nation and World Briefs Nation

Senate control may hinge on Louisiana, land of political melodrama

NEW ORLEANS — From Huey Long to 87-year-old Edwin Edwards running for Congress after four terms as governor and eight years in prison, Louisiana has reveled in larger-than-life characters and melodramatic plots, some as sultry as the October breeze off the Mississippi River.

Now comes this year’s Senate race, with nothing as scandalous but still a down and dirty free-forall with control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance.

CDC imposes new treatment rules for Ebola

WASHINGTON — The federal government on Monday tightened its infection control regulations for health care workers who care for Ebola patients.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will now require that medical personnel train in the donning and removal of personal protective equipment before they’re allowed to treat Ebola patients.

The new rules also require that a trained supervisor monitor workers to ensure they’re safely putting on and removing equipment and that no skin be exposed when protective gear is worn in the presence of Ebola patients.

World Student leaders face Hong Kong city elders in televised debate

HONG KONG — Student protest leaders on Tuesday debated Hong Kong officials on the future of democracy in this former British colony, the first time the two sides have confronted one another since street demonstrations erupted in late September.

Canadian soldier was killed by ‘radicalized’ man, officials say

CANADA-An attack Monday that killed one Canadian soldier and injured another was a “deliberate act,” according to police officials in Quebec, as speculation swirled that the incident might have been a terrorist act.

Cuba pledges more doctors, nurses to fight Ebola in Africa

GENEVA — The announcement Monday by Cuba that it will send an additional 91 medical staff to help contain the Ebola virus outbreak surging across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea brings the island nation’s contribution of people fighting the epidemic to 256 — or more than one-third of all foreign medical staff in the three hardest-hit West African countries.

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Liberian-Americans weary of Ebola stigma MCT Campus DALLAS — When Otto Williams said he’d be happy to work a new job installing home heating and air conditioning units, the contractor listened to Williams’s accent and asked where he was he from.

“Liberia,” said Williams, 42.

Knowing the concerns some people have about the Ebola virus, he made sure to smile.

But the contractor said he was in a hurry, excused himself and promised to call Williams back.

He didn’t.

“It’s gotten to the point where you don’t want to mention you’re Liberian,” Williams said.

The Ebola crisis, which has killed almost 4,500 people across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, has hit close to home for many West African immigrants in communities from Minnesota to Rhode Island.

It’s probable that in the DallasFort Worth area have been hit hardest of all. The community of 10,000 Liberians heeded the call

to help family and friends when the epidemic took hold overseas.

Now they’re immersed in their own battle against a national hysteria after a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, died at a hospital in Dallas.

Liberian Americans in the United States, some of whom haven’t been back to their homeland in years or decades, report losing jobs, getting suspicious looks and facing probing questions from co-workers that they never received before.

“You have to worry about family back home and being stigmatized over here,” Ulla Adighibe, 52, said. Several of her friends have died of Ebola in Liberia.

Children can be especially mean. A classmate of her daughter, Tiana, started a rumor at her Fort Worth middle school that Ebola was being spread during a recent pep rally. Another student wore a medical mask to class.

Only a few kids know Tiana, 14, who was born in the United States, is Liberian. Adighibe worries what they may say if more

MCT Campus photo

Liberian American Ulla Adighibe, 52, at her home in Fort Worth, Texas. Adighibe says fear of Ebola has affected how people treat her and her daughter. find out.

“If they did know, I think they’d shun me,” she said.

At Adighibe’s church in a strip mall between Dallas and Fort Worth, members have suspended handshakes and hugging when welcoming new arrivals from

their homeland. Leaders of the House of Prayer Tabernacle say it’s more of a precaution, but there is a still a level of uncertainty even within the Liberian community about who may or may not have the virus.

Toys ‘R’ Us won’t remove new More sea turtles come to Florida, are mysterious ‘Breaking Bad’ action figures but reasons MCT Campus MCT Campus

The “Breaking Bad” action figures in the aisles of Toys “R” Us stores are making some parents mad, including a Florida mother who launched an online petition to get the retailer to pull the products.

Toys “R” Us, has heard this kind of complaint before, and it isn’t alarmed. The figures, which feature drug lord Walter White and his sidekick, Jesse Pinkman, from the award-winning television show “Breaking Bad,” are carried in the adult action figure section of the store in limited quantities “for collector customers,” and the company has no plans to stop selling them, according to Toys “R” Us representative Kathleen Waugh.

The Florida mother who started the Change.org petition was reacting to a Walter White figure sold online at the Toys “R” Us website which comes with accessories including a small bag of the illegal drug crystal methamphetamine. The character on the show is a chemistry teacher who believes he is dying and starts making and selling crystal meth to pay his medical bills. As of Tuesday morning, the petition against the retailer had more than 7,000 supporters.

Six-inch action figures, which became hot properties with the first Star Wars movies, have attracted controversy whenever the molded plastic toys have depicted material considered too adult for Toys “R” Us kids. One of the first action figures to raise a ruckus was that of Star Wars heroine Princess Leia dressed as a scantily clad slave girl.

Chris Byrne, content director of TTPM.com, a leading toy

MCT Campus photo

Some parents are incensed over the new “Breaking Bad” action figures now being sold at Toys “R” Us. review website and the author of “Toy Time,” a history of America’s most beloved toys, said action figures such as the “Breaking Bad” dolls are commonly carried by toy stores, and are not targeted to children.

“Not all toys are intended for children,” Byrne said. “The toy market is very broad. These are collector dolls for people who are fans of the series. And if your child is a fan of the series, there’s something wrong with how you’re editing what they’re watching on TV.” The collector market “is a fairly hefty percentage of the action figure market,” Byrne said.

Byrne said he has found that young children don’t even look at the collector action figures unless they are familiar with the television show or characters depicted by the figures.

