SMCC Beacon February 27, 2018

I S S U E DAT E 2•27•18

SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

THE

BEACON

VOLUME 14 NO. 10

BY THE STUDENTS, FOR THE STUDENTS

SeaWolves Place 4 on YSCC All-Conference Teams

By The Beacon Sports Staff

Photos by The Beacon Sports Staff

Last Friday the Yankee Small College Conference announced its All-Conference First and Second teams.

The teams are generated by all of the head coaches, who each nominate up to four players per team from their squads.

The players who are nominated are then ranked in a voting process by the coaches.

Coaches cannot vote for their

players. After all of the votes are cast, the top five vote receivers are named to the First Team, as the second five are named to the Second Team. The top vote receivers are named Player of the Year.

The sole SeaWolf to receive enough votes to earn YSCC All-Conference First Team on either squad was Abigail Ramirez. Ramirez joined New Hampshire Technical Institute’s Riselly Deoleo, University of Maine-Augusta’s Caitlin LaFountain and Dominique Lewis, and the Community College of Central Maine’s Brooke Reynolds.

Ramirez ended the season averaging 11.3 points per game over 26 games played.

SeaWolf freshman center Amanda Brett was voted onto the All-Con-

ference Second Team, joining CMCC’s Natalie Thurber and Kristina Blais, NHTI’s Michaella Biron and UMA’s Carmen Bragg.

Brett averaged 10.5 points per game over the course of playing in 28 games.

On the men’s side of the court, SeaWolves Dylan Silvestri and Ryan Cloutier, the “Pelham Connection,” earned All-Conference Second Team standing, joining Vermont Tech’s Cameron Carter and Daniel Gill and University of Maine-Machias’s Darius Clark.

Cloutier maintained a 30 percent 3-point shooting aver-

age, draining 44 of 145 shots launched, while averaging 13.1 points per game throughout 28 games played. SeaWolf teammate Dylan Silvestri, who is the sole player leaving the program, grabbed 275 rebounds while averaging 15.2 points per game on a 55.0 shooting percentage over 27 games.

The Beacon would like to extend hearty congratulations to all four players.

We wish all of you the best in your academic pursuits for the remainder of the semester and look forward to seeing the returning SeaWolves on the court next season.

From left to right: Dylan Silvestri, Abigail Ramirez, Ryan Cloutier, Amanda Brett

SeaWolves Win Opener, Fall in Semifinals Gutsy Efforts Keep Teams Competitive

The Lady SeaWolves would face Vermont Tech for the third time, beating a Knights team that has shown improvement since their first meeting with SMCC in November. The 53-34 victory earned SMCC a semifinal showdown with UMaine-Augusta, whom they split their regular season games against.

In all four quarters SMCC outscored the Knights, with the second 10 minutes of play seeing the Lady SeaWolves hold Vermont Tech to four points. The ‘Wolves would score 19 in the second, taking a 27-10 lead into halftime.

The second half of the game saw the Knights hang with SMCC, as they practically stayed even in scoring both quarters.

SMCC would only outscore the Knights by one in the third and fourth.

Freshman SeaWolf center Amanda Brett finished with 12 points, earning her game high scoring honors. Teammates Jordan Farquharson and Grace Kariotis combined for 20 points (10 each), as each player also connected with two three-point shots.

The Vermont Tech Knights ended their season with an 8-22 overall record.

The men SeaWolves would start their YSCC tournament play on Friday afternoon in the second game of the four scheduled for the day. The first game of the day Continued on page 7

Photo by Jacob Clowes

Two weekends ago the SeaWolves basketball teams traveled to Concord, New Hampshire, to participate in the Yankee Small College Conference Elite Eight postseason tournament. This year marked the first time that the name “Elite Eight” presented the tournament a slight challenge, as only six women’s teams were eligible to participate in the tournament.

The four-day tournament traditionally starts on Thursday with the top eight teams in the women’s field pairing off against each other with the first tip-off at 2 p.m.

With only six teams qualifying (teams that suffer a forfeit are ineligible), this year’s

tournament got underway with the third through sixth seed teams playing Thursday: New Hampshire Technical Institute taking to the court against University of Maine-Machias at 6 p.m. and SMCC playing Vermont Tech at 8 p.m. The top two seeds, Central Maine Community College and the University of Maine-Augusta, drew first-round byes.

The NHTI Lady Lynx would open the tournament with a 70-54 win over the Clippers of the University of Maine-Machias squad. NHTI would next take to the court against the tournament’s top-seeded and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) top-ranked team, CMCC.

Priscila Berdeja showing us her tenacity, trying to get it up over two defenders. Berdeja would end the game getting one steal and one rebound against VTC.

Photo by Jacob Clowes

By The Beacon Sports Staff

Jacobee Burpee flying into the paint around his defender, scoring 2 of his 12 points against UMM. Burpee ended the game with three rebounds, one assist and a block.

