SMCC Beacon 11/10/2015

Southern Maine Community College Issue 1, #16, November 10, 2015 By the Students, for the Students

www.facebook.com/thebeacon.smcc | www.thesmccbeacon.wordpress.com

The Technology Issue

Your Data is Not Yours Anymore HOW TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY THREATENS YOUR PRIVACY

By Laurence F Adams III

S

pying, collecting, tracking, and processing everyone’s data are par for the course nowadays in America. Before June 2013, with Edward Snowden’s confirmation, it was denied. Even with admitted government

Email Forwarding to your Android Device

By Paul Guiney

select the type of account which is PERSONAL (IMAP/POP) and enter e’ve all heard it before from your email address followed by your professors and instructors; password. It’ll then ask you whether it CHECK YOUR EMAIL! is Personal (IMAP) or Personal (POP); Well it’s quite a hassle to have to go Select Personal (IMAP). Your Incoming to the SMCC homepage click a link server settings will consist of server and that re-directs to another page, click port specifications. The incoming server on a link that goes to email sign in is imap.gmail.com; port 993. Make where you enter your credentials and sure to use security type SSL/TLS log in; just to check your email. If you (accept all Certificates). Your outgoing didn’t know already there is an easier mail server is smtp.gmail.com; port way! Email forwarding is basically re453 or 457. Again you’ll want to make sending an email from one address to sure your security type is SSL/TLS another so that you can get all your mail (accept all certificates). Follow the rest from all your accounts. In this article I of the validation prompts and vuala! will explain how to forward email from Now your emails will automagically your student account to your Android go to your android device. You can Device! modify the incoming and outgoing

Select the Gmail application or the server settings to whoever your email email application. If you don’t have the provider is, Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail.

Gmail application you can download The prompts vary by device, operating it from google play. With your finger system, & IOS version but the settings open the email app and select the three remain the same. I hope this helps bars in the left hand pane. Select ADD alleviate the stress of having to check ACCOUNT and continue to SET UP your email on a regular basis; enjoy!

EMAIL. From here you’ll want to

W

Don’t Fear the Penguin

How a Linux Live CD Could Help You in a Pinch

By Vint Whitcomb

S

o: first week of the new semester and your computer decides to malfunction. You boot it up, a vague error message message flashes across the screen; and you start to feel sick. You need a computer, you realize, especially for the workload you have to look forward to this year. Student loan refund checks are a month away.

A month without a computer. Senior year and a month with loads of papers, and just going to the library honestly won’t cut it. So what do you do? Relax.

There is hope for you. You saved your work on a USB stick or the cloud right?

If you did, and you are willing to get a

little technical, a Linux Live CD might get you out of this jam. And bring your computer back to life for a little while.

WHAT IS LINUX? WHAT IS A LIVE CD? WHY WOULD YOU CARE ABOUT THEM? LINUX is an open source operating system. Simply put, an operating system is software that manages computer hardware, applications, and ultimately what we, the users, interact with to accomplish tasks. Open source software is software that can be freely used, Continued on Page 2

programs, like the ECHELON program, people still weren’t aware of government and corporate spying. In March 2013, the Director of the NSA, James Clapper, even blatantly lied about it. But I believe at this point in time, we can all admit we are being spied on.

There is this unique relationship between the major publicly traded companies (AT&T, Google, Verizon, etc.) and government, where companies collect, aggregate, track, and sell our data, while allowing government to have access to these invasive systems to do their own processing. Through peer pressure, self censorship and the lack of privacy, we are seeing the destruction of our Constitutional DemocraticRepublic.

Leading technology gurus and trail blazers like Dr. Richard Stallman, the father of the Unix systems (essentially all operating systems); the father of the Internet, Sir Tim Berner Lee; the father of computer security, John MacAfee; the father of the first word processing application, John Thomas Draper; Former NSA Director for Global Communications Intelligence and top cryptologist for over 30 years, William Binney; former NSA Executive Thomas Drake, and so many more, are warning

about the effects of the lack of privacy, and its results in our society.

It is essential to any thriving culture and economy for the participants to have privacy. Any cutting-edge company coming up with the next advancement needs to conceal from their competitors their supplies and assets during the procurement phase, otherwise their competitors might be able to figure out what they are coming out with.

Privacy and creativity go hand in hand. Salon even did a piece with Glenn Greenwald where they really capture this issue. He says that privacy is where “we can be free of shame and guilt and embarrassment; it’s where creativity resides.” A person in a society that is always being watched “makes choices not as a free individual but as someone who is trying to conform to what is expected and demanded of them.” Meanwhile, Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

When every Tweet, every Facebook post, every comment, every purchase, every text message, every Continued on Page 9

(HOW TO AUTOMATICALLY)

Keep your Browser Plugins Updated

By Eric Wright

S

o you sit down at your computer and down in the corner of your screen, Java is nagging you to update it again. You went through this last week, but you click through the screens to download and update Java again. Oops, you clicked through the screens too fast without reading them and now your homepage and default search engine has been hijacked and changed to Yahoo!

If this sounds all too familiar, you should be excited to hear that there is a better way to keep browser plugins and other essential free programs up to date! Hop on over to ninite.com, where you will find a plethora of free programs you can download all in one place. Ninite includes browsers like Chrome and Firefox, runtimes like Java

and Silverlight and dozens of other great programs. Simply check the boxes for the programs you want and click “Get Installer”.

After your installer is downloaded, just run it and everything you picked will be downloaded and installed in the background without any toolbars or other unwanted junk. This can save a lot of time when setting up a new computer because computers don’t always come with all the applications you need to get things done.

Now your computer is up to date with everything you need, but don’t delete the Ninite installer yet. When you run it again later, Ninite will go get updates just for the selected programs that are out of date. So next time Java is Continued on Page 8

Campus Exposed: Advising Month and Uhaul CarShare

By Megan Prevost Liberal Studies Major

I

f you’re a student here at SMCC you’ve probably heard through the grapevine that this month is advising month. Either you’ve heard your teachers rambling on about it in efforts to get you to actually sign up for classes at a reasonable date, or you’ve seen the posters around campus.

Advising month is quite possibly the most important month here at SMCC.

It’s the month where you meet with your advisers and plan out how you’re going to lay out your schedule for the next semester, as well as how to save money, time, and general frustration. Advising month will help you plan out the future of your degree and set goals for yourself.

Do yourself a favor and set up an appointment with your adviser.

Another exciting thing happening around campus is the integration of the UhualCarShare program. UhaulCarShare and SMCC have teamed up to bring this

new program to the forefront. With one car on campus, specifically a 2015 Ford C-MAX Energi, this gives students the ability to drive a car without having to continually maintain and pay for their own, as many of us know the financial situation of most college students is usually a struggle. While many college students have their licenses, there are many who don’t own their own cars.

This car can be taken out for an entire day at the flat rate of $62 or for about $5 per hour, plus mileage. This car gives

students without cars the freedom to travel outside the realm that the bus system will bring you. With this new program, the possibilities are endless.

These cars are also better for the environment than taking the bus or having your own car. They run on a rechargeable electric battery that could potentially improve air quality. One of these cars could take about 20 personal cars off the road and with that statistic, maybe save a few parking spots in our already crowded lot.

LIVE CD

A Live CD is computer software or an operating system that runs off of the CD you burn it to, solely in your computer’s random access memory (RAM), without having to touch the hard drive. I like to think of a Live CD like an a mid 90’s console video game: you have to save your games (or your essays) to a memory card (or a flash drive). If you don’t and turn the power off, your data is lost.

For the purposes of a student, a Linux Live CD (there are Windows Live CDs out there too, but, believe it or not, they are not as user friendly) can act as a band-aid until you are able to have your computer either fully operational or replaced. Another benefit of using Linux Live CDs is that, depending on the distribution, a Linux Live CDs is not very resource hungry, so you don’t really need a “beast” of a computer to run them.

WHY WOULD I CARE ABOUT A LINUX LIVE CD?’

UBUNTU MAKES IT EASY TO GET UP AND RUNNING FAST

First and foremost you will have to choose which distribution of Linux you would like to use. I recommend Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the most common distribution of Linux and, in my opinion, the easiest to use. Furthermore, the documentation you have to read to get started with an Ubuntu Live CD is relatively easy to follow.

Ubuntu has published the following guide to help you get up and running with a Live CD. The most up to date version of Ubuntu can also be downloaded from this website: http://tinyurl.com/crx7ukf

Don’t Fear the Penguin Continued From 1 modified, and shared. Since Linux is an “open source operating system,” it is available in many different distributions online for free legal download. Linux does have a slight learning curve compared to Apple’s OS X or Microsoft Windows, but its mascot is a Penguin named Tux. Cool right?

