SMCC Beacon January 30, 2018

I S S U E DAT E 1•30•18

SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

THE

BEACON

VOLUME 14 NO. 8

BY THE STUDENTS, FOR THE STUDENTS

SMCC Battles Winter Weather It’s 7 AM and the snow is piling up outside. It’s looking like this storm isn’t headed out to sea after all. You can’t afford to miss your 9:00 math class again, but you’re also worried about a treacherous commute through ice and slush. You check your phone and see a text alert from SMCC that says campus is closed for the day and just like that, you’re free to catch up on some homework (or—let’s be honest—binge watch Netflix). Crisis averted.

For the facilities management team, however, the day is just getting started. In fact, it may have begun at 3:00 in the morning and won’t end until every major road and walkway on campus is safely cleared of snow and ice.

Snow is, for better or worse, a fact of life in New England, and every public institution requires a plan to deal with it. We are all familiar with the plows operated by the city that attempt to keep the roads passable during and after winter storms. A small army of city employees and independent contractors lay down about a billion pounds of road salt in Maine every year as they push around the ubiquitous white

stuff. But SMCC doesn’t rely on the City It takes time to learn the ins and outs of to start,” Balberchak assured us. “You have of South Portland to clean up snow on snow removal. “A lot of our guys are very to be deliberate about where you’re pushcampus. A dedicated team of professionals well seasoned, but if we ever have a new guy (Continued on Page 3) is employed by the College to keep things on the plow blade, he’ll ride with one of us running smoothly in even the worst weather.

Dave Balberchak, the Facilities Management Trades Supervisor at SMCC, talked to us about snow removal on campus. Together with a team of about twenty people, he’s responsible for coordinating the operation that few students get to see, since it almost always takes place when campus is closed.

The pressure the team faces is intense, and constant vigilance is needed. “You have to move very slowly. You have to move deliberately. You have to be thinking constantly about every move you’re making, your actions, what’s around you, what’s behind you,” says Balberchak. With poor visibility and slippery conditions, one false move could be disastrous.

Luckily, the plow operators are a highly skilled crew.

Facilities Trades Supervisor Dave Balberchak with the CAT front loader used for campus snow removal.

Photo Courtesy of Troy Hudson

By Troy Hudson

SMCC Standout Jose Nouchanthavong Heads to Thailand

By The Beacon Sports Staff

that was on opposing coaches’ scouting reports as a must-try-to-contain kind of guy.”

Jose’s skill set on the court, his ability to create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, was an opportunity to witness basketball where spontaneity and fluidity meet. While the opponent has been

shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net.

Reflecting on these abilities, Matt Richards stated, “He was a prolific scorer who could distribute the ball, making him so hard to defend. This is an attribute that he developed over time in the gym. He con-

As SMCC finds itself discussing and trying to define student success, it is wonderful to hear that SMCC alum and basketball standout Jose Nouchanthavong has signed a professional contract to play in Thailand’s Basketball Super League.

Nouchanthavong, a 6’2’’ guard, will join Luang Prabang, one of the 11 teams that compete in the men’s division of the Thailand Basketball League founded in 2012.

Nouchanthavong, who graduated from Westbrook High School, was described by SMCC Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Head Coach Matt Richards “as a solid point guard on a really good high school team.” “He was a bit overshadowed on that team and was very under-recruited,” Richards said. “I had seen him play and was very active in recruiting him to attend SMCC.” Jose is not the first Sea- Jose Nouchanthavong drives against Vermont Tech in his final year of play at SMCC. Wolf to sign a professional contract, as lost in memory, one distinct moment comes stantly would work on his skills to get better and always strived to be better every time three others — Paul Holland, Jacob Love- to the forefront for this sports reporter.

With time running out in the first half he took to the court.” ridge and Ville Wuorenjuuri — have also and Jose searching for a path to the basket, Nouchanthavong also ranks eighth in redone so.

Coach Richards also reflected upon Jose’s he took one, maybe two quick steps in to- bounding, grabbing 434 boards; has dished time at SMCC, stating, “During his time wards the basket as if he was going to drive out 470 assists (5.1 ast/g), which ranks with us he elevated his game to not simply to the basket. In a split-second decision him second; and has picked the opponent’s be a solid point guard, but to be a player he took another step back, freeing himself pocket 181 times, which ranks him third. from the defender, launching a three-point Jose also finished his career at SMCC scor-

ing 986 points, was a Yankee Small College All-Conference (YSCC) selection, and a First Team United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-American.

Coach Richards also shared this insight concerning Jose’s trajectory: “The road wasn’t always easy for him. However, he believed in himself when others didn’t and strived to reach his goals of trying to play professionally.”

After finishing at SMCC, Nouchanthavong transferred to the University of Southern Maine, earning recognition as a 2016 Little East All-Conference selection averaging 18.2 points and 4.5 assists in 26 games.

Richards ended his comments saying, “He really embodies what the mission of SMCC stands for and what we hope to instill in our student athletes in terms of developing oneself through determination and perseverance in creating opportunities for yourself in achieving your goals.”

Like Coach Richards, who “couldn’t be happier for his success,” the Beacon would like to extend the best of wishes to Jose as he starts his next endeavor on the basketball court.

Campus News CeSIL Hosts Student Involvement Fair the setting for a Student Involvement Fair.

A gamut of student clubs and organizations Q. What does it mean to “get involved” had set up tables, and the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership (CeSIL) at SMCC? A. Walloping your friends with foam had provided free pizza, which went as fast quarterstaffs (Boffing Club); sitting in a as you’d expect.

Traveling clockwise around the room, circle discussing poetry (Midcoast Campus Poetry Club), the meaning of life (Philos- the first table I landed at belonged to the Student Activities Committee, which is itself a student activity. The Committee members I spoke to were untroubled by paradoxes of self-reference, and gladly told me about their club. Sam Gilbert: “We plan activities for students, and, you know, that can include commuters.”

Ali Pearl: “We just sit in a room and plan events around campus, all year round.

We do movies, we do craft nights, we organize and run the dances that are on campus; we do fun little things off camJohn Rodgers, a Captain’s Cupboard volunteer, speaks with students pus, too. There’s all ophy Club), or social justice (SPLC Club); kinds of stuff in the works, like Spring volunteering at a food pantry for hungry Fest.” There’s also a winter dance on March students (The Captain’s Cupboard); build- 1. You don’t have to get elected to Activiing a student newspaper from scratch ties Committee — anyone can join.

Next I visited the SPLC Student Group. (ahem); joining a SeaWolves athletic team Their table was full of colorful pins (“Fight— and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

On Thursday, Jan. 25, the Noisy Lounge ing Hate, Teaching Tolerance, Seeking Jusat the South Portland Campus Center was tice,” “Y’all means all”), ribbons, bracelets Photo Courtesy of Negin Ahadzadeh

By Ben Riggleman

THE

BEACON 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 • January 30, 2018

and brochures from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, is a national nonprofit, formed in 1971, that advocates for civil rights; it tracks hate groups, and often fights them in court. The SPLC Student Group is only loosely affiliated with the SPLC, and mainly provides a forum to discuss race, inequality, and other social issues. All are welcome at their meetings, Wednesdays at 3 p.m. in Howe Hall’s seminar room.