Campus News Business Club Fundraisers

By Ryan Patridge

Photo by Beacon Staff

On Thursday, Feb. 8, the SMCC Business Club held one of its bake sales in the Campus Center. Pictured are Club President Celetta Richard, Steven Ntibandetse, and Loreal Legare, who each took part in chatting with student and faculty passers-by about the Business Club and the various functions the Club takes part in.

The Club will be taking part in volunteer work with Ronald Mc-

Donald House and Habitat For Humanity throughout the semester, as well as taking a trip to New York City, in April, to study the New York Stock Exchange and other various business aspects of NYC. The Business Club meets every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in the first-floor lounge of Hague Hall, and is open to any students who would like to participate and further their knowledge of the business world.

Business Club President Celetta Richard, Steven Ntibandetse, and Loreal Legare.

THE

BEACON STAFF

Executive Staff

Production Manager Managing Editor Art Director Copy Editor Digital Media Manager Midcoast Section Editor Poetry Editor Graphic Designers

Oğuzhan Özkan Troy Hudson Paul Moosmann Ben Riggleman Daniele Amandolini Dan Elliott Rebecca Dow Daniele Amandolini, Rebecca Dow, James Hubbard

Contributing Writers

Jessamyn Brewer, Myriam Deauseault, Gio DiFazio, Rebecca Dow, Dan Elliott, R. G., Linda Hildonen, Troy Hudson, Kyle Lappin, Lloyd Metcalf, Hali Parsons, Ben Riggleman, Sudeep Stauble

Illustrations

Dan Elliott, Vanessa Poirier

Contributing Photographers

Negin Ahadzadeh, Rebecca Dow, Troy Hudson, Kyle Lappin

Advisors

Chuck Ott & Rachel Guthrie

Contact Us

mbeacon@smccme.edu

2 The Beacon • February 27, 2018

Get to Know Your Student Senate

By Giovanni DiFazio Is there something that’s been bugging you on campus and you can’t quite figure out who to talk to? With issues from large to small, it can sometimes be daunting to express your displeasure to a member of the faculty.

The Student Senate at SMCC is an advocate for the student body. Each club or organization on campus sends a member representative to the weekly meetings in Jewett Auditorium.

This group acts as kind of “house of representatives,” while six Senate officers ultimately have the final say. Student Senate is here so that we can have a group of our peers representative and reflective of the student body’s interest.

Student Senate has a diverse range of responsibilities. Perhaps the most major responsibility that it carries is the allocation of funds to clubs that request money. Not only is Student Senate responsible for who receives funding, if you want to start a club recognized by SMCC, Student Senate is the governing body that needs to approve it.

The student activity fee that each student pays in their semester bill is how clubs and activities are funded. Senate meetings are held weekly in Jewett Auditorium, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. SMCC students should take advantage and reach out to members that can help us change the community, on and off campus, for good.

If everyone expressed a little thing that this campus could improve on, and only one thing was changed, it would be a gainful situation. Senate can help with little things, such as a food items desired on campus, to more challenging things, such as requests for funding. Student Senate is our avenue towards quick change at SMCC. Our student constitution allows for one senator for every 250 students. We do not even come close to filling that quota. In fact, we only have four, with an enrollment of over 9,700 students. We obviously do not meet the allotment, with SMCC currently having just six officers right now.

Applying to become a student senator is something more people should do. To do so, jump on the CeCIL website and print the petition form. To become a member, you must get 25 signatures on your petition, and submit the nomination form for a seat on the Senate.

There is room — and not just in the Senate — for opportunity when it comes to students making positive changes at SMCC.

Correction

In the Jan. 28 issue of The Beacon, the article “CeSIL Hosts Student Involvement Fair” erroneously referred to the Health and Wellness Club as the “Nutrition Club.” (There is no “Nutrition Club” at SMCC.) The article also implied that the Health and Wellness Club is only for students in the Nutrition & Dietetics program. It is not; the club welcomes students of all majors.

Other World SMCC Graduate’s Advice for Success

By Sam Coombs Currently a senior at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio graduating in May. I am from Harpswell, Maine and graduated from Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine in 2013. I attended SMCC in 2013 and 2014 where I majored in Communications & New Media. SMCC was a great place to get my start and figure out who I wanted to be as a student and a professional. In high school I wasn’t a great student and didn’t have much ambition.

SMCC really helped change my mindset as a student and as a young professional.

My initial plan was to play baseball at SMCC but I was cut from the team which was devastating at first but I quickly figured out a way to channel my love for sports and it actually became the best thing that could have happened to me.

I always say out of every bad thing can come a greater good. That greater good was working for the SMCC Beacon under the guidance of Chuck Ott and Rachel Guthrie. Rachel was nice enough to think of me as someone to guide the sports page and I immediately found a purpose.