Southern Maine Community College Produced by the students, for the students

EXECUTIVE STAFF Garrick Hoffman Executive Editor Aiden Bothwell Art Director Samuel Carlson Social Media Manager

SECTION EDITORS

Megan Prevost Campus News

Ashley Berry Op & Ed Dierdree Glassford Arts & Features

Illaria Dana Other World CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Laurence F Adams III Alice Barakagwira Alexander Balzano Paul Guiney Hannah Martin Marilyn Smith Vint Whitcomb Eric Wright Christopher Wilkes Paul L Young SPECIAL THANKS TO Kenneth Reddinger Photographer

Craig Stanley Illustration Editor Alexander Balzano Videographer

Seth Buchanan Graphic Design

Chuck Ott Editorial Advisor

Rachel Guthrie Publications Advisor

TO JOIN THE BEACON STAFF CONTACT CHUCK OTT AT cott@smccme.edu

The 4-year colleges just keep on coming to us!

The Information Table is located in the Campus Center Lobby on the South Portland Campus.

More information about the visits can be found on the calendar in the My Career & Transfer Services section of My Maine Guide.

Stop by and chat with the college representatives to learn more about the many educational programs and transfer opportunities these institutions offer!

2 THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

NOV

5 5 5 9 12 16 17 18 18 30

University of Southern Maine Information Table & Appointments.

Call 741-5626 to arrange appointment

NOV

Husson University Information Table

NOV

Roger Williams University Information Table

NOV

Husson University Information Table & Appointments.

Call 741-5626 to arrange an appointment

NOV

University of Maine at Augusta Information Table & Appointments.

Call 741-5626 to arrange appointment.

NOV

University of New England Information Table

NOV

UMASS-Lowell Information Table

NOV

UMASS-Dartmouth Information Table

NOV

NOV

Vermont Technical College Information Table

University of Maine Information Table & Appointments.

Call 741-5626 to arrange appointment.

*Please note: Ubuntu isn’t just a Live CD: you could install it to the hard drive of your computer if you wanted. Ubuntu gives you the option to “Try Ubuntu before you install it.” Be careful when running the Live CD not to select “Install Ubuntu” if you don’t want to overwrite your hard drive and install a new operating system.

I accept no responsibility if you overwrite your hard drive in the process of trying Ubuntu.

Once the Ubuntu Live CD has loaded, you may be surprised at how easy it is to use. Ubuntu has many of the same features as popular operating systems like OS X or Windows. Likewise, there are many familiar Linux applications for activities like web browsing and word processing (like Mozilla Firefox and Libreoffice) and connecting to a wireless network from start-up is usually as easy as selecting the network you wish to join.

If you’re feeling adventurous or have nothing to lose, give a Linux Live CD a shot. The best way to learn is to jump right in! If you get stuck, “google it” or search through the distros documentation on their website. A Linux Live CD might breathe new life into an ailing PC. Remember, if you at least have a computer that has a monitor, a CD drive, RAM, and a few usb ports, you can run it until the wheels fall off!

Vint Whitcomb is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is planning on a career in networking and Linux server administration. This article can also be found on Vint’s website via the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/o5ne29s

Unusual From the Scholarships South Portland

AMERICAN FIRE SPRINKLER ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM This scholarship program with a simple application requires students to read a short essay on the topic of sprinkler and fire safety and then complete a quiz.

Every correct answer the student submits will put the student in the running for one of ten $2,000 scholarships available. Students are free to refer to the provided text while completing the quiz and are given a second attempt for each incorrect answer. The scholarship is open until 04/06/16 to senior high school students who are U.S. citizens.

DUCK BRAND DUCT TAPE STUCK AT PROM CONTEST This scholarship contest provides students the opportunity to flaunt their creative side. The entries that create the most impressive prom outfits using Duck Brand duct tape will be able to win up to a whopping $10,000 towards their college education and have an additional $5,000 go to their high school. There are lower scholarship prizes for runner-up through second place, ranging from $500 to $5,000.

Entrants must submit a picture by June 1, 2016, be at least 14-years-old, and attend a high school prom.

L

ast Thursday students in Eric Wellman’s EMSP-225 Medical Emergencies II class worked through an overdose scenario. The goal of the simulation was to understand the ways an overdose affects the victim and to iron out any difficulties the students may have with assessment and treatment procedure. SMCC students work as a team to assess the situation: Kristina Donnellan at the head of the victim, Tobey Farrington to Kristina’s left, Nick Jackson standing, Ryan Baillargeon to Nick’s left and Hunter Holt kneeling.

From the Midcoast Campus: A Slice of Life

T

he Midcoast campus Learning Commons and Health Science Center came to life a few Thursdays ago as Aaron Cook’s guitar playing filled the center with musical interludes. SMCC students:

Rod Chandler (leaning over the back), Emily Belanger, Shiloh Chambers, and Kayla Barr joined Aaron in a repose from their academic studies.

CONCERNED Concerned ED t cerned aab boou u t about

tutui it i t o i o nn

VEGETARIAN RESOURCE GROUP SCHOLARSHIP Open to high school seniors, this scholarship awards students who have promoted a vegetarian lifestyle, and thereby a peaceful world, through efforts in their school or community. Applicants must submit an essay, application, transcript, and three recommendations by February 20, 2016. One $10,000 scholarship and two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded.

Campus

ce cern rne e a d d bo ut

S

o, you are a little bit of an unconventional student and your thought process goes something like this: “There’s no financial aid available for me because of who I am.” Well, maybe you’re wrong. Are you creative, and do your art assignment with Duct Tape? A high school senior who is a Vegetarian? Some one who stands up for those who are bullied?

A Fire Science student with an interest in sprinklers and fire safety? Or want to break into the greeting card industry? If so, here are 5 scholarships you should be interested in.

FEES

HOLLISTER CO ANTI-BULLYING SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM This scholarship, open until February 1, 2016, gives students who have experienced bullying or advocated for anti-bullying efforts a chance to share their story and be rewarded for their efforts and resilience.

Entrants must submit a 500-word essay and have at least a 3.0 GPA. Both U.S. and international high school seniors may apply.

Winners receive a $2,500 scholarship that is renewal for all four years of college.

Fut ure of

SM CC

We need volunteers to assist adults with vision loss in recreational activities at our newly established Rehabilitation Center.

Volunteers will lead evening card or board games at the State and Grant Street residencies, and can assist, lead or drive for weekend community outings. Training in visual impairment and mobility is provided before starting. Volunteer commitment can be at almost any level over a three-month term, such as an afternoon in a weekend or an occasional night.

For more information, speak with Dr. A. Jan Berlin, Medical Director of the Low Vision Clinic at Iris Network or Diane Richard: 207.774.6273 | drichard@theiris.org.

concerns ur ask the pertinent

Voice y o

CREATE A GREETING CARD SCHOLARSHIP Artistic students should take note of this scholarship, which requires a submission of an original photo, computer graphic, or other artwork appropriate for the front of a greeting card. All current high school and college students are eligible to enter. Entries (only one per person) will be accepted until February 25, 2016. One winner will receive $10,000.

or the

questions, and get the information you need from

President Derek Langhauser, Thursday, November 12th at 12:15 in Jewett Hall Auditorium with MCCS.

THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

3

Education is Freedom

By Ashley Berry Political Science Major

L

et us pick up our books and our pens,’ I said. ‘They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.’” Most people know, or should be familiar with, Malala Yousafzai. She is the picture of the importance of education.

At the age of fifteen she was shot in the head on a school bus because she and her father stood up for the right to education in Taliban-controlled Pakistan. She defied the odds and survived despite this horrible tragedy. Since that day, her life has changed dramatically and she now is the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

This young girl put her life on the line because she believed in the power of education, and believed that all people

deserve an education. Why is it that she was so willing to give her life for her beliefs in education, but in America we diminish the importance of education? The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an organization that measures adult (ages 16-25) literacy rates in countries around the world. The United States falls below twelve countries including Japan, The Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia. The United States also falls below the PIAAC international average. In a country that calls itself a world superpower, this is unacceptable.

Some of the greatest leaders who have fought for equality and who are universally admired believed in the importance of investment in education.

People like Malala, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and many others have

spoken about the importance of education.

Numerous colleges, universities, governments, and private organizations have released studies on education and the incredible impact it can have on the world.

In 2012, the World Bank figured that if Kenya’s illiterate girls were educated the country’s economy would be boosted by $27 billion over the course of their lifetimes.

Education provides numerous benefits that allow students to find their potential and helps them become productive citizens of their country and the world. So why, when the fat needs to be trimmed, are schools always the first target? Why do politicians use education as blackmail leverage? Most importantly, why do students continue to disrespect the very people who are trying to educate us?