“The Captain’s Cupboard is an on-campus food pantry that provides food to students,” as student volunteer Isaac McIntire explained to me. “Basically, what we try to do is have plenty of food that’s available on campus for any student to come and take, at will. We’re volunteer based, and student run.” Customers need only bring their student ID. The Captain’s Cupboard is located in the Captain’s House at 126 McKernan Drive. Its hours will be posted shortly on its Facebook page (“The Captain’s Cupboard”) and emailed to students. Volunteers are always needed.

At the next table I talked with Professor Kitty Broihier about the new Nutrition Club on campus. The club, which had long existed only in name, was revived by Nutrition & Dietetics students at the start of this semester. Yes, there will be snacks at their meetings. Healthy ones. For more information, email Ms. Broihier at cbroihier@ smccme.edu.

A couple tables down was the Veterans Club. Kristy Howarth, a motor-vehicle

transport operator in the Maine Army National Guard and a fourth-semester student at SMCC, gave me the rundown on the club: “It’s just a big group for all the local veterans, and veteran dependents, to get together. And we do monthly bake sales, and the money that has been raised has been going towards book scholarships.

We’re also going to try and put that into fuel scholarships and grocery scholarships.” The Veterans Club also hosts an off-campus social event for veterans and their families once a semester. The Club meets twice a month in the Captain’s House, on Mondays from 3 to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.

Chuck Ott, a Beacon faculty advisor, repped this paper at the next table. The Beacon always needs student writers, photographers, and graphic designers. All are welcome to join us at our meetings, every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Captain’s House.

The next two are Jan. 30 and Feb. 13.

Finally, I spoke with Zahra Abukar of the Multicultural and International Student Club. The club will meet monthly, and will be kicking off with a multicultural potluck.

Contact Zahra at zahramabukar@smccme. edu to learn more, and check the weekly CeSIL updates in your student email for dates and times!

You can find out about many other student activities and clubs on the SMCC App and in those CeSIL emails.

Campus News

By The Beacon Staff It’s hard not to notice the crumbling steps leading up to the Campus Center across from Howe Hall, especially now that they are dotted with bright orange safety cones. While the concrete walkway has been eroding for some time, the damage has recently reached a critical safety point. Facilities Trades Supervisor Dave

Winter Weather (Continued from Page 1)

ing that snow, because you could easily bog down the snow blade, push it in the wrong place and now you don’t have a new place to push the rest of it.”

And where does all of that snow end up when there’s no more room? In times of especially heavy accumulation, snow is piled high behind the Culinary Arts building.

“I’m glad we have such a place,” says Balberchak, “otherwise we might have snow banks twelve feet high at times.”

The snow removal process is done for every measurable snowfall, and safe passage is usually restored in time for classes to be held as usual. But on at least a handful of occasions each year, winter weather forces the campus to close entirely. Dean of Student Affairs Tiffanie Bentley says that’s not an easy decision to make. “The length of

Balberchak says, “What you have there is a staircase that has seen many years of sun, rain, and ice. Eventually, all cement products break down.”

The corrosive salt used for keeping the steps safe in winter is primarily responsible for their untimely demise. Unfortunately, the cold weather is also preventing immediate repairs. Cement cures best at temperatures above 50 degrees, so repairs

are pending until Spring. “Come spring, we’re going to build forms on it,” says Balberchak, “We’re going to close that staircase until we repair that cement, restore it back to normal.”

In the meantime, Balberchak says the walkway is still safe to use as long as the eroded areas marked by the cones are avoided.

time the storm lasts, the amount of wind blowing snow and the timing of the storm are big factors impacting whether the campuses can be cleared and ready for students and employees to arrive,” she says.

As we all know, weather prediction is not an exact science so Bentley pulls from a variety of resources to determine the best course of action, including the National Weather Service, local forecasts, other school district closings, and daycare closings—she explains, “Since they close the least, this is a bad sign.“ After all this, she confers with Facilities and Project Manager Jay Reny before making a decision to close campus. Regardless of whether campus is officially closed or not, Bentley says students at SMCC are empowered to make decisions for their own safety: “If it is unsafe to travel because of the weather conditions in your area, you

should exercise your best judgment and stay home if needed.”

Given the size and power of some of the equipment utilized by the Facilities team, Bentley says closing campus is sometimes necessary because “it is difficult to impossible to safely maneuver around vehicles and pedestrians.” In addition to a fleet of plow trucks, the College keeps two Bobcats, a Kubota, and a rented 28,000lb CAT front loader. The Cat is used to quickly clear Parking Lot A, the largest lot on campus, because it is able to clear three times as much in a single pass as a standard plow truck.

Getting the roads and walkways cleared is still only half the battle. According to Bentley, “The sidewalks have to be cleared and salted, the fire hydrants shoveled out, all the basement entrances and porches shoveled off, which requires a significant amount of

Photo Courtesy of Troy Hudson

Campus Center Walkway Set for Spring Repairs

Steps leading up to the Campus Center eagerly await spring repairs. shoveling by hand due to the nature of our older buildings. All the furnace vents and oil accesses, fire lanes, etc. have to be available.” Shoveling is coordinated by Custodial Supervisor Tim Slane, who works closely with Facilities to optimize the process.

Because the entire operation usually takes place before students and faculty arrive on campus, the effort that goes into keeping the grounds safe isn’t always obvious. It’s all too easy to take for granted the behind-thescenes preparation that takes place while we’re at home, warm in our beds. Balberchak says, “We in Facilities are very aware of why the students are here. The students are here to learn. A student optimizes their learning abilities by attending class every day that class is open, so it behooves us to make sure they can get to class. That’s why we’re out at 3:00 AM.”

January 30, 2018 • The Beacon 3

Other World Rapper Advocates to Save Our Oceans

By Hali Parsons Femcee Aynjewl Faycc (pronounced “angel face”) uses her grace to produce and distribute her song “Future Planets,” which expresses a collective need to preserve our Earth. “Future Planets” was written and recorded for a Marine Biology course at Southern Maine Community College, summing up a basic apprehension from her studies. In the chorus, Faycc summarizes

how much is hidden within our oceans and that our hope lies with economics.

Deep within the rapper’s soul is a sincere sensitivity to the natural ways of life. A conceptual place before the Industrial Revolution is a theme she alludes to often. The idea is referenced in her work as a place where her spirit may have existed in ancient times.

Embodying the Information Age, Faycc stays grounded by looking into the future based on what we know today.