I gained confidence, credible skills and a passion for quality work. While I was the sports editor for the Beacon I got to develop story ideas, cover SMCC sports and even attend a Boston Celtics game as a journalist. It was quite the experience and an opportunity I was fortunate to get. I then made a goal that I wanted to

someday work in an NBA media setting hopefully representing and promoting a specific team and organization.

I started to look at life as a staircase and realized that the Beacon could be a stepping stone to my next endeavor which is when I got an internship at the Times Record in Brunswick as a sports photojournalist intern. Through the help of others, I was able to take another step and learn some valuable skills in return. I focused on goal setting for each day, week, month and years to come. I channeled my energy from the things I was taught at SMCC and transferred to Kent State University to study Digital Media and work in a Division I athletics setting.

After my first semester at Kent State, I returned to Maine and got an opportunity to be the Assistant Media Director for the Senior Little League World Series tournament in Bangor where baseball teams from all over the world came to compete for a title. The World Championship game was actually broadcasted on ESPN and I was fortunate enough to connect with one of the broadcasters and formed a mentor relationship with him in the months to come. I had read a lot about how finding a mentor was a big part of success and developing a relationship with Steve Lenox whom I met in Bangor was a big turning point for me. I returned to Kent State, channeled that energy and confidence from the summer and was able to land a great opportunity as a Production &

Operations Intern at Fox Sports Ohio in Cleveland. I was fortunate enough to start my internship during the MLB playoffs as the Cleveland Indians fought through the ALDS, ALCS and eventually reaching the World Series. It was a very unique and fulfilling experience that I once again used as a stepping stone in my life’s staircase.

I then reconnected with Steve Lenox from ESPN and tried to develop my networking skills which are very important to the sports media industry and continued my relationship with him. He was a great attributer to my success and confidence and ended up helping me secure a summer internship as a media relations coordinator at USA Baseball in Durham, North Carolina this past summer of 2017.

At USA Baseball, I served as an on-site media contact for events at the USA Baseball National Training Complex for United States National Teams during international friendship series and showcase events. I also managed social media accounts consisting of a combined 750,000 followers as well as a lot of writing for the USA Baseball website. It was an unforgettable experience to work around the country’s top baseball players as well as build my network of professionals.

While at USA Baseball I ended up meeting a coach from one of the showcase teams and found out his full-time job was as an assistant coach for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. I was able to connect with him and he put me in contact with the

Protecting Your Data Against Loss in Windows 10

By Christine Dunnells There is nothing worse than having your computer decide it does not want to start.

Panic starts to set in, a rush and scramble to fix the problem starts to take hold. High anxiety starts to flare as you think of all the photos and documents you have stored on this device only! Yikes!

Stop, take a breath… Don’t make any sudden, rash decisions at this point. Oftentimes the current situation you find yourself in is less hazardous than the choices you are about to make out of fear and panic!

So let’s talk about a few best practices that any individual can take to help mitigate the devastating loss of important stuff!

1. Develop and establish good habits! Decide on a plan for how you will backup your data, where you will back it up, and how often. I say “good habits” for a reason. It is all too easy to get busy and just keep putting off those regular backups till another time. This is where you need to be faithful and dedicated! And in doing so, good habits will be born.

2. Decide on the backup medium you will use. It could be an external hard drive, a USB flash drive or even the cloud. While I wouldn’t solely count on the cloud for your backup, it would make an excellent choice for a redundant backup location for your files. I personally use Dropbox to hold all of my SMCC school documents. This was a lifesaver when I lost my hard drive recently, two weeks from finals! I recommend using the Google Drive that comes with your school account for the most convenient access and backup method.

3. Once you have chosen your medium, decide on the tool you will use to back up your data. You could decide to manually copy and paste your folders to your backup media as needed, or you could use software to do this for you. Windows 8 and Windows 10 offer a free built-in backup solution called File History. You may need to turn this on and you will need to set it up, but once it is set up, the backups can be scheduled and set to automatically run. To see how to set up File History in Windows 8 and 10 so that it automatically backs up the selected data to your external medium, visit my “How to” page here: https://tinyurl.com/yamxrvys.

4. Now decide what files and data are important to you, the ones that you do not want to lose, and find their locations. If you are using backup software, make sure to choose all the locations of the files you want backed up regularly in your backup schedule.

5. There are several options for backing up data from third-party browsers and other programs. If you use browsers other than Internet Explorer, like Firefox or Chrome, I recommend setting up a free account and logging into your browser when using it. This will allow the automatic syncing of all your browser’s preferences and settings, which in turn provides access to these from any device, anywhere. If you use Edge, then these settings are automatically a part of your Microsoft account and are being synced.