Everyone has shared classrooms with ignorant, disrespectful students who are more concerned with their cell phones

than with learning. This is frustrating for teachers and students alike. Time and time again, students are rude, disengaged, and make it obvious that they would rather be elsewhere. Every day after class it’s easy to walk out wondering why these students even bother showing up.

There are people around the world who have given their lives in the pursuit of access to education. There are even more people who can only dream of going to school. Yet we disparage education and take it for granted. We need to start caring more about education than about what the Kardashians are wearing today. If people are willing to give their lives for education the least they can do is put down their damn cell phone and be engaged.

of light intensity. Surprisingly enough daylight is 5000K. Crazy. It’s effect over time accumulates and can cause damage to your retina, which is connected to age-related macular degeneration. Constant blue light can cause retina cell death. Blue light during the evening time throws the human body’s biological clock out of order.

Brightness is not the biggest issue with the body’s biological clock in the evening, but the color temperature. The blue light may seem like nothing during the day, but it’s still digging away at your retina eye cells.

Studies also show that gazing into a bright blue screen at the dead of night cuts out 1 – 2 hours of sleep that you won’t get back. F.lux alters the lighting to a warmer and friendlier tone.

The application itself is easy and free to download right from https://justgetflux. com/. The website should notice your operating system automatically (it has with all the machines I have downloaded F.lux on). All that you’ll really need to do with F.lux after you download the application is to enter in your zip code so that it recognizes the time when the sun is either setting, or when the sun is coming up in your chosen area. The application itself will know when it’s time for sunset to occur in your area and it will automatically adjust the warmness of your screen to nightime. The same process happens automatically when dawn

approaches.

There are other tweaks you can use to alter F.lux, you can disable it or unistall it very easily. There is a checkbox that you can check that disables F.lux for one hour if you’re doing something like Photoshop that is a color sensitive process. The other setting that you can use is the adjust lighting setting, which has an option for lighting of both the day and the night. Transitional speed is also another thing that you can configure – you can choose either fast or slow, having a slow transition helps the CPU usage become less intensive than the fast transition.

Another cool setting is that you can adjust the nighttime to either Ember (1200k), Candle (1900k), Dim Incandesecent (2300k), Incandescent (2700k), Halogen (3400k), Flourescent (4200k), Sunlight (5000k). To expand your color range, you’ll need to restart your computer or portable device to try out every option for nighttime lighting.

Essentially, the regular default moniter color temperature is like a tanning salon just for your eyes.

Matthew Porr is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is planning on a career in Software Engineering. This article can be viewed online under Matthew’s webpage, http://www.matthewporr.com/beaconarticle---flux.html.

Tech Talk: F.lux Matthew Porr Information Technology Major

F

.lux is a free application that alters the color temperature of your screen from a bright, beaming blue to a calm, relaxing reddish hue. This application was created by both Michael and Lorna Herf.

F.lux is available for Windows, Mac, and iOS operating systems. You can download F.lux for free off of the F.lux website.

Blue light emitted from a typcial desktop or laptop, being apart of the visible light spectrum delves deeper into your eyes. The measurement of light for blue light is 6500K, K meaning Kelvin which is a measurement

䈀䔀 䤀一匀倀䤀刀䔀䐀⸀ 䐀椀猀挀漀瘀攀爀 爀攀愀氀 搀攀猀椀最渀 愀琀 琀栀攀 䈀䄀䌀⸀ 䄀琀琀攀渀搀 愀渀 漀瀀攀渀 栀漀甀猀攀 漀渀 吀栀甀爀猀搀愀礀Ⰰ 一漀瘀攀洀戀攀爀 ㄀㈀ 愀琀 㔀㨀㌀ 瀀洀⸀ 䄀刀䌀䠀䤀吀䔀䌀吀唀刀䔀 䤀一吀䔀刀䤀伀刀 䄀刀䌀䠀䤀吀䔀䌀吀唀刀䔀 䰀䄀一䐀匀䌀䄀倀䔀 䄀刀䌀䠀䤀吀䔀䌀吀唀刀䔀 䐀䔀匀䤀䜀一 匀吀唀䐀䤀䔀匀

刀攀最椀猀琀攀爀 一漀眀 琀栀攀ⴀ戀愀挀⸀攀搀甀⼀椀渀渀漀瘀愀琀攀 㘀㄀㜀⸀㔀㠀㔀⸀ ㄀㈀㌀

4 THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

A Call for Getting Lost Illaria Dana Education Major

A

bout six weeks ago, I got really sick. I was housesitting for a friend near campus. She is a potter and was headed to the Common Ground Fair. I had a difficult time breathing and intense pain in my ear and throat.

Two days passed; I lied in bed, my head propped up on pillows, laboring through each breath, sleeping for the brief hours that ibuprofen gave me relief in and waking up in agony. I could not go on like this.

The following Sunday I went to the emergency room and was referred to an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist) on Marginal Way. There were various old people sitting in the waiting room reading Downeast Magazine. In the doctor’s office, the doctor handed me one of the vacuums that they use in dentists’ offices to suck up extra fluids. This was ominous, but I had been here before. This was becoming an annual occurrence in my life, just like the shorter days and snowfall.

Here is a warning for readers who might be alarmed by graphic, physical descriptions of a repellent nature: stop reading now.

The doctor took a scalpel, held my tongue down with a wooden depressor, and cut into an abscess the size of a tennis ball in the back of my throat. This process is called “lancing”. He stopped twice and had me use my tiny vacuum to suction the pus from my throat and resumed cutting. He told me, “We really have to get this over with. It’s mind over matter, and it has to be.”

Clinging to his words, I kept my mouth open, closed my eyes and forced my body to release the bind it was in. I went home physically traumatized, with an appointment to get my tonsils out midway through this semester.

Students in the United States often struggle with the merits of getting an education. It is true that state schools used to be the affordable alternatives to their privately-owned counterparts. It is also true that receiving an Associate’s or a Bachelor’s degree do not ensure employment as they once did. But there is another factor that threatens students’ education. It is a cultural threat. Students used to believe in the merit of an education-in-itself, that working meant something, and in the threads that bind society together.

More people graduate from high school and college than ever before. One can find articles in local and national newspapers about changing education from a traditional classroom in which memorization and lectures dominate to the constructivist philosophy in which students are asked to form relationships with their peers, teachers, and the subjects they study. This transition is not only idyllic, it is perhaps necessary.

But what does education have to do with my tonsils?

The day of my surgery I stopped at the bookstore. After an interview I had done for The Beacon, a title was stuck in my mind. It was Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide for Getting Lost. A poet I had interviewed referenced the book, for

it had taught her the Tibetan word “shul” which refers to the impression left behind something that was. “Shul” is also used in Yiddish to mean “school”. The bookstore happened to have a copy, so I bought it and brought it with me to my surgery and to the home of my mother where I would recover.

I spent a total of four hours in the hospital, and when I left, I left behind my tonsils. I thought about the time I would miss from school. Being a student means there’s always something to do, to think about doing, or to anticipate in the future. It can seem like a more calculated version of juggling, in which one juggles something invisible called work. This becomes more intricate if one has work, children, and other obligations of this nature.

I had tried to negotiate myself out of this operation for these very reasons.

Ultimately, some things are important enough to take a break from school, and health is one of them.

I remember talking to anesthesiologists and nurses. Getting an IV and watching the liquid flow from a hanging plastic bag into my vein. I remember someone telling me to think of something “really nice” before going under. I thought of the desert while I was wheeled into the operating room and a woman with a mask on her face squeezed my hand.

Then I woke up, and in a bit, I could go home.

It can be a disorienting experience to be placed under anesthesia, and this is especially true if you have dysthymia, or persistent, mild depression. I spent the next week in bed reading Solnit’s A Field Guide.

Here is what I learned: Solnit says, “Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself comes from, and where you will go. Three years ago I was giving a workshop in the Rockies. A student came in bearing a quote from what she said was

the pre-Socratic philosopher Meno. It read, ‘How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?’”

What is education, at its core, other than a fundamental exploration? It is no less exploratory if there is a known outcome, a career waiting at the other side. What I learned on bedrest was the importance of turning my mind over, letting it be molded, by everything around me that could teach me something. I had been spending most of my energy juggling schoolwork, and to some extent, this is necessary and gratifying.

But did school replace the joys of good conversations, walks in nature, exercise, great art and literature? Was I forgetting about these other practices? I realized that these practices enriched my life as a student and were necessary for me to continue my education. Armed with the fruits of this paradox, I returned to the semester, anonymous among my peers, but changed nonetheless.