“If it’s not in their consciousness they kind of don’t even see it,” he said. “They’ll run for the Pikachu or the Ninja Turtle because that’s where their focus goes.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — This year’s early count of sea turtles nesting on Florida beaches is encouraging, though there are many unknowns in the numbers.

Welcome to the mysterious world of sea turtles, which spend much of their life far from Florida’s beaches encountering fishing boats, oil spills, plastic trash and many other perils.

Nest counts by loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles along the state’s coast have been increasing for nearly five years.

But the increase hasn’t been steady; there have been significant dips and climbs.

Green turtles have wowed researchers with their growing preference for Florida beaches. Yet while last year’s nest count was surprisingly high, this year’s is down, which experts expected.

“...It’s one of the great enigmas in sea-turtle biology.”

Named for the color of their fatty tissue, green turtles nest in a peculiar way. Their nest counts predictably are up and down every other year.

“To me, it’s one of the great enigmas in sea-turtle biology,” Professor Llewellyn Ehrhart, a pioneering turtle researcher who teaches at the University of Central Florida, said. “It seems it would have something to do with food availability and nutrition,

but I don’t know of anything in ocean biology that is so regularly scheduled.”

The turtle kings of Florida’s coastline, loggerheads, deposited eggs in 46,885 nests this year according to the state’s “index” location-based count, which has monitored spots at 26 beaches since 1989.

Index counts are done during a 109-day window. This means tallies are smaller than annual totals, but the index data are still valued for detecting trends.

“Every year, it’s always a little bit of a surprise for what we get,” Anne Meylan, a senior research scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, said. “The biology of the animals is really complicated, and they live a long time, and they are affected by things far away.”

Since 2010, loggerhead nest counts at the index sites have rebounded. The count in 1998 of 59,918 plunged to 28,074 nests by 2007. By 2012, the nest count was back up to 58,172.

“We don’t know why they went down, and we don’t know why they are coming back,” Meylan said. “That makes us a little bit more cautious.”

Scientists are interested in whether sea turtles were killed in greater numbers through the early 2000s by commercial fishing, which adopted measures to reduce turtle mortalities by the late 2000s.

Many scientists agree that the spike in loggerhead deaths was caused by problems or threats far from Florida.

“I’m especially interested in their early, developmental years,” Mansfield said. “There is very little known about what they do.”

MCT Campus is a news and image service for college and high school newspapers. MCT stories are selected and edited by Beacon staff for quality and relevance to MCLA students.

6

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Arts & Entertainment

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Gros to perform versatile jazz

By Rachel Fitterman

Arts & Entertainment Editor MCLA Presents! will host an After Party with John “Papa” Gros featuring a variety of New Orleans jazz music, tonight at 10 p.m. in Club B-10 at Mass MoCA. Gros’ performance will follow New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, accompanied by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who will perform at 8 p.m. in the Hunter Center.

“I love John Gros,” Jonathan Secor, director of the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center and performing arts management professor, said. “I will work with him anywhere. He’s an amazing musician, and a really amazing ‘tinkling encyclopedia’— he knows so many different styles, and can play them so well and so comfortably.”

Gros’ versatile performances make him a student favorite as well, both on stage and in person.

Secor praised Gros for his ability to blend conflicting genres and “get away with it.”

“I asked [Gros], ‘What do you want to do?’ And he wanted to perform with his favorite musicians, so that’s what will happen.

It will be a mixture of traditional New Orleans party music with some rock, some of his own mu-

sic, some funk. We hunted down a tracking organ, which has a great sound, like James Brown would have played. There will be that and a keyboard for Gros to play.

He’ll put together a great mix of music,” Secor said.

“We really made lemonade out of lemons,” Secor noted, stating that Gros’ performance was originally scheduled to be at the College the same night Allen Toussaint was to perform at Mass MoCA. “We realized they were doing a night of New Orleans jazz the same night that we were, and we had two competing nights for jazz when there normally wouldn’t be many,” Secor added. “One was at Mass MoCA in the Hunter Center with seats and nice lights, and ours was in the gym. We knew we would have lost a lot of our audience I worked with Mass MoCA to combine the two events into a concert and an after party.”

For Gros’ performance, there will be music and dancing, a bar and food. Club B-10, which Secor himself had a hand in designing in 1999, is purposefully meant to feel like a club environment, he said.

He added that because this is a student-run event, the Performing Arts Management class has also had a huge opportunity for

Photo by Hank Randall/BCRC

John ‘Papa’ Gros sing appearance at MCLA.

s and plays the keyboard at his 2011 Gros will play tonight at Mass MoCA.

hands-on experience. “[The students] have been working on all as- p e c t s of the event. They’re figuring out how to connect it with other students through workshops with the jazz band, a dinner with music students, and other events,” Secor said. “The marketing committee has been tabling, and the production committee is working

with the switch from the original set up in the gym to Mass MoCA. The students will pick up the artists from the airport.”

Secor laughed, adding, “If they mess up, there’s no concert. They have deadlines with direct effect.”

Senior Rhea Werner, part of the marketing committee for the event, said “I love the experience that’s part of [managing the

show]—working with groups and different people, figuring out how things work, and working with very real deadlines.”

Werner added that she was part of the “standard” marketing process.

“We’re working on handing out coasters, postering and social media. I think we’re getting a good response so far. People are interested because it’s a jazz show and it’s at Mass MoCA, and students have loved [things like this] in the past,” she said.

Courtney McLaren, also a senior, noted that the production has been a group effort.

“I enjoy that we have to work together so much, because even though we’re all working in different fields, it’s a team effort.”

McLaren is part of the community-classroom connection committee, and is working on integrating the North Adams community into the event.

“I’ve been talking a lot with the Drury high school band [in North Adams],” she said. “We really try to correlate the artist into the classroom and the community through these events.”

Seating for this event will be limited. Tickets can be reserved at massmoca.org. Shuttles will run from campus to Mass MoCA all evening.