Signing into your device with a Microsoft Account (formerly Windows Live ID) also provides a nice way to keep your settings and preferences backed up. All of the apps and settings you have with your account will be

made available and synced across all your devices. If you are using Windows 7 still, Microsoft has made a way for you to link your Windows 7 user account with your Windows Live ID. You can download the Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant from the Microsoft website.

It is important to know if and where your data is being backed up some programs so that you can make sure to include them in your backup settings. Once you choose the right settings that work for you, you are all set to just let the program do its thing. All that is required from you now is access to the backup medium by the program.

So, let’s review what we just talked about: 1. Establish “good habits” 2. Choose your backup medium 3. Decide what tool you will use to backup your data 4.Know the locations of your important files 5. Create backup files from programs and third party browser settings that aren’t automatic Remember, breathe! If you incorporate good practices into your daily habits now, you will certainly lessen the catastrophe that could follow in the event your system fails you.

Christine Dunnells is a member of the Information Technology Senior Seminar course and is planning on a career as a service technician. You canrk and contact her at You can read more of her work and contact her at christinedunnells.chrissyspcrepair.com

Denver Nuggets Director of Media Relations which is basically my dream job.

After some corresponding back and forth I was granted the chance to fly to Denver and shadow during a game day with the Nuggets. I participated in pre-game coach interviews, courtside in-game stat management as well as post-game player interviews from the locker room. I have been lucky enough to form some great relationships with professionals in the industry and look to continue climbing my staircase and continue goal setting to reach my goal of working in an NBA media environment.

None of this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of those at SMCC, the opportunity the SMCC Beacon provided and the confidence I gained through the guidance of Chuck Ott and Rachel Guthrie. As I approach graduation in May I am excited to see what my future holds and keep those who have helped me close by. My favorite quote is that luck is just a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. Some goals are bigger than others but if you just properly prepare yourself for an opportunity, one day you’ll be lucky enough to get it. My advice would be to find a passion and use that passion to drive your success. No matter what opportunity no matter how big or small is in front of you, put in the effort and connect with people because you never know who is watching.

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February 27, 2018 • The Beacon 3

Opinion Look Before You Park

By Kristy Howarth (Combat Veteran)

The soldier, sailor, Marine, airman, or Coast Guardsman has suffered injury inflicted by Asking you, my fellow SMCC attend- an external force during combat and has ees, to not park in the highly obvious pur- survived, and continues to battle injuries ple heart parking spots, has gone on to no beyond initial hospital admission. Unamend. To “break it down Barney style,” I will biguously stated: If you don’t meet the first explain what makes you ineligible to park two criterion, you will not meet this one. It’s in the reserved combat-wounded veterans’ not prejudice or bias, it’s a fact.

I’m not a recruiter, nor am I trying to get parking spots bestowed by SMCC. First, if you are not a veteran. This you to enlist; many of us wouldn’t want you should be obvious. Many individuals have to. As a combat veteran myself, I can’t park asked, “what are veterans?” A veteran is a in these parking spots. And I want my felperson who has served in the military, also low SMCC students to understand: You didn’t raise your hand to serve our country, known as the Armed Forces.

Serving in the Army makes you a veter- you didn’t write a blank check for someone else’s freedom’s, and you haven’t conan.

Serving in the Marine Corps makes you tributed to society as a combat-wounded veteran has. So, you certainly aren’t entia veteran.

Serving in the Navy makes you a veteran. tled to the use of the parking spots. These Serving in the Air Force makes you a Purple Heart parking spots aren’t to serve your entitled needs or idiocy; they are for veteran.

Serving in the Coast Guard makes you a those that have defended your rights and didn’t think twice veteran. about it.

Parking in the ComSo next time you bat Wounded Veteran want to go to an office, parking spots, if you are the café, or the Campus not a veteran, makes you Center, find a regular ill-mannered, disrespectparking spot like the ful, rude and ignorant. rest of us. Don’t bother Second, if you are lying; we see you park not a combat veteran. there, we talk to campus By definition, a combat security, and we know veteran is a member of your feeble excuses: “I the Armed Forces who didn’t know what the has directly engaged sign meant.” “Oh, I can’t enemies and received park here?” “I’m only fire as a member of a gonna be five minutes.” unit assigned to comYour excuses are bat operations. Addiweak and inexcustionally, veterans who have served in a com- A parking sign noting a reserved space able. If you don’t know what the sign means, bat zone, but not under for wounded veterans. then DON’T PARK a combat unit, are eligible to be combat veterans. If you’ve enlisted IN THE SPOT! Your blatant disregard in this matter and been deployed to a combat zone, you’re a combat veteran. If you haven’t enlisted, has displaced actual combat-wounded then you’ve never deployed. This is simple, veterans from parking where they are enyet confuses many simple-minded civilians. titled to park. SMCC has been issuing a Third, if you are not a combat-wounded $25 fine and a $40 boot fee for parking veteran. Yes, it matters! A veteran who has violations in these reserved spots, both been wounded in action has experienced a at the South Portland Campus and the traumatic event directly related to engag- Midcoast Campus. ing enemy forces in service of our country.