Lock Them Up, Throw Away the Key? HOW THE MAINE CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT IS SLIGHTING RIGHTS OF PRISONERS AND SELFBETTERMENT EFFORTS OF ADDICTS

By Illaria Dana Education Major

T

he Maine Corrections Department is proposing to amend the conduct policies for inmates. According to the Portland Press Herald, “The proposed rules mostly seek to amend existing policies for adult and juvenile inmates related to commonly prohibited acts such as destruction of property, fighting, displaying gang symbols and possessing contraband.

“But they also include policies that have either already been rejected by courts or haven’t been tried in other states, such as bans on interacting with the news media, soliciting or communicating with a pen pal, passing or receiving written communication without authorization and social networking.”

A hearing took place on Monday, October 26th, where many citizens voiced their disapproval of the proposed rules of conduct. It is obvious that participation in gangs, violence, the possession of weapons, and drug use are detrimental to the lives of prisoners, the maintenance of order in prisons, and the ultimate goal of rehabilitating people who have committed crimes.

One is entitled to various opinions about the validity of the United States prison system and its proposed goal of correcting maladaptive and/or antisocial, criminal behaviors.

The United States population comprises 5 percent of the total world population, but our incarceration rate accounts for 20 percent of people incarcerated around the world, according to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). The ACLU also states that 1 in 35

adults in the U.S. are in the correctional system: in prison or jail, on parole or probation. The sheer number of people in the correctional system must cause each citizen to question our dependence on this system and ask, “Can we do something different? Do I want to increase the isolation of prisoners?”

One problem that many prisoners face is addiction. Drug and alcohol use greatly affects one’s personality and capacity to make decisions. The need for substances, a mental obsession coupled with physical craving, is often too much for an individual to handle on her or his own. Furthermore, drugs and alcohol may increase criminal behavior (as drugs are illegal) and keep addicts from forming and adhering to plans for living once they are released.

Members of recovery communities that operate through programs, such as twelve step programs, are allowed to have two members bring meetings once a week into jails and prisons in Maine. Regardless of inmates’ motivations for attending these meetings, which range from boredom to the sincere desire to recover from addiction, the opportunity to speak with

other addicts who have made progress and lead exemplary lives in society is invaluable.

These weekly meetings are not always enough for addicts to change their attitudes and behaviors. Inmates in solitary confinement are forbidden from leaving their cells and from having any face-toface contact with other humans. The ability to receive letters from the outside can offer prisoners struggling with addiction or in solitary confinement a priceless tool: hope.

Prisoners will be deprived of the opportunity to have any sort of pen pals if these new conduct rules are finalized without revision. Addiction, through stigma and loss of relationships, is isolating enough.

Besides the infringements on the rights of prisoners these new conduct limitations will cause if placed into effect, they will greatly reduce the opportunities of addicts in correctional facilities to begin their journey of recovery. The Maine Corrections Department has not yet stated when the new conduct rules will be finalized and what they will include.

Bowl for Free!

At Easy Day Join your fellow SMCC students on Tuesday evenings from 5-7, and bowl like the Great Lebowski!

725 Broadway, South Portland, Maine A current and valid SMCC student identification card is required.

THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

5

Upholding the Right To Be Stupid HOUSTON’S VOTE AGAINST

HERO

By Paul L. Young

L

ike many Americans in presidential election season, a majority of Houstonians last week asserted their constitutional right to be knuckle-dragging troglodytes by rejecting the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The measure, first passed last May, would have made it illegal to discriminate against 15 protected classes, including gay and transgender people, people with disabilities and pregnant women.

Called “the bathroom ordinance” by conservative reductionists, the measure was passed by the City Council in May 2014. Republicans countered with a court challenge that opened the ordinance to a referendum. Last Tuesday Houston voters defeated the statute 61 percent to 39 percent.

Openly lesbian Mayor Annise D. Parker said, “This was a campaign of fearmongering and deliberate lies designed to demonize a little-understood minority.”

Conservative ads against the statute painted lurid scenarios of cross-dressing sexual predators trolling for little girls in public restrooms.

On Oct. 29 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted, “No one should face discrimination for who they are or who

they love-I support efforts for equality in Houston & beyond. #HERO #YesOnProp1 –H.” Four days later, Republican Gov. Greg Abbot, himself a paraplegic, tweeted, “HOUSTON: Vote Texas values, not @ HillaryClinton values. Vote NO on City of Houston Proposition 1. No men in women’s bathrooms.”

The timing of Houston’s vote was unfortunate. Conservatives used the ballot to peddle misinformation to talk-radioheads and exploit an opportunity to advance conservative candidates. They were preaching to the converted, but also distancing the Republican Party even

T

he Portland Minimum Wage Referendum that sought to increase the minimum wage from ten dollars per hour to fifteen dollars per hour was voted down on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Advocates for the referendum stated that workers need to be making a living wage, one in which they could pay rent or mortgages, support their families, and afford food and healthcare. Dissenters claimed that businesses, especially small, local businesses would have difficulties affording this increased cost of operating.

Portland advocates small businesses in zoning rules that limit the presence of corporations in the downtown and Old Port districts. This is reflected in the statewide trend of organic farmers. According to MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Maine had 582 organic farms that generated $36,636,000 of total output that year. The business model of the organic farmer can be used to show the need for a certain amount of employees, the need to keep costs reasonable, and the needed economic output to keep Maine’s fragile economy viable for its citizens.

Here, however, the comparison ends, for Portland’s economy is based on commercial businesses more than agricultural ones.

Maine has an unemployment rate of 4.7% according to the April statistics.

The statewide minimum wage is set at 7.50 dollars per hour. About 14 percent of Mainers live below the poverty line.

people, many of whom require legal relief from discrimination in housing and the workplace.

Endorsing discrimination is also simply bad business, discouraging companies from setting up shop in Houston. The Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston Super Bowl Committee and Fortune 500 firms doing business in Texas “have gone on record this year supporting equality for all Texans, including those who are gay and transgender,” said Houston Unites on its website supporting the ordinance. It’s way past time for the rest of Houston to follow their example.

News from The Broccoli

Reporting with honesty, integrity, and broccoli RESEARCH FINDS MARIJUANA PROMOTES HYDRATION

By Garrick Hoffman Liberal Arts Major NEW HAVEN, CT - A new study conducted by Yale scientists has revealed that marijuana promotes hydration.

The study was conducted on a group of two hundred eager volunteers. One hundred volunteers were directed to smoke

Portland Minimum Wage Referendum Shot Down

By Illaria Dana Education Major

further from moderate, mainstream Americans. Then again, as in last year’s midterm elections, Democrats simply didn’t get their people to the polls.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2001 57 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage, versus 35 percent who supported it. This year those numbers reversed, with 55 percent of Americans supporting gay marriage against 39 percent who oppose it. Over the past 14 years, Americans clearly have come to understand that their sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, friends and neighbors include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender

Businesses obviously provide jobs for workers. It makes sense that prudent voters would consider the burden of increasing minimum wage on businesses as providers of jobs. However, one must also consider that hard work does not always equal success and financial security. People need to be able to have housing and food in order to flourish. Since Governor LePage has been active and vocal about cutting back on social services that could provide these necessities, and since the minimum wage does not reflect a livable wage, the burden falls upon the individual.

The argument that education is the solution is no longer viable. Many people cannot afford education. It is no longer possible for most to work their way through school. Community colleges in Maine are struggling since they are no longer subsidized, and this could mean an increase in cost. Teenaged parents, who must provide for their children, many of whom have had their educations interrupted to care for their children cannot live on grants and loans. And we must ask ourselves, is it right to let people suffer?

The economy is fragile. It is like an ecosystem based on many interdependent factors. Capitalism places no restriction on how much money individuals and corporations can make. But should an advanced, industrialized nation have such a high rate of poverty? Should we let children and the elderly, those populations most affected by poverty, go hungry? What is the value of a human life? And how little will we pay people for their time?

6 THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

or ingest marijuana; the other half was not.

Every volunteer was then ordered to keep themselves busy at their assigned desks by whatever means necessary. Each volunteer had a glass of water on their desk. By the end of the study, 95% of marijuana users had emptied their glasses, while only 10% of the non-marijuana users had emptied theirs. 90% of the latter had only taken a sip or none at all.

At the end of the study, we caught up with volunteer Cheech Rogen and asked why he thought he finished his glass. He said, “I dunno, I think I just had mad dry mouth. Weed does that to me all the time.

I just took a piss and it was real clear, too.

That’s a good thing.

“So, yeah, I think it was…wait…what are we talking about again?”

SMOKER RENOUNCES GMOS, GLUTEN, NON-ORGANIC FOOD FOR HIS HEALTH NORTH YARMOUTH, ME - Ben Christie has been a smoker all his life.

“Since I was practically just out of tighty-whities,” he said.