Although “Future Planets” does not use futuristic language, it gives us the advice to use political restraint to make lasting changes. What Faycc means by this is that once an elite group knows what you advocate for, they simply dismiss any further input because they have made their minds up about what you have to say. Advocates must be well-rounded to maintain an unbiased reputation for their voices to get heard. You can find “Future Planets” by Aynjewl Faycc on iTunes and Spotify.

Screenshot of Aynjewl Faycc from the video for her song “Future Planets” on YouTube.

Alum-inations: Better Late Than Never

By Linda Hildonen As an SMCC alumna, I often think back to how my experiences at the school helped to shape my life. I reflect on the people I met, the things I learned, the skills I acquired. I look back on things I was able to cross off of my “bucket list” while I was there — from singing in front of others in the SMCC chorus, to standing on Congress Street in front of a sculpture I had made standing on Congress Street in front of an art-gallery window where a sculpture of mine was being displayed and shouting at strangers, “Hey! That’s my bust!”

Okay, maybe the bucket-list part was just about being in the gallery in the first place.

But I really did shout at people. I may have been drinking.

I graduated from SMCC in May 2011.

At the time, I was 27 years old, married and working in retail. I had graduated from high school nine years earlier with grades that can only be described as “mixed”: I remember the semester that I simultaneously a received a final grade of a 99 in my Poetry class (a distinctive A plus) and a 23 in Algebra (is there such a thing as an F minus?).

My test scores, however, were high across the board: intelligence was never my problem. Nor was laziness, despite the frequency with which this term was used by my exasperated teachers. What I lacked were “soft

4 The Beacon • January 30, 2018

skills” — the oft-overlooked abilities which act as mortar between bricks of human potential. In my case, undiagnosed ADHD had eroded my focus and organizational skills, and the uneducated reactions to it had laid waste to my confidence.

Years of working low-paying fast food and retail jobs after high school helped to build other “soft” skills: resourcefulness and resolve. By 2009, my view of myself had changed. I looked at my life, and thought about what I had accomplished. More importantly, I thought about what I had not accomplished, and I knew: I can do more. It was around that time that I became a fulltime student at SMCC. My time at SMCC did a lot of things. It helped me to try new things. It helped me to meet new people. It helped me to explore my interests and passions and zoom in on what really spoke to me, and be clear about what didn’t. As a Liberal Studies student with a concentration in art, I took classes that exposed me to art of all kinds, and I made a realization that would shape my career: I am not passionate about art for the sake of art. I am not passionate about art without boundaries. I am passionate about design, and about using art to communicate messages that are very specific, and purposeful.

SMCC helped me to develop very some very useful practical skills: how to use Pho-

toshop, how to write a screenplay. But above all, SMCC opened me up to possibility.

SMCC developed my optimism and belief in possibility, and opened me up the reality that things can be accomplished, and weaknesses can be overcome. Whether it was sculpting a bust or writing a movie or finally crossing a trip to Europe off my bucket list, SMCC laid out the steps to make each of those things achievable.

Six years after graduating, I am working in a marketing job I couldn’t have hoped to be qualified for without my degree and the training I received in pursuit of it. It is an often perfect marriage of my love of design and my passion for writing. Outside of my job, I recently worked on an independent film project, co-writing the screenplay to a full-length feature filmed right here in Maine, which debuted at a gala in December — so check “attend a gala held (partially) in my honor” and “have an excuse to wear a floor-length gown” off the bucket list.

While I took a longer route than some to make my way to college, it was the route I had to take, and I am grateful for it. It is never too late to learn, and one must be always learning to be their best.

Why, just today, as I started this article, I learned that the word I was looking for is “alumna,” not “alumnist.” So that’s what SMCC taught me today. Better late than never.

Other World New Beginnings

By Sudeep Stauble This piece was intended for publication in the final issue of the fall semester.

As we strolled along the city street, the sensations of the new world closed in.

The humid air, with its pervasive scent of gasoline mixed with the smoky aroma of cooking food from a nearby vendor, was enough to excite my senses. The engines of vehicles roared as they zoomed past us.

And somewhere behind me, I could discern faint clicks as someone in our group snapped pictures with their cell phone. New Orleans was alive, a sentient being of sounds, smells and emotions possessing a vitality that nearly overwhelmed me.

Having spent a day and a half traveling on a bus, I was part of the majority of college students on this trip who were glad to finally be on our feet.

We were on a service trip with a Christian organization called Intervarsity. For one week in March, our aim was to play our part in rebuilding areas of the city that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina 10 years prior. For me, it wasn’t the work that impacted me, although the service to those communities was rewarding. Rather, the stories I heard while interacting with victims of the hurricane, coupled with witnessing the remnants of devastation, was enough to leave an imprint on my heart.

One such story was from a man who found himself on a dark path. Having lost his home, his livelihood, and those close to him, he was consumed by substance abuse, a hell from which he was just beginning to recover. The tears, the pain, the raw emotion with which he recounted to me this story, forever changed my perspective. Any of us can lose — and may have lost — everything, and, as a result of our destitution, we may resort to choices that ultimately lead us down a destructive path.

Since my return from Louisiana over a year ago, I have not been the same. For instance, recently there was a massive storm in our state of Maine that rendered us all without power, including our own SMCC campus. That whole day I kept recalling the devastation that still lingers in that city like an open wound. I remember touching the levy, that halfheartedly fashioned wall of concrete and metal that failed to protect the city from the encroaching storm. The day of our storm, while everyone was complaining about the trivial, I kept commenting that there are worse fates than not being able to charge our precious devices. “Be grateful,” I was tempted to remark, “that we at least have somewhere to sleep and food to eat.”

The contrast between the trivial and what matters seemed to be a theme with which I struggled this semester. I suffered disillusionment as a result. I’ve seen much during my travels, suffered a tragedy of my own, and lost too much to take things for granted. As the semester draws to a

close, and as I prepare to move on to university, I’m reminded of the lessons that shaped me. Granted, there were rough times, but there were some good times.

There’s no doubt that as I continue the journey and find my place in this world, I will continue learning. I’ve made mistakes and fixed some of them, lost some friends but gained new ones, and survived the tumult of these past few years. I’ve

the what-ifs that play in my head over and over. What if I don’t make friends?

What if people don’t like me? What if my mistakes haunt me? What if I fail? I fight the what-ifs by reminding myself that I got this far, that there’s no turning back.

All I can do is my best. I can continue to pursue my passions, be kind and rely on God and people around me in times when I can’t do it alone.

What inspires me is the resilience of others who have suffered. New Orleans may have been nearly destroyed, but from the rubble emerged a hopeful community.

In contrast to the despair and resentment harbored by some, I saw optimism. People willingly returned to the very place of their trauma, wanting to rebuild. Having witnessed destruction but also recovery, I, too, have learned to rebuild when things fall apart.

As I leave, I do so with hope. Hope to foster meaningful connections. Hope that, for once, I can help, rather than hurt, people. Hope that the ones I did hurt can forgive me. Hope for new beginnings. I hope you all succeed in your own way. I wish you luck and joy.