What if There Were No Tragedy?

By Lloyd Metcalf In times when school shootings happen, our leaders are posturing for war and there’s sometimes violence in the streets, we ask ourselves why, but what if we asked “what if ”?

Being careful not to jump hard onto any issues related to recent tragedies, I gingerly approach this topic and hope readers are able to follow along. Where would we be if we had no tragedies? If we were never violently shoved out of our comfort zones?

Would we still strive to become more, to right wrongs, and to become better people in a better society? Or would we linger in our comfort zones, never testing the waters of change?

One might argue that if there were no tragedy, there wouldn’t be cause to correct things that never went wrong.

We might never have achieved any technological advances if we had to tragedy to learn from. When Challenger exploded, we investigated and addressed safety procedures and fuel seals in rocketry. Many of our advancements have come to exist because of tragedy and loss. Humans advance amid ad-

versity, we divide but also unite. The pain and sorrow of the losses help us assess what has happened, assess the value of our lives and the value of change, and be driven to create new and better things to avoid tragedy, pain, and loss — and bring ourselves to new heights.

Would we fly if we had never crashed?

Would we sail if we had never sank? Would we run if we were never chased?

In these trying times as a country and a society, it’s hard to believe there may be a positive to the things that bring us pain, but it’s often that pain that brings us the resolve to not let it continue. Sometimes we need to be sad or angry to recognize when we are happy. To quote Dory the blue tang from a certain movie, “If you never let anything happen to them, then nothing would ever happen to them!”

“What if there were no tragedy and sadness?” A better question might be, “How can we make things better?”

Everyone fails, everyone has challenges; it’s what we learn and how we respond to those things that define who and what we are.

SMCC TRANSFER FAIR Campus Center Lobby & Lounge

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25 College Reps

March 8th 10:30 - 2:00

Courageous Florida Teens Demand Change

By Troy Hudson The tragic impact of losing 17 people in the shooting that took place at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL on February 14 cannot be overestimated. It is a loss for their families, their school and their community, and indeed all of us as a nation lost something beautiful that day.

As always happens after a school shooting, we are left feeling shocked and angry at the taking of innocent life. But historical precedent suggests this swelling of emotion will fade in short order. Not for the families and communities affected, of course, just as the pain of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech and Columbine is still sharply felt by those left behind, but for the majority of us who have yet to experience gun violence firsthand. After all, 346 mass shootings occurred in the United States in 2017 alone. At this point, is this simply the way things are?

The National Rifle Association would have us believe that the answer to gun violence lies in more guns, and their suggestion for arming teachers has fallen on friendly ears in President Trump, who openly endorsed it following the latest shooting. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre

Just a week after the shooting, about 100 students from the school, most of them too young to have ever cast a ballot, visited the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee to talk to state government about their concerns in a televised town hall event. “We would like to know why do we have to be

As always happens after a school shooting, we are left feeling shocked and angry at the taking of innocent life. has also claimed that talking about gun control now is a “shameful politicization of tragedy.” Fortunately, the survivors of Stoneman Douglas aren’t about to be silenced by lobbyists like LaPierre, and their courage may just turn the tide of our ongoing national struggle with gun rights.

4 The Beacon • February 27, 2018

the ones to do this?” asked senior Ryan Deitsch. It is a fair point. Laws are supposed to protect the innocent, but when you see your classmates gunned down by a teenager with a legally purchased assault rifle, it’s hard not to conclude that the system is broken.

The town hall event was inspiring, even if it didn’t result in any tangible changes.

Prior to the meeting, 19-year-old Chris Grady said, “We hope to get a lot done, but we also know how politicians are.” It would seem, however, those politicians don’t understand the fierce tenacity of the kids they’re representing in congress.

The victims’ demands were clear-eyed and reasonable: they don’t want to take away law-abiding Americans’ guns — they want to feel safe in their schools.

As a number of national corporations have begun to cut ties with the NRA as a result of boycotts against the organization, we may be closer now than ever to making real progress on this issue. And if this is finally the time for gun reform, our thanks me be due to a determined generation of young people who care more about real safety and community than ideological pandering or the outdated romanticism of firearms.

Arts & Features Where’s the Music Scene?

By Rebecca Dow The weather’s getting warmer, and many of the hibernators in town are waking up. Portland has an ever growing music scene, with local venues hosting shows and concerts every week.

Three specific venues that gain a lot of traffic are the Port City Music Hall (504 Congress Street), One Longfellow Square (181 State Street Ste. 201) and Space Gallery (538 Congress Street). Each location organizes a variety of shows throughout the year, from jazz, to rock, to folk, pop, classical, and beyond.