But he’s also been eating all the wrong foods: processed foods with pesky GMOs in them, gluten-riddled bread, and junk food that he now calls “pseudo-sustenance” after he heard his friend use the term.

But that’s going to change.

“I’m renouncing it all,” Christie said.

“I just saw a nutritionist the other day. I’m gonna lose weight. I’m gonna feel better.

I’m gonna look better. I’ll be revitalized!

Every day will be packed with vegetables, smoothies, and the best, organic food I can find, and I’ll be visiting farmer’s markets a lot more, too. I’ll be the healthiest guy in town!”

When asked if he plans to kick the cigarette habit, Christie replied, “I dunno, probably not.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICT RECEIVES TIPS FOR DEVELOPING ACTUAL SOCIAL TRAITS PORTLAND, ME - Before Brooke Hanley goes to work, she ensures that her Facebook friends know about it, usually sharing a picture of her in her car before she leaves.

While there, she likes to take a picture of her free office coffee and share it on her

Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr pages. The caption beneath typically reads, “I love my job!!!”

When she gets home, Brooke has herself an easy meal, turns on Netflix, and logs onto her Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr pages to see if she received any notifications during her commute home.

Then, while Orange Is the New Black is on, she logs onto her Match.com profile to see if any men have messaged her. So far only two have, but she hasn’t been interested.

She thinks she might try to date co-workers instead.

“I f***ing hate my job, but I love social media,” she confessed in an interview with Broccoli staff members, causing confusion about glorifying her job on such platforms. “And I guess I really don’t go out and hang out with people much. Or at all, really.”

Broccoli staff members also discussed with Brooke how to reinvent her social life.

We suggested reconnecting with friends via phone or on Facebook to plan a day to catch up and spend actual, real-life time together.

Spending time with co-workers outside the office is also feasible, we told her. We also told her that “likes” and comments on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr don’t constitute a real social life.

“But I hate people,” she said.

LOCAL TEENS FIND NEW HANG SPOT

By Hannah Martin Communications & New Media Major SOUTH PORTLAND, ME - Area teen Michael Welsh of South Portland let The Broccoli know Thursday about the hip new place to hang. Located between two trash cans on Congress Street is where all the young kids are going to get freaky, according to Welsh.

“Everyone loves to go down there, and occasionally we get a guest visit from a homeless person,” Welsh said. “That’s when things start to get wild.”

Michael then went on to tell us about how, for activities, most teens are finding themselves dancing to the howling of cats and bumping to the groove of car alarms.

“It’s the place to be and I can’t wait to go back tonight,” he said.

Members of The Broccoli were told not to visit.

The “Death with Dignity” Movement

By Marilyn Smith Human Services Major

C

alifornia. Oregon. Vermont.

Montana. Washington. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of states considering death with dignity laws. Sometimes called “assisted suicide” or “right to die,” these laws make it possible for terminally ill patients to use prescribed medication to end their lives peacefully rather than suffering a painful and prolonged death. Centuries of medical ethics, however, can be difficult to change.

One of the most well-known “right to die” cases is that of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was severely brain damaged following a collapse at age 26 while at home with her husband. Terri’s case was appealed to every state and federal venue possible. Ultimately, Terri’s feeding tube was finally discontinued on March 18, 2005 and she died 13 days later on March 31st.

Maine’s numerous health and religious organizations are strongly opposed to this bill (L.D. 1270). Just this past September, Maine’s Senate rejected the bill (18-17) only to see the House pass the bill (76-70).

The bill will now head back to the Senate.

As someone who witnessed the agonizing illness and dying of a parent, I personally am advocating for a change in the current Maine law. When all hope was lost and the diagnosis was terminal, my dad did not have the will to live any longer. Shouldn’t he have had the right to end his life? If we

believe every human has a “right to life,” then doesn’t every human have a “right to die” since dying is a part of life?

For two years our lives were nothing but doctors, hospitals, surgeons, physical therapists, and social workers. From the moment my Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer, our lives were turned upside down. He had weeks of inpatient chemotherapy, outpatient radiation, and then suffered a major heart attack and had quadruple bypass surgery. He had numerous complications, months of rehab, and about $10,000 per month in prescription drugs for which he had no drug coverage. A second heart attack followed with more rehab and more drugs.

A few months later he developed an infection in his foot that wouldn’t heal. It grew worse by the day and we were advised that his right foot needed to be amputated… more surgery, more rehab, more drugs. The wound from the amputation did not heal and another infection set in, so a few weeks later he lost the rest of his right leg. My mom worked as full-time nurse and could not afford to leave her job to take care of him as the medical bills and prescription drug costs were mounting. I took a leave of absence from my job to take him to his doctor appointments, radiation treatments, and physical therapy.

In the meantime, my parents went through their life savings, including their retirement savings, and were going to lose their home. During one of my daily visits to his hospital room, I sat there looking

Letter to the Editor Dear Beacon editor,

I would like to applaud you for being able to get a gang of college students to be in a room together and write stories for a newspaper that only 80% of this college reads. That takes a lot of strength. I also really admire your section “The Broccoli” it’s a lovely article that is similar to The Onion, which is very funny to me. After reading your last issue I would suggest that you write fewer sections on Hitler, but that’s just my personal point of view. Another question that I have is why are only some of your photos in color? It doesn’t bother me that much but it was just something that I picked up on. I would also suggest putting all the articles about students here at the school in the back with the sports, not only because it’s nice to have them grouped together but sports is the least interesting of them to me and it belongs in the back. The last thing I would like to bring up is that when you published my piece in the newspaper a while back you put my name in as Haley Martin, which is close but not quite there. Keep up the great work!

Yours sincerely, Hannah Martin.

Business Club The SMCC

ALL are welcome!

Meetings: Thursdays, 12:30pm to 1:15pm Place: 1st Floor Hague (Business Club Lounge)

at him while he napped and I thought to myself, Who is this man? This is not my dad anymore. When he woke, I helped to get him out of bed, get him dressed, and changed his bed linens. As he sat in the chair, this big, strong man who I idolized growing up - the man who provided for and took great care of his family - simply broke down and cried. All of his doctors agreed on one thing: he was not going to recover. He was too weak and had suffered too much trauma between the cancer, heart attacks, and amputations.

My dad pleaded for the madness to stop. He wanted the pain and suffering to end. He felt he was a burden to his family.

All hope was lost and he became depressed, which his doctors wanted to treat with more medication. Where does it end? My parents lost everything, but most importantly, however, my dad lost whatever dignity he had left.

Several weeks later he died in that same hospital bed. I would have done

anything in my power for him to have had the option of dying with dignity.

Our culture tells us that we should fight hard against age, illness and death.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,” Dylan Thomas wrote. Dying is something that we all have to go through. It is a sacred thing and I believe it is a time in one’s life that should be peaceful. I feel individuals should be able to make their own end-oflife decisions when faced with a terrible, painful, prolonged death.

Aside from the physical pain, there are many other varieties of suffering that accompany an illness or disease, such as dehumanization, loss of independence, loss of control, a sense of meaninglessness or purposelessness, loss of mental capabilities, loss of mobility, and disorientation and confusion, to name a few. I am hopeful that the national discussion and the increased awareness of the issue over the last year will help Maine lawmakers vote to enact this new law.

The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program Assist top students graduating from two-year colleges in the U.S. with pursuing a Bachelors Degree at the country’s most prestigious four-year institutions. Approximately 85 scholarships are awarded to students (international students can apply, too!) for up to $40, 000, per year for up to 3 years.

The application is lengthy and the criteria is rigorous, most importantly - the reward great! If you are a high-achieving SMCC student (grade point average of 3.5 or better) you wanrt to apply!

The minimum requirements for eligibility to apply for phase one are:

• Current student at SMCC with sophomore status by December 31, 2015, or a recent graduate since spring 2011.

• Minimum 3.50 cumulative grade point average of all collegelevel courses • At least sophomore standing (30 credits) by December 31, 2013 • Plan to enroll full-time in a baccalaureate degree program at accredited four-year institution starting in fall 2016 • Must have un-met financial need * Have not previously enrolled at or attended a four-year institution.

• Have not previously been nominated for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship For more details and a link to the application: http://www.jkcf.org/scholarship-programs/undergraduatetransfer/?utm_campaign=UT%20Faculty%20Rep&utm_ source=email

The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship phase one application is available on the Jack Kent Cooke Website now. The application is now open through December 15, 2015.

Please contact me: Sharon Bannon, SMCC Director of Career & Transfer Services, sbannon@smccme.edu, 741-5626, Room 113 Campus Center for assistence.

THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

7

Seeing the Unseen

An ASTEP Photo Series WORDS FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER: In October, I took the opportunity with some friends and my girlfriend to enjoy a weekend in Cutler, Maine. It was the first time I’ve ever been that far east in the state I grew up in. We paddled in this dinghy to an island not too far from the mainland, and as the sun was beginning to set, the scenery beckoned me to capture it.

I knew going to Cutler that I’d be stricken with the autumn beauty, and beguiled by the rustic, rural elements. And I was.

The Intern A REVIEW

By Alexander Balzano Communications and New Media

T

he Intern was a unique, lovable movie and definitely a good date movie.

The film opens with Robert DeNiro as a retired widower who is, in fact, a lonely character with not many friends and a distant family. Wanting more of a purpose in life, he applies for a senior citizen internship being offered by a rapidly-expanding hipster and Apple-esque fashion design company. The company is the brainchild of Anne Hathaway’s character, who is a passionate, self driven, almost female version of Steve Jobs (see all of the Apple analogies here?). Robert DeNiro is assigned to be Hathaway’s personal intern and his exceedingly sweet, responsible nature clashes with her go-to,

How to Automatically Keep Your Browser Plugins Updated

Poetic License

Continued From Page 1

nagging you for an update and another shot at changing your search engine, just run your Ninite application and it will automatically be updated without any annoying choices to click through.

If you really want to automate things and never have to worry about keeping these programs up to date, you could set your Ninite installer to run when your computer starts up. An easy way to set this up in any modern version of Windows is to use the Run command (Windows button + R is the shortcut) and type “shell:startup” (without the quotes) and click “OK”. This will open a window with a startup folder.

Just copy your Ninite installer and paste it in this startup folder. Now every time your PC starts up, Ninite will analyze your programs and update anything that is out of date. If you already have the latest version, Ninite will skip downloading and installing that application.

I believe that Ninite is the only way to keep the free programs on your PC up to date without any hassles. While setting it up to run automatically would be best, even manually running it a couple of times

a month should be often enough to keep most vulnerabilities in programs like Java patched. Hopefully you will enjoy Ninite as much as I do.

Eric Wright is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is currently employed as a Systems Support Specialist at Town & Country Federal Credit Union. A more detailed copy of this article can also be found online at http://ericwright. wrightbrostechnologies.com/ninite

8 THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

condescending nature, which results in a feel-good buddy comedy.

This is definitely a movie to see to get some laughs and otherwise just relax with the relatively easy tone of the movie. The Intern did turn out to be less comical and eventful as I had anticipated. What I wish the film would have explored more is the development of a more comical dialogue, as well as focused more on the personality clashes between DeNiro’s old-fashion gentleman attitude with the rest of the younger cast.

One of my favorite take-aways from this film was the impressive casting.

Opposite DeNiro and Hathaway was Pitch Perfect/Workoholics’ Adam Devine, Papertown’s Nat Wolf, and Girls’ Andrew Rannells. The mix of the younger current cast - many of whom have risen to prominence within the last few years paired with the experienced Robert DeNiro made the film a really cool clash of eras.

THREE COLORS Illaria Dana Education Major Three Colors are films I watched in my dad’s living room when no one was home. I watched Blue three times, and red four more. It took me two years to watch White.

White is a story of redemption. A man fakes his death for a former lover. He must destroy her perception to be restored (back in her arms).

hear wind chimes I smile to myself. The bell on my porch sounds in the wind. I shake my head back and forth. Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh until the bell stops. There’s just the sound of air passing by (skin).

It has taken me 19 mos and 16 days to remember that by 2:00 pm, on a Friday, I’ve had no water. I drink standing up in large gulps so that the water spills down my lips, onto my shirt onto the floor.

Some people have no drinking water.

In the morning I left my mentor for another. She said this is how it works, in an ideal situation, and warned me about thinking there was something wrong (inherent in me). When I left her house, I wanted to yell. The woods stood moving in the wind. The sound that came out was a quiet thing.

It takes the heart of a saint to ride the bus.

All saints have broken hearts (restored in the arms of some savior?). There is no such thing is an absent heart, a heart of gold, a broken heart.

It took me nineteen months and sixteen days to remember this much. Each time I

The clock was wrong. It was 1:58.

Arrhythmia, compared to what? A normal, pumping thing.

Gobbling and Grateful

By Dierdree Glassford Hospitality/Culinary Arts Major

I

t’s this time of year when things start to get cozy. The leaves are falling in an array of colors, coating our streets with the colors of the sun and reminding us that there is beauty all around us. On these cold nights, warming up with a crackling fire and some delicious hot cocoa is the only thing on our mind. This is the time of year that my family stays home, puts on their oven mitts, and enjoys the seasonal festivities. With turkey day right around the corner, the question comes of, “What will be on the menu this year?” For us, the holidays were always an amazing time of year, especially because of all the food we got to pretend did nothing to our waistline.

This year, we have a private chef, a line cook, and a culinary arts student all under one roof, not to mention the mother that raised them. Can we say something tasty is coming to town? I would think so!

One of my favorite places to delve up new recipes is actually through the many videos that Buzzfeed Food shares on Facebook. Believe it or not, by following

those simple videos I have made some amazing, and easy, meals. From lasagna rolls to ridiculously crispy and tender fried chicken, every meal I have made has turned out great! This year, I am on desert duty for the day of feasting, and believe me, I have been wracking my brain on what to make. Then it hit me, who doesn’t love monkey bread?

Buzzfeed has an amazing video for cream-cheese chocolate filled monkey bread that is to die for. You take Pillsbury dough biscuits, roll them flat, and then you fill them with a dollop of cream cheese and some dark chocolate morsels. Roll them into a ball, making sure to keep the filling on the inside, and repeat until you have enough dough to fill a bunt cake pan.

Shake each ball up with a cinnamon/sugar coating, make a quick brown sugar butter glaze in the microwave, and then stack the dough balls and glaze in layers, cook it on up in the oven and voila! You have the most scrumptious monkey bread that EVERYONE will want to dig their paws into.

When it’s homemade, it’s made with love and heart. You can stay home, warm and comfy in your PJs, and hunker down

Your Data is Not Yours Anymore Continued From 1

click, and every Google search is being monitored, there is a percentage of people who will self-censor on some level. PEN America surveyed 520 American writers in 2013 and found 1 in 6 have avoided reporting or investigating topics due to privacy concerns. Another 1 in 6 thought about it. Why wouldn’t they? It is, after all, the Obama administration that has imprisoned more journalists under the 1917 Espionage Act than all former administrations combined. It’s not just reporters that need to be alarmed at the legal assault, especially since the IRS was caught targeting conservative institutions in 2011. Who knows who they will target this year.

Other than the assault, there is a real fundamental issue with no privacy.

According to a study by Georgia State University, “chimpanzees conform [even] when it appears to be an inefficient strategy.” This study is important, because it builds on top of previous ones showing chimpanzees being conservative. It has been shown that “Chimpanzees remain fixed on a single strategy, even if a novel, more efficient, strategy is introduced.”

But they will adopt a new, inefficient, way of doing something if their friends are watching them. Conformity and the lack of privacy is an anathema to a society that tries to promote the best ideas, the most efficient techniques, and one that will eventually reach the stars. We protect privacy when we vote; we have the fourth amendment that states we deserve privacy in our person, place, and effects (i.e. phones, browsers, computers, and whatever else we purchase). As consumers and private property owners we need to

elevate privacy beyond just voting rights.

Business Insider reported in 2010 that Mark Zuckerberg called his users “dumb f***s” for trusting him with all of their data. Dr. Richard Stallman, creator of Unix, said in Economic Times, “Facebook mistreats its users. Facebook is not your friend; it is a surveillance engine.” Sir Tim Berner Lee, Father of the Internet, said at a TED talk in 2014 that we need “a Magna Carta for the web,” and that our data we create belongs to us, not the Facebooks of the world. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself - it was IBM that gave Hitler the ability to execute his atrocities. When it was time to confiscate and round up he relied on the data-collecting machines that IBM built and serviced for him and now we have smart phones that do more.

The founding fathers of our technological society are warning about the way in which it is moving. By no means am I trying to take people’s Facebook and Google+ accounts from them, but there ought to be a spirit for privacy and the idea in the forefront of everyone’s mind. We went from believing our privacy was there, to finding out one day it was gone, and now there is a spirit of not caring. We all live in an entrepreneurial environment, and if there is a will for privacy, someone will create a competing product that emphasizes privacy and force. Through competition, Google and the rest will follow suit – they don’t like losing money.

Laurence Adams is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is planning on a career in Software Development. This article and more is located at www.larry-adams.info.

for the long winter months. When meals are shared at the table, family style, and you enjoy the presence of each other, that is what really matters in life. That is what the holidays mean to me.

This year we have an entire day to celebrate what we are thankful for. Do you know what you are thankful for this year?