‘Not Enough’ for pop punk fans ‘Watershed’ is Freshman-run alternative radio show caters to alternative fans

By Rachel Fitterman

Arts & Entertainment Editor Emma Monahan sat in the Campus Center at a small table outside of Subway, talking animatedly about her passion for music.

“Music has always been a part of my life. I’ve been singing and writing songs for a long time,” she said.

Monahan, a freshman majoring in English/Communications, runs a 91.1 FM WJJW radio show titled “Not Enough Pop Punk,” which plays a variety of alternative music.

“I try to include alternative and rock music, but also a lot of pop punk like Paramore and Blink-182. I have a variety of softer rock as well, like Ed Sheeran and The 1975,” she explained.

Running a hand through the purple streaks in her hair, she spoke of her opportunity to get real-life radio experience.

“I’ve always been interested in radio and have considered radio practicums as a potential future job,” she said. “I started Not Enough Pop Punk about two or three weeks ago, when I just showed up at the WJJW meeting and learned how to get started.

Once I went to the training, then I got the show—it was that simple to get into it, which I was happy about.”

Unlike the radio stations at other colleges she had looked at, Monahan said, WJJW does not assign students certain genres or

Photo by Rachel Fitterman/The Beacon

English/Communicatiosn major Emma Monahan is looking to persue a career in radio. tell them what they should talk about.

“I like how you can be very independent with the music you pick. It’s an open and free opportunity; you can pick the day and time the show goes on as well. It’s a lot of experience working with creating a playlist and being on the radio. It’s super hands-on,” she said.

Monahan hails from the small town of North Brookfield, Mass., and her high school graduating class had only 31 students.

“MCLA seems relatively big compared to that,” she laughed.

“So radio was my way of getting involved.”

Her biggest struggle has been

gaining and keeping listeners.

“My first night [of Not Enough Pop Punk], I had about 12 listeners, even though people told me to expect to see only three or four.

Now I have about three every night on average,” she said.

However, Monahan remains positive.

“I try to think that there might be multiple people in a room, and I’m really reaching more than what the statistics say,” she said.

“The audience came easy at first, because it was a bit natural, and my friends and family were excited for it, but now it’s harder to gain an audience. Some people will tell me they were too busy or that they only listened for a little bit, but I’m working on promoting the show more. I try my best to promote the show through Facebook and Twitter and social media.”

Monahan also works to keep the show attention-grabbing.

“At first I tried to start off with a bang and create a really perfect playlist, but I want to do different things to keep it interesting every week. If a band comes out with a new album, I’m thinking of featuring that album and previewing multiple songs from it in one show. When Christmas comes around, I want to do a show with pop punk Christmas songs,” she stated.

With a smile, she added, “Mostly, I’m just looking to gain more listeners and get experience from the show.”

elegant, intense

By Nicole L’Etoile

Arts & Entertainment Writer Mass MoCA and Jacob’s Pillow presented dance piece Abraham.In.Motion this past weekend. This specific performance was titled “The Watershed.”

Nine dancers, including choreographer Kyle Abraham, performed in “The Watershed,” which was created to commemorate the 150 years since Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the 20 years since the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa.

Before the performance began, Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff introduced The Watershed and spoke about performances that Jacob’s Pillow has sponsored in the past with Abraham.

In.Motion. Baff expressed excitement at the opportunity to work with Mass MoCA to push this performance even further.

The piece opened with the word “Prologue” projected on the backdrop and was shown as if it were a play, with “Act I” and “Act II” projected the same way later on. Quotes and a few words of dialogue were also projected throughout the show to give the audience some

background about what the dancers were trying to convey.

The nine performers were elegant and used precise and controlled movements, making it impossible for the audience to so much as hear their feet hitting the stage. At times, the dancers moved so slowly it seemed as if they were slowing down time.

At other times, the dancing matched the intensity of the music, which was playing with fast, yet still measured and exact, movements. The music ranged from orchestra-type pieces to rap pieces, with bass so loud at times that it rattled the seats in the audience.

At the end of the performance, all nine performers took the stage and bowed to the audience, receiving a standing ovation and a long round of applause. Abraham came forward and thanked the audience for being there and supporting his dance company, Jacob’s Pillow and Mass MoCA, which received another round of applause from the audience.

Abraham.In.Motion will be on tour, performing a variety of different pieces, all over the world until April 2015.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Arts & Entertainment

Plastic becomes art at Mass MoCA ‘Plastic Fantastic’ turns an ordinary material into an innovative landscape

By Nicole L’Etoile

Arts & Entertainment Writer Lee Boroson’s exhibit “Plastic Fantastic” opened Oct. 11 in MASS MoCA, in the gallery which previously housed the popular exhibit “The Phoenix.”

This exhibit is made of several parts, all involving different forms of plastic. Upon walking into the first installation of the exhibit, visitors will see floor-toceiling strings of rope all over the room with sphere-like plastic figures fixed to them. The figures are made from sheets of plastic shaped into cones and placed together.

Next is a large structure of vinyl fabric in which visitors can almost get lost, weaving in and out of the translucent layers and eventually making their way to the middle, which hosts a plastic chandelier.

The next section announces its presence from a distance with sound and visuals. This installation includes small plastic balls which fall from the ceiling and are sucked back into a pipe that brings them back to fall once again. This particular section is unusual for an art exhibit because of the movement involved.

MoCA employees push the plastic balls with a wooden rake to guide them into an opening in a

Photo by Agnella Gross/The Beacon

Plastic orbs hang from the ceiling as a part of ‘The Fog’ portion of ‘Plastic Fantastic,’ open through Sept. 2015. wooden structure, where the pipe is able to grab ahold of them and pull them in. This looks almost like an avalanche of plastic, and it sounds much like a plastic compacter.

Next, visitors enter what feels

like a cave of plastic. Plastic balloons which look almost like shopping bags form arches starting at the ceiling.