All I can do is my best. I can continue to pursue my passions, be kind and rely on God and people around me in times when I can’t do it alone. come to learn that no matter how dark things get, how miserable I feel, how desperate I sometimes am to give up, there is always something to push me forward, some strength I had no idea I possessed.

I’m excited to move to the University of Maine at Farmington, but, truth be told, I’m scared. I suppose it’s the unknown,

All we KNOW is that we know NOTHING. Let’s talk about it over PIZZA anyway.

Join the Philosophy Club!

Thursdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

3rd-floor seminar room, Howe Hall.

Plus:

Join us at the monthly Philosophy Forum!

Open to the public.

All are welcome.

Every second Thursday, 6:30-8 p.m., same location

(Next Forum: February 8)

January 30, 2018 • The Beacon 5

Opinion From the Desk of the Managing Editor

By Troy Hudson Hello, SeaWolves, Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Troy Hudson and I am the new managing editor of The Beacon. While I am stepping into this position for the first time, in the past I have served as creative director and then production manager of the paper.

The reason I’ve stayed committed to this newspaper is that I believe there is nothing else like it, either at SMCC or beyond. This paper is a reflection of the student body at SMCC and reveals our passions, preoccupations and shortcomings in equal measure. What we at The Beacon aspire to do is amplify the voices of students who bear witness to the world and have something to say about it. I believe these voices, your voices, are exactly what is needed right now.

As the loosely-defined concept of “fake news” enters the popular consciousness, the reputation of traditional media for providing truthful reporting of events, already on a long decline, has suffered a PR disaster. If integrity in the media is to be found again, it will have to come from a new generation of journalists. That generation reads and writes the newspaper you hold in your hands.

My commitment to you is that I will make every effort to keep The Beacon honest and accurate, relevant and timely, interesting and entertaining.

But there is one caveat: I don’t write The Beacon — you do. This may be the only newspaper you ever read that invites you personally to contribute. Take a look at the staff box on Page 2 of this issue and see if you recognize any of the contributing writers, photographers or illustrators. If not, I’m not doing my job properly.

In my time at the paper’s helm, I want The Beacon to represent all of us at SMCC, and by US I mean YOU. The Beacon meets at the Captain’s House every other Tuesday, the same day the paper becomes available on campus, and there is always an open invitation to all interested students to join us.

Am I promising to publish each and every article that is submitted? Unfortunately not. But I do promise to give every submission a fair shot at publication as long as it serves the student body in some way. We at The Beacon are proud of what we do and we want you to feel the same way, so I encourage you to be a part of what we’re doing this semester and make The Beacon your own.

Is Higher Ed Still Achievable?

By Miriam Deauseault

Frustration with the current political climate is something I’m sure many SMCC students can relate to. Many of us, myself included, are first-generation college students, often coming from lines of poverty that span generations. I am thankful every day for the chance I have been given, to be able to really make a difference in the world and build a life for myself. I’ve known for years that I wanted to attend medical school and get my PhD in psychiatry, but when I see the debt I’m already taking on to come to SMCC, I wonder if my dream is realistic.

The value of an education is often lost on those for whom college has never been a question. But there are plenty of people like me here, who put their hearts and souls into their learning, because it is their only chance to break the cycle of hardship their families have endured for decades.

Instead of creating laws to help us, the government and the president himself seem to prefer to focus on tax cuts for the rich. The

recently passed GOP tax bill contained a section that would treat as taxable income the tuition waivers that make graduate school affordable for low income students.

The good part: it didn’t make it into the final bill.

The bad part: it took massive student rallies at over 40 universities, and harsh pushback from many senators, for our leaders to have enough empathy to think, wow, maybe this isn’t a good idea.

Meanwhile, President Trump is calling for the reversal of student-loan forgiveness after 10 years of work in the public-service sector, $487 million in cuts to workstudy funding, and over $200 million in cuts for the TRIO and Gear Up high-school and college programs, aimed specifically at disadvantaged and first-generation college hopefuls and current students. Complete elimination of government-subsidized on-campus childcare for low-income students could make getting an education impossible for many

young parents. Finally, Trump’s proposed education reforms would cut subsidized loan availability by over $8 billion.

America is the land of opportunity, not the land of “opportunity as long as you’re bringing in at least six figures a year”. I’m furious about the extra hurdles poor students have to jump over to achieve the same level of educational attainment as others.

I’m tired of hearing my friends talk about how they can’t afford another semester at the cheapest college in New England. The dread I feel at not being able to get the education I want no matter how many scholarships I receive and how many hours I work on top of my classes looms constantly. I’ve met so many students with more struggles than myself, and I can’t imagine how they cope with it, because there isn’t an hour that passes in my days where I don’t worry about money, tuition and the future of my education. Low income students deserve the same chances to succeed as students with families that can contribute significantly to their tuition, and a degree is crucial to success in many fields today.

I have a lot of faith that America is on the verge of a political revolution that is long overdue. The most influential political movements in US history weren’t started by politicians, but by everyday citizens exercising their right to oppose unfair treatment by the government. I encourage anyone involved in the education system (students, teachers and administrators) to keep updated on policies that can affect the future of affordable tuition for low income students, and to speak out on them. Higher education should be attainable for everyone.

Kawczynski: A Blot on Maine’s Good Name

By Gio DiFazio Google Jackman. Up until a couple weeks ago, if you were to do this, your search results would turn up the 49-year-old actor famous for starring in the 2017 blockbuster “Logan.”

Today, if you were to do the same thing, the top result would be a small town in Maine.Tom Kawczynski has brought a media frenzy upon the small town of about 850 residents within the past week or so. The connection snapped into my head, but it’s not his fault his name sounds nearly identical to the Unabomber’s.

After being hired to manage the town, which is located 20 minutes away from the Canadian border, a duo of Maine journalists connected Kawczynski to a group he founded, whose stated purpose is to “Defend the people and culture of New England.” That group is called New Albion, and has hateful views of minority members of the Maine community.

Read The Beacon. Write The Beacon.

Illustration by Dan Elliott

6 The Beacon • January 30, 2018

The Bangor Daily News conducted an interview with the ex-town manager himself.

Kawczynski: “We are pro-white without being anti-other groups in terms of their racial identity. But we oppose the idea of bringing people in from the outside that come from different cultures.”

Not only will the town of Jackman face the burden of being the butt of many jokes for eternity, but taxpayers will help cut a $30,000 check to Kawczynski so that he does not take legal action against the town. Maybe this will end up helping Kawczynski’s cause more than it hurts it? Imagine, a white-supremacist group, funded with taxpayer money.

Not to mention, his dreams won’t die. The hateful and nasty perception of minorities living in Maine and America is something that his family will carry on.

Traveling outside of Portland, it’s easy to see the lack of diversity found within the whitest state in the Union. The small towns in Maine have an uphill battle in becoming more progressive, understanding communities, and events like this set us back to the stone age.