Today I’ve provided three artists who will be performing at each of the aforementioned venues throughout the next two weeks — prior to Spring Break: The Low Anthem, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and Decompression Chamber Music.

The Low Anthem is a group based in Providence, Rhode Island; they compose music encompassing a mix of alternative rock, experimental, and indie folk music genres. Currently, The Low Anthem is on tour, and will be performing at Space Gallery on Saturday March 3, 2018 at 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 8:00 p.m.). Open to all ages, tickets cost $10 in advance, and $12 on the day of the show.

The following artists are scheduled to perform on the same date — Monday March 5, 2018 — at different venues.

Jessica Lea Mayfield is an artist from Kent, Ohio who sings independent, alternative country, and folk rock music; she is also on tour. For $12 in advance, or $15 at the door, you can see Mayfield live at 8:00 p.m. in the Port City Music Hall (doors open at 7:00 p.m.). She has music videos online that you can view to get a feel for her style.

Mayfield seems to be emerging as an established, memorable figure in music, often rocking pastel pinks and whites in her fashion palette as she explores the country.

Lastly, I’d like to feature Decompression Chamber Music; these musicians play chamber music with string instruments such as violins and the cello. In case you were unaware, chamber music consists of “Compositions traditionally intended for performance in a private room or small concert hall” according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Decompression Chamber Music is the name of the group, playing at One Longfellow Square at 7:00 p.m. for $18 in advance, or $20 for tickets at the door.

Each artist, and each venue carries a different vibe, and air about them. With the stresses of life dragging us down, sometimes all we need is to let loose at a good concert! I’m sure with a little searching, Portland won’t disappoint.

‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

By Justin Taylor Director Martin Mcdonagh’s third feature, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri,” is the story of a hardened woman who puts up three billboards on a lonely stretch of country road, antagonizing the local police chief for failing to solve the rape and murder of her daughter.

The main protagonist is Mildred Hayes, whose forward and brutally honest opinion alienates her from the rest of the town.

This sort of tonal oddity in the hands of another director might have upset the overall quality of the film, but in the hands of McDonagh, whose previous films, “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths,” have used strikingly similar tones, the dialogue and character moments work excellently, as they are played both seriously and for laughs, only falling flat.

McDonagh films all exist in a very disheartening and pessimistic world, where the characters don’t get what

they want and where they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

The thing that may elevate this film the most is the wide range of performances. Whether it be the refreshingly bitter Frances McDormand in the lead, Woody Harrelson as a dying police chief with a bizarre sense of humor or Sam Rockwell as a racist (but ultimately just naive and ignorant) deputy, everyone is putting in their A game in a cast that has a remarkable amount of chemistry for a group of characters who are almost always at odds.

Cynical, yet surprisingly funny, “Three Billboards” was an oddball of a drama that kept me engaged through its strong use of hard-headed and belligerent characters. Though the story gets derailed at certain points, it is an enjoyable and memorable tale of loss and revenge from a master of cynicism.

Rating: A-

Poetic License As we’ve not recieved many submisions for poetry this week, I only have one poem to share for this issue of The Beacon. Remember, you can submit your poetry to Rebeccadow@smccme.edu for publication.

Hard Tellin’

By Kyle Lappin

Hard Tellin’ not knowing, which source of reflection.

Well you are only lost, if you are searching lonely.

Real love emerges only when, the New World Man stops trying to escape his fate.

My reality is one of travesty, Aside from any attempted explanations.

That’s an A-okay situation, growth manifestation.

The power of adaptation, change originated internally.

Self presentation is mirrored by, the Weapon of mass Illusion.

How holy are you honestly, When all you do is, Lead by faith of people blind to your true nature.

I am incapable of conceptualising, how you think you can just shed lies and sin.

The truth I will always aim to capture, enjoy your rapture.

Mirrors reflection states, It can never be too late.

Melody sings a Fine Line, through any society rain or shine.

Blackness Casted chrome turbulence thunders, forgiven by tragedy of lives asunder.

February 27, 2018 • The Beacon 5

Midcoast Technology Time Capsule taken up fixing them as a hobby. As he gave a guided tour, Tyler darted between laptops, explaining certain technical specifications of each of the units as he was working on solving internet connectivity issues on some of them. One laptop in particular, an HP Mini netbook, served as an ethernet hub for the rest of the computers at the expense of its own access to the net.

In an age of near-fantastical advancement of technology, it is often difficult to step back and see our development in such a short amount of time. After all, we live in a society that encourages the newest and latest in trends and gadgetry. For the past few weeks, however, the Midcoast Campus has been treated to a blast from the past, as the L.L. Bean Learning Commons was filled with computers and gadgetry from days of yore.