Lastly, after turning the corner and going up the stairs, visitors come to a room that overlooks

the first two installations of the exhibit and holds a variety of lava lamps of all different shapes and sizes. The color of the lava is somewhere between dark purple and black, and the lava moves rhythmically inside them.

At the entrance to this room, a sign cautions visitors not to touch the lamps because of their extreme heat. Visitors can actually see the heat bubbling and rising in the lava.

Over the short wall overlooking the other two parts of the exhibit, viewers can see both the floorto-ceiling spheres with the vinyl structure and the plastic balls falling from the ceiling. The combination of all the plastic running together is mesmerizing, and it is interesting to see the balls falling from the ceiling when you are closer to the height they fall from than the height they fall to.

The exhibit as a whole is a very interesting and innovative way to use plastic and to see plastic as a useful and interesting material.

Multiple installations of the exhibit move around and are almost interactive, which is a great way to get people interested in art in a new way.

This exhibit will remain open until Sept. 2015. Admission to MASS MoCA is free for MCLA students.

Beacon.MCLA.edu

7

DON’T MISS The Student Activities Council presents

Freak Week Oct. 25-31

Saturday, Oct. 25 Murdock 218 8 p.m.

“Hocus Pocus” movie night and psychic John Nesbit Sunday, Oct. 26 Spooky World trip Monday, Oct. 27 Berkshire Towers SAC Volunteering at Boo Bash Wednesday, Oct. 29 Sullivan Lounge 8 p.m.

Hypnotist Eric Mina Thursday, Oct. 30 Marketplace 12-4 p.m.

Spooky Sundaes Friday, Oct. 31 CC324A 3:15 p.m.

SAC meeting

Netflix spotlight

‘Bethlehem’ presents realistic conflict

By Christopher Johnson Arts & Entertainment Writer

The film begins and ends with guns, a familiar setup. In the case of “Bethlehem,” the feature debut of Israeli director Yuval Adler, guns simply exist as a tool and are held nonchalantly.

The real important distinction of “Bethlehem” is how it shows the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without showing an allegory of a two-way hatred resulting in apocalypse for both sides. It achieves this ambiguity through the complexity of relationships and distrust among the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Shad’i Mari plays a disenchanted Sanfur who, since the age of 15, has worked as an informant for Mossad Agent Razi (Tsahi Halevi). The catalyst for the plot is a call from Razi who needs his help preventing an attack by al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a pro-Palestine resistance group. The attack was organized

by Sanfur’s brother, Ibrahim.

The attack happens before Razi and his co-agents can prevent it. They begin to investigate where Ibrahim could be hiding since he broadcasts an official threat on the news. Razi begins to work out a plan with Sanfur,

Photo courtesy of Gringo Films

Yuval Adler’s “Bethlehem” shows the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with realism and emotional sensitivity. but since Razi is fatherly towards him, he nudges Sanfur to stay away from the conflict.

While Ibrahim is collecting money for a new operation, he is pursued by the equivalent of a S.W.A.T. team and eventually takes refuge in the attic of a family’s home, with lighting and indeterminate, claustrophobic dimensions that bring to mind the final scene from The Battle of

Algiers (dir. Gillo Pontecorvo) where the leaders of the resistance are trapped by the French militia.

The film only gets more complicated from there with the increasing distrust between Razi and his boss. Sanfur also has tension with Razi, his family, and resistance leaders from Hamas.

The realism in “Bethlehem” is poetic enough and removed enough from the violence to create the feeling of tension in the dispute of lovers; the characters feel as if they are fighting because they have lost some kind of love or nostalgia for security they never had.

This is not to say that Israel and Palestine are in some kind of prolonged bad romance, but rather what “Bethlehem” demonstrates is the conflict in which lovers hate and love each other equally.

The lovers are willing to let each emotion affect their actions. This is reflected in the final scene, which could give the viewer a bit of heart trouble with the drawn out ambiguity of the scene.

Razi’s dialogue to Sanfur almost surpasses a father’s loving words and turns into adoration, which seems entirely appropriate for a Palestinian who has been able to understand an Is-

raeli. The film Omar (dir. Hany Abu-Assad) engages a similar relationship setup but ends with much more violence and ire.

The camera frequently takes in a lot of light, both natural and artificial; some of the shots involve setting sunlight over the Palestinian hills. This, juxtaposed with a truck full of men with guns, evokes a nostalgia for placidity. The artificial light on the streets is harsh and reminiscent of the nights in Tahrir Square or the end of Jafar Panahi’s “This Is Not a Film.” In Panahi’s film, he investigates citizens shooting fireworks and lighting fires for Chaharshanbe Suri, a fire-jumping festival, which easily sounds like the beginning of a revolution.

Almost any drama film can be called a drama of faces, with a focus on the characters’ emotions.

In “Bethlehem,” the faces are at fierce angles and look like those of average people. One scene evokes the play of faces, where one of the leaders of the Hamas group pushes a member of alAqsa group down the opening of a spiral stairwell. This violent betrayal reminds some of the atrocity expressed in Andrzej Wajda’s A Generation, a film about the Warsaw Uprising and its suppres-

sion. At the moment of pushing in “Bethlehem,” their faces meet very briefly and then the man from al-Aqsa falls in a chilling two-part cut sequence.

According to Jeffrey Wells’s interview “Bethlehem Guys,” the actors, all unprofessional, were enacting scenes that they had witnessed or experienced in real life.

Adler grounds this poetic realism throughout the film with shots of modern life and a smooth, guiding camera-perspective.

It’s difficult to say why this film was made, apart from reconstructing the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians from the directorial perspective of an Israeli. When the bomb goes off early on in the film, the audience feels fear and concern for the Israelis but when Palestinian citizens throw stones at the Mossad soldiers and their truck, the viewer feels a sense of satisfaction.

This film precedes the bombing in Gaza over the summer but can help give a new point of understanding for the emotional and microcosmic effects. At the end, it is no longer a question of who is tormented more, the Israelis or Palestinians. The question is, amidst the final collective agony, there is no question.