How did Kawczynski slip through the cracks in the hiring process? Can the officials that hired him be excused for such a mistake? Kawczynski, posting under his real name, has been promoting his horrible ideology on the website Gab since long before he was hired.

Gab is a sort of right-wing Twitter clone.

Wikipedia defines it as “an Austin, Texas-based social networking service created as an alternative to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. It allows its users to read and write messages of up to 300 characters, called ‘gabs’ … Gab describes its mission as putting ‘people and free speech first’ but has been criticised as a social-media platform exclusively for the altright and white nationalists.” One can call it a right-wing echo chamber, another can call it a place for white supremacists to freely exchange thoughts. But there is one thing true about the site. The mere presence of a public official maintaining a page on such a website should raise serious red flags.

Just last week, Kawczynski wrote on his Gab page, “I want to thank everyone supporting me as I take on the entire media establishment to defend freedom of speech, demand legal equality and white civil rights, and the right to make judgments about what values we want to support.”

Some of his posts are unintentionally humorous, like, “I have a very good black friend who called me today to talk about the situation. …” Dave Chappelle brought us Clayton Bigsby, the blind African-American white supremacist. Is that who Tom Kawczynski is referring to?

All kidding aside, Tom Kawczynski, you suck. It doesn’t matter where you go. Just leave.

There are surely communities that welcome you and your views. Move to Leith, North Dakota. Start a tiki-torch community. Have a tiki-torch party. Just go away.

Opinion It Doesn’t Matter, Until It’s You

by R. G.

By Lloyd Metcalf

What if there were no parties?

When I was a young kid I recall going to vote with my father. The whole ride to the town hall, he explained how it was a civic duty, gave people a voice, and how he felt we were obligated to do this small thing to maintain our system of government and affect how things work.

He checked in at the town hall and I followed him into the voting booth. Once there he scanned through the items on the ballot. Being small-town Maine, there weren’t many items to consider. Many of the usual offices were open that year — town selectmen, road commissioner, animal control, and some others I don’t recall. He said, “The thing to do is, go down through and look for this letter” — the letter indicating his party of choice. “Those are the people we want to vote for.”

In short order we were done, but it sat with me a little funny that he voted this way. He wanted a voice, he felt a civic duty, and yet knew very little about the people for whom he had just cast his vote. I never put heavy thought to this until much later in life when I found myself standing in a voting booth at 18 or 19. I honestly felt a heavy burden, as if my vote was helping shape the society in which I lived, but I had no real idea what I was doing or for whom I was voting.

What if

What if there were no political party affiliations? How would that affect what you do, who you vote for, or what your voting process would be? How would it affect governmental operation and cooperation?

Political opinions and approaches can be nuanced things with wide-ranging subtleties, and yet America is heavily divided down the middle between Democrat and Republican. “Left and Right,” conservative and liberal, no matter what words are used, there are two parties that drive American politics and policy. Australia has no less than THIRTEEN parties that have an influence in Senate or House of Representatives. Tunisia has more than 200 recognized political parties!!

When you go to vote, do you know anything about the people on the ballot beyond their name and if they have a (D) or (R) after their name? Do you vote like my dad did (pick one letter and check them all off )?

Or do you look at each candidate, who they are, what qualifications they bring and how they voted on your key concerns in the past?

If you look at their profiles, quotes and previous votes with your two-party filter on, you are likely seeking a way to praise or fault more than you are considering what their goals in office might be or how they qualify for the position.

How would it look without D’s and R’s?

If you were to go to the voting booth with no information about party affiliation, or hear about party affiliation in the media, online or anywhere else, how would you decide who gets your vote in the booth?

Would you base it on one or two speech-

es you saw online? What religion they are?

Would you base it by who your family might vote for? Would you still seek to figure out if they toe a party line to group them into a general pile?

Let’s face it, most voters are lazy. I’ll be so bold as to group myself in the lazy heap as well. We likely don’t honestly know how most of our representatives have voted on issues in the past unless it breaks into the news. We make assumptions about how they will vote based on their party affiliation.

Who is your county representative? What district are you in? Who is your district legislator? What was the last thing they voted on and why? The good news is that we have the internet, and that information IS available. The bad news is, most voters never take advantage of this mountain of potential information. We pick a party line and vote for the letter of a party, not a person.

Yes, there are some fringe parties in America, but two hold power consistently.

I challenge you to spend a little time on the websites of your local representative or legislator and push yourself away from preconceived knowledge of party lines to see what that person is voting for and saying on your behalf as your representative to the government.

Without knowing about party affiliations, people need to pull on other knowledge to make voting decisions. Those decisions would likely be on issues that are important to the voter immediately.

When I hear or read sweeping generalizations about Democrats or Republicans, I wince a bit at the hit. What the statement is likely saying is how a lobbying group has affected a vote on an issue important to that person. Not how every member of that party feels on the issue.

Why are we divided?

I can’t help but wonder why we are so divided. Why are we so encouraged to be deeply divided? Is it the old strategy of “Divide and Conquer” that we fall victim to?

Is it that we’re lazy and it’s easier to group people into “friends” and “enemies”? Do we not want to put in the effort to discover qualities about the people representing us to the world? Neither side of a two-party system is ever going to “win.” We share our society daily with different political affiliations. Who has the most to gain from a country’s people remaining deeply divided on how laws are made and executed?

We all have a little more power than we think. In Maine you can easily find your district legislator on this site: http://legislature.maine.gov/house/townlist.htm. They have contact information there, phone numbers, and records of how and what they voted on. These people are in office to help you submit new or better laws if you want them voted on. Your legislator might not be the same party as you, but they are somebody in your town. A face you might know.

In an age of celebrities making bids on the highest office, it might be time to break down the two-party line with your neighbor and see what things you agree on before casting them into your list of enemies.

The events that happened in Charlottesville shine a light on the devastating number of Americans that still believe in the idea of white supremacy. If their message of insurrection wasn’t displayed enough on the University of Virginia campus, the President’s remarks on the rally clearly define what they wanted to convey: we are still here and we are just getting started.

When I heard that there had been a march of neo-nazi groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, I remember feeling only one thing: disappointment. Because the idea that this march occurred was not shocking or confusing to me. I knew that neo-nazis still existed and racism was still rampant in our society. The only thing that this rally made me feel was frustration—frustration that people now felt unsafe, that there had been a loss of young life for no reason but hatred, that I would only hear about Nazis and white supremacists for the next two weeks on the news, that I had to wait and hear what my president was going to say about the events, already knowing, however, that I would be thoroughly disappointed.

Not until I saw the widely circulated documentary video

by Vice news did I see something truly horrific. I lost the feeling of frustration, and adopted the feeling of panic and fear.