It could be anything really. Gratitude is one of the most precious feelings. When I am sitting around the table, enjoying my sister’s freshly made apple pie, or my mother’s amazing mashed potatoes, or even my brother fighting over the wishbone with me, that is the time when I am most grateful. There is nothing I love more than family, and food. This year we will be celebrating our newest family member’s very first Thanksgiving, and if that isn’t something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is. So this year I challenge each and every one of you: find the people you call family, whether its blood or bond that brings you together, share a meal, and tell us what you are thankful for. You might surprise yourself.

‘Til our next bite, Dining Dierdree

THE

ON THE

By Christopher Wilkes Communications & New Media Major Take a break from studying and go have some fun! Check out these listings of upcoming Portland gigs.

Wednesday, November 11th at Empire | Vinyl Tap | 9pm | Cost: $5, Ages 21 + | portlandempire.com

Thursday, November 12th at Blue | Scott Girouard | 6pm | Suggested Donation, Ages 21+ | portcityblue.com

Friday, November 13th at Portland House of Music | Pigeons Playing Ping Pong | 9pm | Cost: $10 adv, $15 dos | portlandhouseofmusic.com

Saturday, November 14th at Port City Music Hall | Bronze Radio Return with Brothers McCann | 9pm | $12 adv, $15 dos | portcitymusichall.com

Midcoast Campus Advising

THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

9

Letter to the Editor

G

reetings! As part of CNMS 105 I am to write a letter to the Editor of the Beacon. And so here it is;

I chose to focus this letter upon the article by Ashley Berry titled “Let’s Rethink This?” At the risk of sounding too critical I feel the need to point out a few problems with this article. First, I’d like to say that I am sort of moderate upon “gun control.” When a person was walking around campus with a petition to place some kind of back ground check upon gun purchases I hesitantly and with some reserve did sign the petition. However, I cannot really say one way or another weather signing it was a good or a bad thing to do - I’m literally on the fence upon the issue of background checks in connection with gun control.

However, I do not believe in the banishment of guns as a way to bring about peace on Earth. As such, I’d like to point out the logical fallacies that were rife throughout this article. The author uses post hoc arguments to prop up the conclusion that loose gun control creates crime. There are a few anecdotes cited as reasons the new law reducing gun control will somehow lead to more gun related deaths. For example:

“…Just two days before the law would go into effect…someone was threatening other shoppers with a gun. The police arrested the man who was carrying a loaded .45 caliber handgun... It seems safe

to assume that he did this with malicious intent.”(Berry)

For one thing, this happened before the law was passed to cannot be included as an outcome of relaxed laws and also, it does not say in this article weather or not this gun was legal or illegal. Either way, it does not support the conclusion that less gun control equals more gun violence. If the gun was legally sold under the previous more stringent laws than it proves the failure of those laws to prevent someone using a gun for ill intended purposes. If the gun is illegal, then it proves that laws do not prevent criminals from committing crimes with guns.

This article also assumes that this law will create wide spread changes in behavior. This same argument has been used to prop up anti-marijuana smoker laws for decades. People really fell for this idea that if marijuana was legalized hordes of people who were only stopped by its illegal status would come out of the woodwork and become useless stoners.

This stoner apocalypse never happened and neither will a sudden gun crisis because of relaxed background checks.

Under the previous regime there were already people with concealed weapons permits sitting next to you at a movie theatre.

“This means that every time you are at the movies, driving down the street…you can know that the person sitting next to

10 THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

you could be ‘packing heat.’”(Berry.)

This scenario was the same before the new laws and it is the same after. New criminals will ill intent will not metastasize and run out and buy guns with which to break into apartments and shoot girls just because of a relaxed concealed carry law.

Criminal ignore laws so laws will not control their use of guns. Laws can only really affect these people after the fact with punishment for the crimes they commit.

The article also cites the unfortunate story of the Richardsons who tragically lost their daughter to gun violence.

The knee jerk reaction is to restrict gun sales. However, this is a faulty logical conclusion. A then B does not mean A necessarily caused B. In this article it is assumed that if someone was shot and the shooter refuses to say where he got the gun, then the faulty conclusion that the shooter got the gun legally, and would not have gotten the gun illegally is presented. There is no proof here that gun

control laws has any affect whatsoever on this unfortunate event either for good or for bad. What would have been nice here is some hard statistics from known sources correlating illegally procured guns with illegal uses of guns. Is it true that only legally obtained guns are used for crime? Or vice versa? What really is the relationship between the status of a gun and what is inevitably done with it?

I’m sure there are thousands of guns that were not used to shoot someone every day regardless of where they came from.

I really do believe that when all guns are criminalized then only criminals will have guns. By their nature criminals ignore laws.

Heather Rowe

Ethical Dilemmas: A Path to Truth

By Alice Barakagwira

B

ack in Fall 2014, in the Introduction to Human Services course, we were having a conversation about whether there are links between one’s belief in God, or a lack of belief in God, and one’s health.

This conversation was originated from the conception of mental health in my culture.

Back home in Burundi, it’s very rare to see an individual who seeks help from medical providers for mental health. Mental health is believed to be a spiritual issue. For this reason, mental health problems are treated within religious settings. And I have witnessed people being healed because of their faith.

One of my classmates asked where she would have gone for help since she doesn’t believe in God. Just out of curiosity, I asked her why she doesn’t believe in God, and the response was that God doesn’t exist. According to her, God doesn’t exist because she never saw God. The conversation went on and I asked her how, if God is in Burundi, and because she has never been in Burundi, wouldn’t it be possible for her to meet God? And by the fact that she hasn’t been in Burundi doesn’t deny the existence of God. This conversation that I had with my classmate shows me how much we count on science, or maybe on our own ignorance.

Because of the advancement and success of science, there is often a tendency to think that science can explain everything. I agree that science has contributed countless benefits to human life on planet Earth. I am grateful for the work of scientists who devoted their lives to the study of this discipline and all the advantages scientific advances give us.

However, I do believe that there is such a thing as transcendent morality, something that rises above the natural world, or something that transcends the natural world.

One of the key moral principles that I can think of is “Moral Truth.” By definition a statement is true when it corresponds with reality. In other words, a statement is true when it matches up with the way the world really is. It looks like when we come to moral truth, we do change the definition of what moral truth is. Here, everyone tends to have his/her own truth.

What is your favorite food? The response here is subjective. I may favor seafood and you don’t. But if, for example, two people have different opinions about the morality of an action, both cannot be right, and there is only one right answer. Similarly, if two cultures have different standards for morality, both cannot be correct. In fact, maybe both are incorrect.

I believe truth never changes. Truth is truth whether you stand for it or not.

In other words, truth is God because he never changes. Truth is what comes from Him. Man has discovered scientifically observable, testable explanations for many physical phenomena. Science is not the only way of knowing and understanding.

But science is a way of knowing that differs from other ways. Moral laws cannot be tested in this sense; moral laws result from the belief in God and in God’s word.

To conclude, one cannot have moral laws in place without a moral law giver.

Morality comes from God. He is the author and creator of everything good and true.

But with free will, it is up to us to want to listen, or not through the Holy Spirit.

People who choose not to listen to Him try to make up their own morality, contrary to the word of God, but it is actually false.

There is only one lawgiver, that’s God. His word and his laws are truths. True morality cannot come from anyone or anything else.

Continued From Page 12

After two free throws and a layup cut the Seawolves lead to 8, SMCC’s Finish connection Ville Wuorenjuuri and Greyson Waterman drained consecutive 3 pointers bookending a Nittany Lion layup, which padded the Wolves lead to 12 again (7260).

Over the next 5 minutes of play SMCC would expose a weakness in the Nittany Lion defense, as Jordan DeRosby would find a seam to the basket making 3 layups, the last of which was made after he rebounded his own missed 3 point shot attempt cut to the basket and made a rightto-left reverse layup with his back to the basket. The basket pushed SMCC’s lead to 14 with 4:41 to go.

The last 4 minutes of the contest were hectic as Penn State pushed their defense up a level, forcing SMCC to commit 5 turnovers. The Nittany Lions would outscore the Wolves 22-12, but ultimately fall short of an incredible come-frombehind win as they missed needed shoots and committed untimely fouls, sending SMCC to the line where Jack Tolan, Jordan DeRosby, Greyson Waterman, Ville Wuorenjuuri and Thiwat Thiwat went a collective 8 for 9.

On the Penn State end of the court, Jashaun Fontanez turned in a stellar performance as he scored 13 points down the stretch. Curtis Newby added 6 points, which also helped the Lions crawl within two (94-92) with 37 seconds remaining. In the end, Jack Tolan’s two made free throws sealed the win for SMCC, leveling their record at 2-2 as last minute and last second hustle failed to pan out for the Lions.