8

Sports

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Fair territory

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Trailblazers tie Westfield State Men’s soccer plays to a 0-0 draw despite two overtimes

By Tyler Bacon Sports Writer

NFL’s Golden Tickets

By Jesse Collings Sports Editor

Football is the most popular sport in the US by a wide margin, and although baseball is recognized as “America’s Pastime,” football is “America’s Game.” Football’s popularity is staggering, and perhaps because of that, football has become a spectator sport for the wealthy.

Interested in going to a New England Patriots game this season? Well get ready to take out that second mortgage, because the average ticket price for a Pats home game is $414! $414! For a single ticket! Now, that $414 is the average. Fieldlevel and luxury seats can easily go for over $1,000. A ticket for a seat in the “cheap-seats” is closer to being in the $200 range. I exaggerate when I use the word “seat” because you don’t actually get a seat; those are Standing Room Only prices. $200 a pop, you know, so we normal people can go to the game.

Chances are, you enjoy watching football with your family.

Well, for a family of four to go to the Patriots, it is going to cost you nearly a grand just to get the tickets. If that wasn’t bad enough, you have to drop an outrageous $40 to park, and God forbid anyone in the family wants something to eat or drink. A 16 ounce beer will cost you $12, and a sausage burned by some stiff on a grill will cost you $7.

For a typical family to go to a Patriots game, it can easily cost over $1,500 when it is all said and done, and that is for the cheapest experience possible. When the average income of a Massachusetts household is $66,000, it isn’t really a justifiable expense for most families. The only way for a typical family to reasonably attend a game is to get the tickets from work, or to win them in a raffle.

Despite the fact that Scrooge McDuck is the only person that can afford Pats tickets, the stadium is always filled with fans. NFL teams are able to get away with such high prices because fans continue to pay them. It is a testament to how sensational the NFL’s product is that they can continue to out-price most American families and still be so successful.

Chances are, ticket prices are only going to increase in the future, so if you are interested in attending a game, better start working out a five year savings plan.

The Men’s Soccer team hosted MASCAC rival Westfield State on Saturday afternoon at Shewcraft Field. After 110 minutes, the two teams played to a 0-0 draw.

With the tie, the Trailblazers are now 6-6-2 with a record of 2-1-2 in MASCAC play. Westfield State is now 2-9-2 overall with a MASCAC record of 1-3-1.

The opening 45 minutes of the game saw some quality chances for both sides, with Westfield State holding a slim advantage in shots, 7-6, during the first half.

Westfield State had a chance to break the tie when Joe Pantuosco got behind the defense but his angle was cut off by the Trailblazer defense and MCLA’s Matt Robinson made the save. The ’Blazers had four corner kicks and had a few chances in the box but they could not sneak a shot past Westfield keeper Keith Hevey.

In the second half, the goal opportunities continued as Westfield State hit the crossbar on a header midway through the second half to keep the score at 0.

MCLA had a few chances in the second half, including a few in the final minutes of the game.

The Blazers appeared to have a goal in the 85th minute, however it was taken off the scoreboard because of a foul for goalkeeper interference. As time ticked away and headed towards overtime, Anthony Basile fired a shot that

would have won the game for MCLA but Hevey made a nice save to send the game to the first overtime.

In the first overtime, both teams had a chance to take the lead.

MCLA’s Kwadwo Kusi headed a ball that hit the post in the 92nd minute. Westfield State had a chance to end it when Cody Baglow headed a ball past Matt Robinson but it hit the crossbar.

Dylan Pereira talked about what must improve going forward in order to achieve the team’s goals.

“We must improve our finishing,” Pereira said. “We are very close to being able to put 3 to 5 goals away each game, but that will only happen when we improve our finishing, and taking our chances.”

Coach Adam Hildabrand talked about what the team needs to work on for the final two games of the regular season.

“We need to limit our opponents offensively so they have less chances in our box,” Hildabrand said. “We need to get healthy.

We are not 100% fit yet and we haven’t been since our first conference game. The goal is to have everyone healthy by the end of the week.”

Senior Ryan Baker talked about if in second place is where he thought they would be at this point in the season.

“The ‘preseason poll’ had us ranked in 7th place before the season started,” Baker said. “We knew we deserved much better than that and we knew we would

Photo by Kasey Conklin

Sophomore striker Dylan Pereira fires away from distance. Despite 110 minutes of play, neither team was able to score. show the MASCAC we belong at going into Saturday. the top of the rankings.”

“We are ready! This week of Their final home game of the practice is all focused on Bridgeregular season is Saturday against water,” Baker said. “It is an imporfirst place Bridgewater State. Bak- tant step forward into achieving er talked about how the team feels our goals.”

Women’s soccer pummeled by Framingham

By Jesse Collings Sports Editor

MCLA traveled to Westfield State on Saturday and were unable to win their second MASCAC game of the season, coming up short against the Owls, 5-1. MCLA falls to 3-10-1 on the season, and 1-4 in conference play. Westfield improved to 10-2-2, and remained unbeaten in conference play, with a record of 4-0-1.

For the second game in a row, MCLA let in multiple goals in a short period of time, rapidly putting them behind the eight ball. Westfield broke through for the first time in the 24th minute, when Sarah Sypek received a through ball from Ashleigh Chretien on the left side and fired a shot that glanced off of the hands of Trailblazer goalkeeper Katy Daly and flew into the back of the net to put Westfield State up 1-0.

Westfield would strike again in the 26th minute when Amanda Grant handled a pass from Sypek and finished with a perfect shot low and into the corner of the Trailblazer net.

In the 30th minute, Christina Bounopane knocked in her first goal of the season to score the third Owl goal in a six

minute span to put Westfield firmly in the driver’s seat, 3-0.

Ashley Bovat would add another score for Westfield early into the second half, putting Westfield ahead 4-0 when she scored in the 46th minute.