Watching the Vice documentary made me realize that while I had been keeping up with the news, I was being sheltered from seeing this kind of domestic terrorism. I never witnessed what true hatred towards a race or religion looked like in this day and age. I had read the news articles on police shootings of unarmed black men and women, and synagogues getting vandalized with anti-semitic rhetoric. There is a difference between reading about something and seeing something unfold in front of your eyes.

I’m a young, white woman and I have never been pulled over by the police or bullied because of my skin color. I’m Jewish, but that is not obvious if you just glance at me. I’m privileged, and seeing the events in Charlottesville opened my eyes to the hatred that is behind those anti-semitic and racist memes. Behind the internet is people, and those people are the ones who organized the event in Charlottesville.

The anger felt between the opposing groups that day was obvious. The fault for Heather Heyer’s death, however, belonged on only one side. Not to Donald Trump, however. In an unscripted press conference, President Donald Trump took to

the podium to tell the nation that the actions in Charlottesville were terrible, and the blame was on many sides. I remember watching this whole debacle with my mom. Prior to the conference, I had been telling my mom that I was scared about the future, my safety, and my friends’ safety. Only Trump could render me absolutely speechless when I heard him utter those words. My mother shook her head in disbelief, muttering “Jesus” under her breath.

Jesus? I remember thinking, No, more like oh my god, what a colossal f—k up!

That’s our president saying that the Nazis weren’t to blame for her death! Get more angry! Why wasn’t she angry like me? Did she not care? Turns out that it’s neither of those, because she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t share the Jewish faith like I do, nor is she white.

My mother had never been to a whites only school, and she’s never walked past a Nazi propaganda poster. She never even saw the Vice video. My mother was never subjected to seeing something like Charlottesville, she didn’t see the behind the scenes look into these men’s lives. This was just something terrible that happened in Virginia. Nothing more, nothing less.

Which is why it’s crucial for people to see things like the Vice video. Because when you see this in its entirety, it’s more than just something that happened in the past. This racism and fascism was not only prevalent in the 1940s. To people like my mother, it only seems to exist in the past.

They must think that surely, nothing like that could ever happen nowadays. Sure, that white supremacist rally happened, but so what? Yeah, that Jewish cemetery headstone was broken and vandalised, but it only happened once. Yes, that shooting of Philando Castile was terrible and heart-breaking, but our police around here would never!

It is always easier to ignore, until you become the victim. Because yes, those heartbreaking acts of violence happened and they will continue to happen until something is said and done. Because when you have a president that says Nazis are fine people, those egregious attacks like the one on Heather Heyer will continue to occur until suddenly you’re seeing something eerily familiar emerging in your society. Then, finally, when it becomes clear that your country has decided to go back sixty years, you won’t be able to speak up.

None of us will, because they took that right away while you were looking away from it all.

There is a difference between reading about something and seeing something unfold in front of your eyes.

THE

BEACON

The Beacon welcomes submissions from all readers. If you have an opinion you’d like to share, you can email your submission to mbeacon@smccme.edu.

January 30, 2018 • The Beacon 7

Arts & Features

Friday Fun

By Rebecca Dow Have you ever been to Congress Street on a Friday evening? Most businesses take advantage of the free time people tend to acquire at the end of the week, hosting dinner specials, open mics, public events, dances and more. For those of you not acquainted with Portland’s bustling nightlife, one cannot walk five feet downtown without noticing some intriguing activity or piece of artwork that simply begs to be thoroughly noticed.

As for the creators of such delights, many eagerly await the first Friday of each month, as this is when Creative Portland hosts its dazzling First Friday Art Walk.

From 5 to 8 p.m. the streets are filled with vendors lined up along the sidewalk to sell their artful wares, including photography,

Photo Courtesy of Kyle Lappin

Chess at Coffee By Design Chess and coffee lovers are in for a surprise! Every Friday night and Saturday morning is Chess Night at a hip and stylish coffee shop in downtown Portland.

Long time Portlander Reggie Groff became friends with Corey Tracy when he began teaching him how to play chess in the back seating area of Coffee By Design.

They made this a regular thing. One night, by coincidence, Kathy Vilnrotter came into the establishment and met the two playing chess. This was a happening of fate at its finest. Everywhere Kathy has lived, she has attempted to start a chess club. She made the move from New York to Portland a year ago, and it was a good thing she did, because the community needs groups like these.

She loves being here and supporting the owners of Coffee By Design, as it is not your average coffee shop. “Everybody who comes in here is awesome,” she says. “It is a motley crew of awesome.” The atmosphere is relaxed, and the games move at a friendly, conversational pace. You can be as competitive as you want, but with the great personalities paired with great coffee and pastries, you will be forced to sit back and enjoy life’s precious moments.

I sat down to play a game with Kathy, being an avid chess fan. She started the game off by holding out two fists, and the color of the pawn I chose determined my color for the game. This also dictates who goes first, so it’s a 50-50 chance. UnsurPhoto Courtesy of Kyle Lappin

Left to Right: Kathy Vilnrotter, Reggie Groff, and Corey Tracy at Coffee By Design.

prisingly, I was defeated in our first game.

We played a second game and I had Kathy cornered. I thought for sure I was going to win! Of course, this was a mistake in judgment. One has to be quick to checkmate, as she managed with what pieces she had left to checkmate me in only a few turns.

Commentaries from regulars in the shop include: “In a world full of trends, Kathy is a classic, she never goes out of style.”

“This is where memories are created: memories of the game, memories of the atmosphere, and the people.”

Those who are into this brain game should come down and check it out. This is the place to learn and develop your skills.

Life is a lot like chess: One must methodically plan three moves ahead, and attempt to predict the outcome, as well as predict the moves your opponent is planning. In terms of life, the opponent would be any challenges or antagonists in your story of success. Stay golden, folks, and keep your dreams and brains tuned in.

Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Dow

By Kyle Lappin

Sweets sold at Coffee By Design.

What’s Brewing on Congress Street

By Rebecca Dow Coffee is considered by most Americans to be a staple of their morning routine. Some choose to enjoy the comfort of a home brew mingled with 2 percent milk and sugar to taste, while others may prefer the calm surroundings of a quaint cafe. Living in the dorms with five classes can be a tad overwhelming, so when I get the chance to relax, there’s nothing quite like enjoying a hot cup of joe in the heart of Portland. This past Friday I decided to stop into Coffee By Design (CBD), specifically their Congress Street location. The walls were painted beige and brown with red and yellow accents, and in the back, multiple chess games ran full swing. While sitting in front of an oil painting by local artist Jan Ter Weele, the baristas happily chattered as they made my medium mocha chai. The atmosphere of the shop was smooth, chill, lighthearted and community oriented. Coffee By Design features new artists’ work every month, and the original