The informal exhibit was put on by the Brunswick Campus’s own Tyler Bodeen. A Computer Science Major, Tyler came up with the idea for the display when he noticed the vacant space in the learning commons, Antiquated tech on display in the L.L. Bean Learning Commons. and thought to share his trove of technoloStudents of the Midcoast Campus took gy he was amassing in his dorm room with the rest of the students. The impressive to the exhibit with a sense of awe and curicollection of computers, scanners, audio osity, with a few brave souls even mustering equipment, and other such gear took only the courage to hop on and experience a variabout 6 months to amass, according to Ty- ety of operating systems that have gone the ler, the bulk of which came from his moth- way of the dodo, including Windows XP er’s house. The computers on display were and Bodeen’s personal favorite, Windows refurbished by Bodeen himself, who has 7. One student attested to the crisp 1280

dpi resolution from the Espon Scanner. “[I want students] to have more knowledge of computers and accessories not just from this generation, from other generations as well” Tyler replied, when asked what the one thing he wanted students to walk away with from visiting his retro-tech exhibit.

Tyler is looking to take the lion’s share of his required courses for his Computer Science Major at the South Portland Campus next semester. His ultimate goal once he finishes school is to become a network administrator, like his father. With his knowledge of both hardware and software, he would like to be able to fix issues that stem both internally and externally.

With how fast our computers and smartphones reinvent themselves, it is no surprise how much technology of yesterday is swept under the rug, to go unnoticed for the rest of time. With Tyler Bodeen’s interactive trip through time, we were able to pause for a moment and see just how far we have come, and ponder what sort of innovations are in store for us around the corner.

Photo by Dan Elliott

By Dan Elliott

SMCC is undergoing a comprehensive evaluation.

As part of an NEASC Accreditation process, a team will be visiting SMCC March 18-21.

Submit comments about SMCC to: Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges 3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100 Burlington, MA 01803-4514 E-mail: cihe@neasc.org

STUDY IN IRELAND FOR A SEMESTER The George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship provides a special opportunity for Maine Community College System students.

Successful applicants are eligible to attend the Cork Institute of Technology on the south coast of Ireland. The scholarship covers tuition and fees, housing, a food and living expense stipend, a travel grant and funds to cover the Irish immigration fee.

Application deadline: March 15, 2018 info at mccs.me.edu/student/gm.html SMCC Contact: Tiffanie Bentley, Dean of Students tbentley@smccme.edu - 207-741-5610

6 The Beacon • February 27, 2018

From the Mind of Dan Elliott

SMCC Sports

SeaWolves Win Opener saw UMaine-Augusta take on CMCC and drop a hard-fought 10-point loss, 92-82, to the Mustangs.

The ‘Wolves would take to the court against a revamped Clipper team that picked up two players over the holiday break. One of the additions is Dante Ramos, who was on the NHTI squad that lost to SMCC a year ago in an amazing YSCC Elite Eight final.

This quarterfinal matchup would prove to be as exciting for its own reasons.

as back-to-back three-point shots by Alexander Blake and Dante Ramos would give them their first lead of the game, 6261, with a few seconds south of eight minutes to play.

SMCC freshman guard Jacobee Burpee would drain the next five points, returning the lead to SMCC, 66-62, after which Ryan Cloutier would add the next four points, padding SMCC’s lead to eight again: 70-62.

With four minutes remaining and the Clippers down by five, 72-67, the game would see four lead changes on four pos-

Ryan Cloutier driving into the paint, beating his defender and going in for a layup, scoring 2 points of his 16 against UMM. Cloutier also ended with four rebounds and a steal.

The SeaWolves would score the first five points of the game on a Gregory Trinidad three-pointer and a Jacobee Burpee layup.

The Machias Clippers would score the next three points on a Dante Ramos foul shot and an Alexander Blake layup, which was answered by a Ryan Cloutier threepoint shot. Cloutier would strike again when he blocked an outlet pass back towards the SeaWolves’ basket, beat two Clippers to the ball and scored on a layup, padding the SeaWolves’ early lead (10-5).

Three-pointers would be the name of the game for the ‘Wolves, as Timothy Dixon, Sean Bowering and Gregory Trinidad would drain three consecutive threes in a row, pushing the Wolves lead to nine.

Dixon would score on a layup, padding SMCC’s lead to 11 (21-10). Again, Bowering would drain another three, grabbing a 12-point lead for the Wolves (24-12).

The Clippers would chip away at the ‘Wolves’ lead over the course of the next few minutes, pulling within five (24-19) at the 6:23 mark. The ‘Wolves would outscore the Clippers 14-9 over the course of the final five minutes, walking into halftime with a 38-28 lead.

The first seven minutes of the second half saw the Clippers chip away at the SeaWolves’ lead and pull within three at the 13:27 mark (52-49). A minute later Machias pulled within three again, and then cut the SMCC lead to two on a Dante Ramos free throw.

With the game becoming more intense with each passing minute and the ‘Wolves holding a small lead, Ryan Cloutier made a what-the-heck tip-in off of Tyler Mickle.