Sypek would add her second goal of the day in the 62nd minute to wrap up the scoring for Westfield.

MCLA was able to get on the board in the 80th minute, when sophomore Natalie Caney put in a textbook penalty kick following a Westfield foul to prevent MCLA from being shut-out four the fourth consecutive game.

The Trailblazers were out shot 24-7 during the game, as Westfield had a strong game on defense, with their goalkeepers only having to make two saves on the day. Westfield is currently in second place in the conference and is riding a 10 game unbeaten streak.

MCLA will be back in action on Saturday, when they try to get back on track in conference play when they travel to face MASCAC rival Bridgewater State. The Trailblazers will then play Rivier College on Wednesday, and then wrap up their regular Photo by Jesse Collings/The Beacon season when they host Mass.

Sophomore midfielder Natalie Caney delivers a corner kick into the Maritime next Saturday. box.

Sports

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Beacon.MCLA.edu

9

Volleyball sweeps doubleheader Scores

By Jesse Collings Sports Editor

The volleyball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, as they hosted their final home games of the regular season in a doubleheader. The Trailblazers made the games count, sweeping the day and improving their record to 13-8 on the season.

MCLA began the day taking on MASCAC rival Salem State.

The Trailblazers put together a complete game and defeated the visiting Vikings in three straight sets, to improve their conference record to 2-2 in MASCAC. Salem State dropped to 3-11 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

In the opening set, MCLA gained an early lead, and was comfortable trading points with Salem State for the rest of the set to take it, 25-22. Senior Allie Chang ensured it would be a Senior Day to remember for her, as she earned her 1000th career dig in the opening set.

In the second set, MCLA got off to a hot start, opening up a 17-8 lead. Salem State, sensing the game slipping away, made a spirited comeback, but the Blazers were able to hold on to take the second set, 25-20.

In the third and final set, Salem tried to prevent the sweep, but MCLA was able to nip them, 2523. Salem State was within striking distance, down 24-23, but Salem setter Kelly Tanner served the ball into her own net, sealing the deal for the Blazers.

MCLA was led by sophomores Sam Anderson and Rachel Mills, as the two outside hitters combined for 11 kills in the game. Junior Courtney Parent had 14 assists and Chang had a game-high 16 digs. Salem was led by Tanner, who had 20 assists and Emily Peay, who had 15 kills.

It was a special day all-around for MCLA, as coach Amanda Beckwith earned her 100th career

victory with the win over Salem State.

In the second game, MCLA took on UMass Dartmouth in non-conference action. MCLA dropped the first set, but rallied back to take the next three sets to earn the victory. UMD fell to 1012 on the season with the loss.

UMD opened up the match with their A-game, defeating the Blazers handily, 25-16. Despite the poor start, MCLA was able to rally back and take the next three closely contested battles to claim the victory.

MCLA evened the match in the second set, defeating the Corsairs 25-22. The third set mirrored the second, with MCLA again taking the set, 25-22. The Blazers finished off the rally in the fourth set, avoiding a tiebreaking set with a 25-21 victory.

MCLA was led by Anderson, who had 11 kills and by Chang, who had 19 digs. Freshman Margaret Allen added some strong defense, finishing the game with 6 blocks. UMD was led by Jasmine Burris, who had 13 kills, and Brianna Perry, who had 22 digs.

The day marked a celebration for the MCLA seniors. Chang, along with Amanda Fleming, Darien Quick and Jackie Paluilis wrapped up their regular season careers at home with two victories. Quick, who had five kills on the day, wasn’t so sure that this would be her last home game.

“I would say yesterday was certainly bittersweet. I am very happy we finished with two wins, but I’m not ready for volleyball to be over for me on my home court at MCLA,” Quick said. “The rest of the team and I will be doing everything in our power to continue shaking up the MASCAC conference, and ultimately host a conference tournament game.”

MCLA traveled to Westfield State on Wednesday, and will be back in action on Friday when they travel to SUNY-Cobleskill.

Volleyball Saturday, October 18 MCLA vs Salem State 3-0 MCLA vs UMASSDartmouth 3-1 Women’s Soccer Wednesday, October 15 MCLA @ Nichols College 0-1 Saturday, October 18 MCLA @ Westfield State 1-5 Men’s Soccer Saturday, October 18 MCLA vs Westfield State 0-0, 2 OT

Schedules Friday, October 24 Volleyball MCLA @ SUNY-Cobleskill 5 p.m.

Saturday, October 25 Golf MCLA @ NEIGA Championships Photo by Jesse Collings/The Beacon

MCLA senior Darien Quick sets up a potentiall kill for one of her teammates. It was a special day for Quick and her fellow seniors, Allie Chang, Amanda Fleming and Jackie Paluilis, who were honored for their play and committment to the program.

MCLA’s Young named NAC Rookie of the Year

By Jesse Collings Sports Editor

MCLA freshman Nick Young was awarded the North Atlantic Conference Rookie of the Year award following his performance during the NAC Championships over the weekend. Young was also named to the all-conference second team, the only freshmen to earn that honor.

“It feels great to be recognized for my accomplishments, earning NAC Rookie of The Year and being named to the All-Conference Second Team is something every freshman strives to do,” Young said.

Young earned the award after strong performances all season long, leading MCLA in five out of seven tournaments during their fall season. He polished off NAC play in the championship tournament, finishing in sixth place, higher than any other freshmen in the tournament.

Young shot a 76 during the first day of the tournament, and then

shot an 81 during the final round on Sunday, and impressive score considering the golfers were dealing with 25 mph winds. Young finished the 36 hole tournament with a cumalitive score of 157.

MCLA as a team finished with a composite score of 735, placing them in sixth place out of seven teams. Senior Mitch Mullett shot an 85 and a 93 to finish with a score 178, tied for 23rd overall and second on MCLA behind Young.

The tournmanet was won by Salem State, who shot a team score of 625. The individual competition was won by Husson’s Greg Martin, who shot a two day total of 146.