pieces can be purchased directly from the galore. For myself and my two friends who shop — yet another example of the cre- joined me, I purchased a peanut-butter bar ative blood pumping through Portland’s split between us — it was crumbly and rich artistic veins. This month’s featured artist in all the right ways. The beverages included was Jan ter Weele; many of his works were not only coffee, but chai tea, hot chocolate, displayed on the walls throughout the café. and frozen or iced drinks. Honestly, when There was a wide array of paintings disspending time at Coffee By Design, I played, some including collage was brought back to fond memelements, others, bright abories of my best friend and I stract colors and prominent sharing a pot on his front textures using oil on canvas. porch, eating coffee cake I believe that the décor of an and sharing good stories. I establishment can reveal a lot miss those times dearly, and about their values, and when I often find myself forgetting to walk into Coffee By Design, I make time for new memories. am struck with a sense of comMy recommendation for anymunity and creative belonging. one looking to steep in PortReflecting more on the bevland culture would be to visit a erages and confections being coffee shop, drink in the atmosold, their selection of sweets sphere, and soak up the art, the was stylishly presented in glass smells and the sights. Discover as displays behind a window at the many places as possible, because front of the brew station. There you just might find your favorite were cinnamon buns, muffins, locale among the sea of shops that Photo Courtesy doughnuts, cupcakes and pastries of Rebecca Dow adorn the largest town in Maine.

8 The Beacon • January 30, 2018

paintings, crochet and knit clothing, jewelry, sculptures and many more unique items.

Not only are there vendors, but musicians, and venues that hold exhibitions free to the public! To learn more about First Fridays, go to the following link: www.creativeportland.com. By clicking the “Join” tab, those interested in signing up as a vendor, venue or performer can find everything they need to know to get out there and contribute!

If waiting a month to attend First Friday’s swell of public events seems too far away, don’t fret! The Portland Museum of Art hosts Free Fridays every week from 4 to 8 p.m., no admission fee required. A calendar of PMA’s scheduled events may be found at www.portlandmuseum.org/events.

This week’s Free Friday event on Feb. 2 will feature a screening of the film “Beuys,”

by Andres Veiel. The Museum usually displays an ever-changing selection of featured artists’ works, including pieces from their private collection that remain indefinitely within the building — some of which are very old, and delicate in nature.

It can be enriching to peruse the different rooms; inspiration comes in many shapes and forms. Studying the techniques, styles, color choices and materials used in another artist’s work can surely serve as a muse for our own expressions of self.

Regardless of what you do on Friday evenings, consider exploring the town; visit the art museum and whet the grindstone of your mind so that it keeps sharp, like a double-edged razor.

Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Dow

Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Dow Pictured on the top of the page: Left, the Portland Museum of Art’s entryway. Pictured above, two Oil On Canvas Paintings by Local Artist: Jan Ter Weele, showcased in Coffee By Design.

Arts & Features Dogfish Bar and Grille: Open Mic Night

By Kyle Lappin

ful poems, and is currently working on her third. These are available for purchase Wednesday is the night magic is hap- from her directly. She started out the night pening with a one of a kind open mic at with an inspiring quote that really set the The Dogfish Bar and Grille, easily accessi- mood, and this week perfectly reflected ble by SMCC students via Portland buses. Dogfish Bar and Grille, from Plato: “MuThe event is all ages, so you do not have sic gives a soul to the universe, wings to to be 21 to enter. The first time I entered the mind, flight to the imagination and life the stylish brick structure I was overcome to everything.”

Michele also added “I love supporting by an atmosphere of talent and eager listeners. The accommodating bar and seat- and connecting people, which this open mic has done and ing beckons you to will continue to do. sit and enjoy music “I love supporting and Seattle in the 90s is comfortably, as well as a great selection of connecting people, which Portland in the now.”

Wednesday nights food and this open mic has done here are about buildMatt, a bartender at Dogfish for nine and will continue to do.” ing a musical community, the best part years and counting, of which is that peocommented “There’s a good crowd that comes in each week. ple come out just to listen to these artists.

A lot of talent use this place to cut their The musicians’ message is heard and taken teeth; a lot of artists have started out here.” in, not to mention the sound is always diThis includes acts such as Portland’s pop- aled right in. Being a medium sized venue, ular Ghost Of Paul Revere, who now tour that can be hard to do, yet when done right all over the country. Among bands starting makes for a powerful mix.

The Dogfish Bar and Grille is located at out here is 13 Scotland Drive, who were Wednesday night’s special feature. The 128 Free Street right in Portland, Maine. featured artist performs in the middle of They are open daily from 11:30 am Monday thru Saturday and 12pm on Sundays. open mic, dividing it into two sections.

What makes it one of a kind? It is orga- There is live music Wednesday through nized by poet/artist Michele Arcand, who Saturday, with jazz every Friday night and has been running open mic for 12 years. even trivia every Tuesday. The Dogfish also Michele is also the author of two poetry features daily food specials. books filled with insightful and power-

Poetic License

By Rebecca Dow

Welcome, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are ready for a great spring semester. To kickstart the new year, I’ve got a few pieces to share. It is my sincere hope that the hidden writers of SMCC will choose to emerge from the shadows and share their poetry with the world. I understand that there is a large community of writers who would like to be seen; for poetry, this is the place to show off ! If you would like to send in your writings for publication, contact me at Rebeccadow@smccme.edu. In the meantime, please read and enjoy the selections below!

Notes From The Floor

By Jessamyn Brewer The sky is the Rosè that you tipped to your lips; Your curls pushed back at the swig.

You kissed me there, Held me there On the floor, While friends consumed more and more Of these things considered Divine.

My skin sinks to scarlet now at the way I remember My body molding with yours.

With the way my limbs flowed, With the currents of your skin, As if water In a wind.

During the small hours, Our connection flowed As effortlessly As our bones.

Simple understanding, Warm and wanting, I sat with you there.

Man in the Mirror

By Kyle Lappin All too much misery and thinking twice, so nice is it to forgive and forget myself and I you and the other guy, trying too hard at times to find what’s already here, and what already has been; never better does it really get, other than now and any day’s coming, Change not the tune you’re humming, let go but not the memo ries that are off and running, Plant instead your feet, in the absolute and divine truth, and get what you gave.

If the man in the mirror is not really who is there, than your life is just a dream and that’s not fair, it’s not fair, not fair to yourself to your friends or anyone else, Free is that of anything else, not to be misconstrued with the sense of oneself, as mindfulness is ta king your surroundings in, for what they are and not what could have been, within is the first walk to retrieval.

Your very first instinct is to turn away, openings never fall flat and never fade far.

January 30, 2018 • The Beacon 9

Midcoast Poet ry Club Check out the Midcoast

Where: SMCC Midcoast Campus Learning Commons Library, 29 Sewall St, Brunswick, ME When: Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month during the Fall and Spring semesters, from 12:00 to 1:00 What to expect: Listen to SMCC faculty, staff, students and the public share poems of their own, or poems written by other poets. Show up and just listen if you want (no pressure to share), or share a poem or two of your own, or a poem written by another poet, or get feedback on your own poetry.

Public welcome!