The win over Penn State Greater Allegheny should be an affirmation for the Seawolves, as they see their potential as a team. The win counters the early season overtime loss to UNB Saint John’s in the CanAm tournament, and the loss suffered in Newport at the hands of Navy Prep, in which the Wolves found themselves trailing 24-0 to the Rams. The Wolves did come back against the Rams, posting 82 points but falling well short of Navy Prep’s

100.

For the Nittany Lions, Sunday’s action in Auburn against Central Maine Community College would see the women’s team lose 73-50 and the men dropping another hard fought game 73-70.

The Beacon wishes the Nittany Lions the best of luck for the rest of the season. It would be fun meeting up in the USCAA Nationals.

The SMCC women’s soccer team traveled to Warren Wilson College outside of Asheville, NC to participate in this year’s USCAA Nationals. Unfortunately the Lady Wolves dropped the play-in game for the tournament, 1-0 against Carlow University. The trip to the USCAA Nationals was a first for the Lady Wolves.

Joining SMCC at the Nationals were University Maine-Machias and University Of Maine-Fort Kent.

SMCC did not fare as well as they had hoped in North Carolina, as they also lost the consolation game for the losers of the play-in game to Warren Wilson College 2-0. It is the University of Maine-Fort Kent women’s soccer team that all Mainers should be proud of as they captured the 2015 USCAA Championship with a 7-0 drubbing of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health (ACPH) in Saturday’s championship game.

Fort Kent’s path to the championship started with a crushing 8-0 victory of University of Maine-Machias, who beat Warren Wilson in the second play-in game, next posting a 6-0 win over Bryant and Stratton, and finishing with the win over ACPH.

Congratulations to the Fort Kent squad for posting a stellar season by going 202, for winning their last 10 games of the season, having a 14 game winning streak, and out scoring opponents 134-12. And finally, congratulations to the Lady Wolves for posting a 10-3-2 record, which is the best record to date in the program’s history.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BEACON SPORTS STAFF

Seawolves Open

Jack Tolan struggles to get a shot off against an overly aggressive Nittany Lion defense. Tolan finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Alicia Hoyt, Seawolve center finds room underneath against an undersized Nittany Lion squad. Hoyt finished the day with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BEACON SPORTS STAFF

The Seawolves Watch: YSCC Honors 5 Soccer Players WOMEN’S AND MEN’S TEAM MEMBERS NAMED ALL CONFERENCE

By The Beacon Sports Staff

W

hile the SMCC soccer team’s aspirations for stellar seasons may have fallen short somewhat, there remains plenty to be proud of as five Seawolves soccer players were named to the 2015 YSCC AllConference teams.

Women’s soccer forward Kym Hendrix was named conference Player of the Year for her 10 goals, 4 assists performance in which two of the 10 goals were game winners.

Midfielder Zyrah Giustra, who also netted 10 goals and 6 assists, joins Hendrix on the all-conference team. Hendrix and Giustra led the Lady Seawolves to their first-ever YSCC Championship and a bid to the USCAA National Tournament in North Carolina.

Sean Jackson, Douglas Cloutier and Hughes Bakundaalso were honored as YSCC All-Conference team. Sean Jackson led the team in scoring this season with 8 goals and 4 assists. Douglas Cloutier raffled the back of the net four times while collecting one assist. Hughes Bakunda’s defensive play was incremental in only allowing 4 goals in conference play for the entire season.

THE SMCC BEACON | November 10th | 2015

11

Seawolves Open 15-16 Home Season

Wolves get better of Penn State University Greater Alleghany

By The Beacon Sports Staff

the Lady Seawolves had jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind the scoring of Amira Jones, Alicia Hoyt and Jordan Turner. The Lady Nittany Lions would never get any closer than five points a few minutes later, as intense defensive play by the Wolves and the absence of a sustained offensive attack by the Lions prevented any serious challenge.

Defensively, Abigail Nielsen took control by limiting Nittany Lion Mandi Johnson to 9 total points (2-9 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line).

Ms. Johnson came into to Saturday’s game averaging a staggering 27.5 points per game.

After 10 minutes of play the Lady Seawolves had built a 25-12 lead, holding the Nittany Lions to 19.51% and shooting

A

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BEACON SPORTS STAFF

PHOTOGRAPH BY: BEACON SPORTS STAFF

s the fall season lingers with a welcomed extended stay in Southern Maine, the SMCC women’s and men’s basketball teams opened the season on Saturday against Penn State University Greater Alleghany.

The Alleghany team traveled close to 700 miles to take to the court with the intents of grabbing 2 wins against the Seawolves on Saturday. On Sunday the Nittany Lions traveled to Auburn to play the Mustangs of Central Maine Community College.

The Nittany Lions, Mustangs and SMCC are all members of the USCAA, a national organization for athletic programs from 81 small, community, and junior colleges. Schools from Washington State to Maine are members of the organization.

The USCAA website states that the organization, “exists to provide small colleges the opportunity to compete against like institutions in size and resource for National Championships and student-athlete recognition…the USCAA allows its members the opportunity to enhance their recruiting capabilities by way of more consistent national recognition and a level playing field for postseason competition.”

Jordan DeRosby finishes off a play in which he missed a 3point shot, grabbed the rebound of his own missed shot

Saturday’s basketball and finish the play with a drive to the basket. games proved to be a wonderful opportunity for basketball fans in Southern Maine to see talented players from another from the field (2 and 3 pointers), while part of the country. The Lady Lions came the Seawolves shot an impressive 22-45 into Saturday’s game with a 1-1 record, from both the two, and three pointland winning against Central Penn 77-43 and (48.89%). dropping a close game to Westmoreland

The second quarter saw SMCC County Community College 70-64. The continue to build a double-digit lead as men’s team entered Sunday’s game with three Seawolves posted 11 points each a 0-1 regular season record, dropping (Amira Jones, Alicia Hoyt and Hannah a tight game to Westmoreland County Heald).

After 20 minutes of play the Lady Community College 75-72, while winning Wolves held a 22 point lead (45-23) and 2 exhibition games. were well on their way to posting their

After three and a half minutes of play

third win of this young season. with a high-energy offense designed to

Statistical highlights from the game push the ball up court, catching the defense include: 47% shooting from the field, flat-footed. The Lions were able to build as the Seawolves post-players netted a 13 point lead with a little more than 7 a combined 58 points and grabbed 23 minutes remaining in the first half. rebounds. Individually, Abagail Nielsen

What was a sluggish start that lasted recorded her first double-double as she for the opening 13 minutes of play for tallied 12 points and handed out 10 assists the Seawolves turned into an offensive which was complimented by 7 rebounds. outburst that saw the Wolves regroup,

A week ago Saturday, the SMCC outscoring the Lions 26-9, which resulted basketball teams traveled to Newport, in a 4 point lead (43-39) as the game went Rhode Island to play Navy Prep. The Lady into intermission.

Wolves lost to the Rams of Navy Prep in

First-half statistical highlights include: best what could be described as a car with SMCC shooting 43.185 from the field (16square wheels. The Lady Wolves shot a 34 for two point shots, 3-10 from beyond dismal 3-13 from the charity stripe, 19-67 the three point line), and going perfect from the field and 1-21 from beyond the from the foul line (8-8).

3-point line.

On the Penn Through all State side the of the dismal Lions shot 33% play, the from the field, Lady Wolves making 13 out of managed to 40 two point shot trail by 1 attempts, going at half and 6-17 from three grabbed a 2 pointland, and point lead at 7-13 from the foul the end of the line. Penn State 3rd quarter also held the edge 33-31. in team statistics

The last like steals, as the 10 minutes Lions stole the ball of play saw 9 times to SMCC’s SMCC unable 3 and forced to reach SMCC to commit double figures 13 turnovers to scoringtheir own 7. wise while The second half SMCC guard Jordan Turner drives to the the Lady opened with both hoop in Saturday’s action against the Nittany Rams were teams going after Lions of Penn State Greater Allegheny. Jordan able to drain 15 the other offensively as finished with 9points, 9 rebounds and 4 assist. points in route to SMCC would build a a 4 point victory. modest lead (8 points) Not a single Lady only to see the Lions Wolve managed to score in the doubleget to within one at the 14:48 mark (55digits, which surely added to their woes in 54).

Newport.

The Wolves would respond by

Approximately 30 minutes after the rattling off 11 straight points building a Lady Wolves walked off the court with 12 point lead (66-54) on the backs of Jack their largest margin of victory this season Tolan who drained six straight points and against Penn State, the men tipped off Greyson Waterman’s 3 point shot. and started what has to be one of the most exciting games of this season.

Continued on Page 11

The Nittany Lions took to the floor