Young was humble in accepting the award, praising the support he has gotten from friends and family.

“I could not have done it without the support of a few people,” Young said. “My parents and sister for coming to my tournaments to support me and watch me achieve my goals, and sec-

ondly my coach and teammates for helping me get acclimated to NCAA tournament competition and staying focused through the rough patches of the season.”

The fall season rolls along wiht a threeday tournament this weekend, when they head to The Captains Course in Brewster, MA, to compete in the 80th annual New England Intercollegiate Golfa Association Tournament. The tournament will be the largest the team has participated in yet, with golfers from over 35 schools traveling to compete in the event.

The first round will take place on Saturday, Photo From MCLA Athletics the second on Sunday, Young has posted the lowest score for and the championship MCLA in fi ve tournaments this season. round on Monday.

Volleyball MCLA vs King’s College @ SUNY-Cobleskill 9 a.m.

MCLA vs Rutgers-Newark @ SUNY Cobleskill 1 p.m.

Men’s Soccer MCLA vs Bridgewater State 1 p.m.

Women’s Soccer MCLA @ Bridgewater State 1 p.m.

Sunday, October 26 Golf MCLA @ NEIGA Championships Monday, October 27 Golf MCLA @ NEIGA Championships Tuesday, October 28 Volleyball MCLA @ SUNY-Cobleskill 7 p.m.

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Opinion

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Are you concerned by the reports of Ebola in the U.S.?

“Yes, but I don’t know much about it.”

“To be honest, not really. It’s spread through bodily secretions and not airborne. It is concerning but I think people are making too big a deal out of it.”

– Alexander Moore, 2015

–Alison Gilbert, 2016

The Beacon 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 guess so. I don’t think it’s a good thing. People should be able to handle it if it’s spreading.”

“I am a little concerned but I’m not as concerned as I should be.”

– Natalie Carpentier, 2018

–Matthew Roberts , 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.

“Yes, but I’m not intensely worried since it’s not huge yet. The U.S. is only freaking out about it because people here have it”

“I’m not concerned about it in the U.S. I think it’s upsetting that it’s getting attention now even though it’s been a large problem in African countries.”

-Leo Haapaoja, 2018

–Salimata Kamara, 2016

Photos compiled by Agnella Gross

Bigger than biceps

Falling into a routine

By Makayla-Courtney McGeeney Editor-in-Chief

As the bright colors of the Berkshires fall away, our workouts might take a plunge as well.

Before we get a jump start on the winter slump, let’s make a few changes to the old exercise routine from summer.

Within our area, outdoor activities such as hiking mount Greylock or traveling the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, to name a few, can help make exercising fun,.

And here’s a little secret: Colder weather doesn’t mean you’re not capable of throwing on more layers and embracing the fresh, crisp air.

According to “The Best Cooler-Weather Workouts” article on Yahoo, hiking can burn up to 422

calories per hour if you’re trudging up a hill. This popular fall activity makes exercise easy and distracting, and tones the gluteus (booty), hamstrings, calves and quadriceps.

Another way to stay in motion during autumn is to do some yard work for your parents and relatives when visiting home. I’m sure even the neighbor could spare a few bucks for a chore that pays off the pounds.

Even if you just go apple picking at a large establishment, that little movement is better than sitting on the couch for hours indulging in cider donuts.

There are also plenty of fall 5K runs and walks, and it isn’t too late to train. Practicing for a 5K should take only three to five weeks. Plus, running in the chill of October is much more enjoyable than doing so in the sweltering heat of July.

As students at MCLA, we’re lucky to live in a small town with convenient access to shops, banks and restaurants. Use this advantage to bike to closer locations, rather than requesting help from a roommate with a car.

This kind of activity might sound unrealistic or inaccessible to a college student, but it also gives you time to breathe away from close living quarters and spend time by yourself. Make time for relaxation by sneaking little health tricks in.

In my humble opinion...

The Internet vs. common sense

By Nick Arena

Multimedia Editor Halloween is on its way again.

That means costumes, candy, decorations, and fake public service announcements meant to scare you more than your local haunted house.

The information age has brought breaking news and other important updates to our fingertips, but it has also brought with it a great deal of unverified information.

With smartphones, anybody who wants to post the news can do so, and in times of great social turmoil – I’m looking at you Ferguson – this type of news can be very beneficial.

But at the same time, it also gives people the ability to create falsified

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

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

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

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

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Makayla-Courtney McGeeney

information and pose it as fact.

Recently, while mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook wall, I found a post that I have seen a couple of years in a row around Halloween. The post has a screen capture of Terry Jordan stating that Halloween is now “Kill a Pit Bull Day,” and gives methods to sneakily poison someone’s dog while the family is out trick-or-treating with it.

This is supposed to be a warning to all dog lovers to leave your furry friends at home, but it’s really a falsified way to make animal abusers look worse than they already do.

According to Snopes.com, it was an attack aimed at Slater, Mo. Councilman Terry Jordan, who was instrumental in creating animal ordinances and tended to focus on pit bulls. Pit bull lovers decided to take matters into their own hands and create this message to ruin him.

Needless to say, Jordan in no way supported violence against animals and he and his family were subjected to a number of violent threats because of this.

I am an animal lover; I work at an emergency animal hospital in the off season and I have a few pets of my own back home. This is absolutely ridiculous. If you don’t like an ordinance being put forth, then speak out against it, don’t subject someone’s entire family to death threats and endless angry phone calls.

But the most important lesson here is: don’t trust everything you read on the internet!