The Clippers were far from done, though,

Day 2 for the men would mean a date with top-seeded NHTI; for the women, it would mean a third time around with UMaine-Augusta.

The Lady SeaWolves’ two regular-season games against UMaine-Augusta proved to be highly contested, as both games were determined by six points or less. A win in Concord would guarantee SMCC with a shot at the championship against the winner of the CMCC-NHTI game.

The scenario would not pan out in SMCC’s favor, as the Lady SeaWolves would drop a 13-point loss (65-52) to the Moose.

The Lady SeaWolves would jump out to an 8-2 lead off of the tip, but could not sustain the offensive momentum, as the Moose would grab a three-point lead after 10 minutes of action.

The Moose would commit 21 turnovers, while shooting 52.2 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from threepoint land, bettering SMCC’s point total by three or more in each of the four quarters.

The game remained combative throughout its entirety which led to both teams’ star players — SMCC’s Ramirez and UMA’s LaFountain — having to sit out the remainder of the game after suffering blows to the head in the third quarter.

With three minutes to go in the third quarter, SeaWolves senior Alicia Ruth tried her best to inspire her team to a come-from-behind victory by cutting a 13-point deficit to seven by draining two consecutive threes.

In the end UMA’s Carmen Bragg hit for eight points in the fourth quarter, helping the Moose to win. The Moose would go on

to play top ranked CMCC in the championship game, losing by 16 (74-58).

For the men, Day 2 meant a showdown with NHTI, on NHTI’s court.

The SeaWolves played brilliantly in the first half. NHTI would score the first five points of the game on a three-point shot and power dunk, after which the ‘Wolves responded methodically.

After four minute of play, SMCC would pull even at 12 on a Ryan Cloutier threepoint jump shot. Again, it was a Cloutier three-pointer that pulled the ‘Wolves within one (18-17), and a Dixon free throw that knotted the score at 18-all.

With a little more than nine minutes left in the game, the ‘Wolves would take the lead on two Tyler Mickle free throws (22-20). NHTI would respond by pulling ahead. At the 5:58 mark, SMCC pulled even on a Silvestri layup, tying the game at 27 apiece.

The next four minutes saw five lead changes and five ties, as both teams responded to whatever the opposition threw at them. The last tie of the half came when SMCC’s freshman Oumar Keita knocked down a jumper to even the score at 37-37 with 1:17 remaining.

The Lynx would end the half with a fivepoint scoring spurt, grabbing a 42-37 lead.

NHTI would pull ahead at the start of the second half with an eight-point spurt to lead 52-41. The ‘Wolves would fight back to get within five and again NHTI would put together another run, ending SMCC’s dream of an upset.

Ryan Cloutier would lead the ‘Wolves, dropping a game-high 20 points on 4-8 shooting from downtown. Gregory Trinidad contributed for the SeaWolves by posting 15 points on 5-9 shooting.

The Seawolves finished the year at 18-10 overall, while NHTI went on to beat Vermont Tech in the YSCC Championship game.

sessions before the SeaWolves would grab some breathing space on two Dixon free throws. Again Machias would pull within one, 78-77.

The ‘Wolves would seal a hard-fought win from the foul line when Gregory Trinidad and Jacobee Burpee would find the bottom of the net four consecutive times in a row, giving SMCC an 82-78 win.

Dylan Silvestri would lead SMCC with 17 points, 16 rebounds and four steals; Ryan Cloutier and first-years Gregory Trinidad and Jacobee Burpee would combine for 42.

The Clippers’ Dante Ramos would post a game-high 19 points, while teammate Travonne Thompson would finish with a double-double, 14 points and 20 rebounds.

As posted on the SeaWolves Athletics webpage, Assistant Coach AJ Burton commented, “The first postseason tournament game is always the toughest. Our guys did a great job weathering the storm from start to finish despite foul trouble and losing our leader Dylan in the final couple minutes.

We executed the game plan and now look ahead Jordan Farquharson overpowering her defender as she leaps off the ground, scoring 2 of her 10 points to day two.” against VTC. Farquharson ended the game with an impressive seven rebounds.

Photos by Jacob Clowes

(continued from page 1)

February 27, 2018 • The Beacon 7

Photos by The Beacon Sports Staff

Photos by Jacob Clowes

SMCC Sports

Top left: Tyler Mickle jumping higher than his defender to score his 2 points against UMM; Mickle also ended the game getting two rebounds.

Top right: Lauryn Fagan going for the layup, pushing through the defense and her defender to try for 2 points. Fagan ended the game with 1 point and 4 rebounds against VTC. Bottom left: Sean Bowering showing us the proper way to shoot a ball. Bowering scored 6 points against UMM, and also ended the game getting one steal and three rebounds.

Bottom right: Adrianna White determandly going in for the layup with her defender heavily on her. White ended the game with 3 points and 1 steal.