Sports Editor Jesse Collings

Web Editor Jenna O’Connor

A&E Editor Rachel Fitterman

Senior News Editor Nick Swanson

Copy Chief Avery Finnivan Multimedia Editor Nick Arena

Design Editor Meg Gugarty

Staff Staff Writers

Photographers

Isabel McKenzie Agnella Gross Idalis Foster Osakpolo Igiede* Juanita Doss Christopher Johnson Design Team

Nicole L’Etoile Tyler Bacon Copy Editors

Brittany Gallacher Caitlin O’Neill

Advertising

Ryan Robison Angel Baez Contributors

Osakpolo Igiede* Videographers

Kaleigh Anderson Cartoonist

Nikki Kratonis Advisers

Jenifer Augur Gillian Jones Jim Niedbalski

Aaron Crawford Kasey Conklin *Holds more than one position

Online at: Beacon.MCLA.edu Facebook.com/MCLABeacon Twitter.com/MCLA_Beacon

Thursday, october 23, 2014

Check it Out!

Upcoming events on campus

Today, Oct. 23

BSU Breast Cancer Jeopardy, Marketplace 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Intramural Sports,Venable Gym 6-11:30 p.m.

Breast Cancer Memorial, Academic Quad 7-9 p.m.

STAGE Meeting,CC 324A 7-8 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 24 Passport to Asia, Campus Center Gym 5-9 p.m.

Shake It, Shake It, Shakespeare, Sullivan Lounge 6-11 p.m.

Artist Association, Murdock 218 6-8 p.m.

LAS Halloween Dance, Venable Gym 11 p.m.-2 a.m.

Saturday, Oct. 25 Fall Day of Service, Sullivan Lounge 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Events, Announcements & Horoscopes

Commentary Smoking policy an issue for smokers

Horoscopes Thursday October, 23

Aquarius (1/20-2/18): The day’s energy is apt to be lively, making it much easier to get the things done that you need to do.

one everyone runs to for advice today. You’re the one with all the answers who can easily pull the rabbit out of a hat.

Pisces (2/19-3/20): Obstacles that you have ignored are suddenly starting to expand beyond reasonable proportions.

Virgo (8/23-9/23): You may get frustrated when you find that people aren’t as sensitive to a situation as you want them to be.

Aries (3/21-4/19): This is a terrific day for you, you will glow brightly from head to toe as you radiate your true inner self to the world.

Libra (9/23-10/22): A raging wildfire may be underway by the end of the day. Know that you’re one of the biggest perpetrators, but don’t feel badly about it.

Taurus (4/20-5/20): Tap into the boisterous, lighthearted mood of the day instead of getting bogged down with heavy emotions. This is a good time to engage your mind rather than let your heart take control.

Scorpio (10/23-11/21): Put on some lively music you can dance to and really kick up your heels, Scorpio. It’s time to put away the sour mood and have fun with a large group of people.

Gemini (5/21-6/20): Your optimism will be inspiring today. You will find that your lighthearted approach is perfectly suited to taking care of any issue that arises.

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Sagittarius (11/22-12/21): This is a tremendously expansive time for you, Sagittarius, and there is very little that will stop your momentum once you get going.

Cancer (6/21-7/22): Difficult challenges that have been lingering on the sidelines will probably become more prominent today.

Capricorn (12/22-1/19): This is a good time to put things in writing. Your gift with words is apt to shine today as you write a proposal, email, or love poem.

Leo (7/23-8/22): You could be the

Horoscopes.com

To the editor: Recently, MCLA decided to change its “smoking tobacco on campus” policy. Throughout the previous years, students were allowed to smoke anywhere on campus except inside, or close to main doors.

The new policy prohibits smoking everywhere on campus except in designated areas. This new policy prevents smokers from being able to walk through campus while smoking, which is unfair to students who do not want to violate this policy.

Smokers know the health risks associated with smoking and I understand secondhand smoking may be a danger to those around them, but there are alternative solutions to keep both parties happy. These solutions include expanding the distance from entrances and exits where people can smoke, initiating a policy that prevents people from smoking in large gatherings, or even from smoking around others who mind.

What the smoking policy should not do is prevent someone from being able to smoke outside of designated areas even though they are alone. It should not prevent anyone from being able

11

to walk through campus while smoking when no one is around.

It should not deny smokers the right to smoke while lying down on the grass somewhere by themselves. It should not make anyone feel persecuted if they choose to walk through campus while smoking in the late hours of the night when campus is deserted.

People should have the right to be anywhere on campus and not be forced to encounter, inhale, or smell toxic smoke if they don’t want to, and with these new policies they are assured of that, but there are other alternatives to keep everyone happy. Designated smoking areas and specific hours where the policies are lifted can allow non-smokers to manage risk and prevent smokers from exposing others to toxins in the busy hours of the day.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely, Angel Baez Class of 2015 *Angel is an advertising representative for The Beacon

QSU Halloween Party, Sullivan Lounge 7:30-10 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 26 Powder Puff Game,Taconic Lawn 2-5 p.m.

Good Vibes Yoga, Dance Complex 8-10 p.m.

The “Original” Hangover: Movie Night, Sullivan Lounge 8-10 p.m.

FINANCIAL AID ANNOUNCEMENTS INTERESTED IN TAKING A SEMESTER ABROAD OR A SPRING BREAK TRAVEL COURSE?

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***************** SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Mhelpdesk Scholarship Go to mhelpdesk.com/scholarship for official rules and details.

December 15th deadline **************** FREE TIPS AND TOOLS ON MONEY , BUDGETING AND STUDENT LOANS: JOIN FOR FREE AT SALTMONEY.ORG

12

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Photo Essay

Beacon.MCLA.edu

Plastic Fantastic Different forms of plastic make up the art of Lee Boroson’s ‘Plastic Fantastic.’ The exhibit, which opened Oct. 11, will stay open and free for students of MCLA until September of next year.

Photos by Agnella Gross

Inflated plastic pillars make up ‘The Canopy’ portion of the exhibit.

Prismatic lighting shines through the orbs hanging in ‘The Fog’ portion of ‘Plastic Fantastic.’

Above: Floral patterns lined the exterior rings of ‘The Fog’ exhibit.

Right: The ‘Lava Fields’ piece featured a slew of superheated homemade lava lamps.