Any questions? Please call SMCC Midcoast Library at 207-844-2112

Midcoast

RAINBOW LEAGUE If you share our passion for social justice and equality, come check us out Tuesday, February 6th at 12:15 in the Midcoast CeSIL Office.

A dynamic panel of film professionals will share some of the “do’s and don’t’s” unique to filming in Maine.

Making It in Maine Tips, Tricks, Trials, and Tribulations from Maine’s Next-Gen

Fe b Po ruar rtl y 1 a 51 nd M 0th at 6C on edia 1-5 gr es Cen pm s S ter t.

Filmmakers

Mariah Klapatch, director/producer Josh Gerritsen, director Sean Mewshaw, writer/director Corey Norman, writer/director/producer Sam Brosnan, writer/director/editor Moderated by Tom Handel, co-chair of the MFA and executive director of the Portland Media Center Price: $5 students, $10 MFA Members, $15 non-members (includes two drink tickets during our networking happy hour!)

Join the MFA and sign up for this event at http://mainefilm.org/maine-filmmaking-2018/

10 The Beacon • January 30, 2018

Inedible

By Dan Elliott With the advent of social media, people all across the globe have been competing for a currency long sought after by young and old, male and female: attention. In the pursuit of fame, be it in the form of likes, thumbs up or page views, content creators have shown us that there is no distance too far to go in order to be the proverbial “cool kid” of the school, where the school is the entire globe itself.

Cinnamon.

ALS Ice Bucket. Ghost peppers. There has certainly never been a shortage of ideas or objects of inspiration to promote a virus-like internet craze, compelling people to do what would seem bizarre or even ludicrous to the average human being, all for the sake of attention and social acceptance.

Some challenges are noble in cause, spreading awareness of issues that as a community should be addressed, such as the ALS Ice Bucket challenge, which sought to promote increased knowledge of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), a rare disease affecting the muscles in about 2 out of 100,000 people per year. Conversely, there are other challenges that are less altruistic, such as the salt-andice challenge, where a person pours salt on their skin followed by rubbing ice on the skin. This cooling reaction produces effects similar to frostbite, leaving effects that persist even after the challenge, unbeknownst to the participant.

This year, however, has seen the rise in a new and far more dangerous internet phenomenon that is currently affecting the younger generation: the Tide Pod Challenge. The challenge sees individuals consume the pods, which are packets filled with laundry detergent, and film the experience.

Some have even attempted to prepare the liquid chemicals much like a meal, boiling

and frying them. A popular image across social media even depicts the baking of a pizza with the only toppings being the pods. It has gone viral, with a slew of internet memes and lengthy commentaries being wrote about the sensation.

What sets this apart from other challenges and crazes that came before it is the serious health risks that come from ingesting laundry detergent.

In 2017, nearly 13,000 cases of exposure to pods were reported, mostly from younger children.

As we progress into the new year, the age demographic has risen to teenagers and younger adults.

There have already been 37 confirmed cases of intentional laundry-pod ingestion, mostly from young adults. Ingesting the pods results in a myriad of health problems, ranging from diarrhea to respiratory distress, and even the risk of death.

As long as human beings have been creating tools to make our lives better, there have been those who have misused them, to disastrous results. YouTube and Facebook, where many users having been posting Tide Pod Challenge videos, have flagged the content as illegal and have been making strides to remove the videos completely from their respective sites. Tide, the company that produces the detergent pods, has recently taken to twitter, posting “What should Tide Pods be used for? DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else.”

As the new year begins, we have a chance to escape our past mistakes and revel in the prospect of a successful and exciting 2018.

But this can only be done if we can learn from our errors and, perhaps most difficult of all, break the cycle of competition among ourselves for fame and popularity. Until then, we will continue to hear of tragic — and senseless — casualties from things as innocuous as laundry detergent.

From the Mind of Dan Elliott

SMCC Sports

Women Win (Continued from Page 12) the lead to five (50-45) as Adriana White, Jordan Farquharson and Abby Ramirez provided the offensive power.

The quarter ended with back to back three-point plays as Farquharson would drain a jump shoot from behind the arch and Ramirez would complete an old-fashion three-point play by driving the lane, being fouled, making the shot, and finishing it off at the foul line.

The fourth quarter opened with SMCC cutting UMA’s lead to three on an Amanda Brett layup after which the teams traded baskets over the course of the next 7 minutes. At the 2:34 mark UMA held a 6-point lead (59-53), again the Wolves would go on an end of quarter scoring streak, scoring the Moose 12-0.

Abby Ramirez would start the scoring hitting on the second of two foul shots which was followed by a three-point shot by Alicia Ruth which cut the lead to 2-points (59-57). The Wolves would get consecutive layups from Amada Brett ad Jordan Farquharson propelling them to a 1-point lead (60-59).

The remainder of the game was all Amanda Brett as she found herself on the foul line three times making five of six shots and grabbing a rebound off of one of her missed foul shot attempts.

After 40 minutes of play the SeaWolves walked off the court jumping into the second spot in the conference standings at 10-2 and 15-6 overall. The Lady Moose

dropped to third with a 9-2 YSCC record and 15-3 overall.

Other game statistics that are of interest include the Seawolves shooting 17.6 percent from three-point territory compared to UMA’s 44.4 percent, controlling the key by scoring 32 points inside the paint, and capitalizing turnovers which they scored 24 points off of while forcing the Moose into 19 miscues.

Abby Ramirez and Amanda Brett finished with 18 points. Brett recorded another double-double by grabbing 14 boards.

Jordan Farquharson totaled 15 points in 32 minutes of action. UMA was led by Caitlin LaFountain who collected 16 points, 13 rebounds, and seven blocks.

On Saturday the Lady Wolves traveled to Western Massachusetts to take on Hampshire College securing an 87-29 win.

For the diehard basketball lovers on campus the Wolves have two home games left: on the 3rd the College of St. Joseph’s of Vermont visits the Hutchinson Gymnasium with tip off set for 1pm. On the 10th, the Wolves close out their season against Vermont Tech at home with tip off set at 1 p.m.

The Wolves travel to New Hampshire to battle it out with NHTI on the 1st and then travel to Auburn to take on conference rival CMCC with tip off set at 6pm. The YSCC Elite Eight Tournament starts on February 15 in Concord NH which will be hosted

by NHTI.

Seth Provencher shaking off his defender and scoring 2 of his 6 points against the Moose.

WOMEN 12/13 CMCC 69-60 (L) 12/16 Navy Prep 81-43 (L) 1/6 CCRI 78-65 (W) 1/10 UMM 60-33 (W) 1/12 Paul Smith’s 87-26 (W) 1/16 Unity College 79-24 (W) 1/20 Berkeley 65-51 (W) 1/21 CCRI 48-68 (W) 1/24 UMA 65-59 (W) 1/27 Hampshire 87-29 (W)

Amanda Brett powering through the defenders, catching her own rebound before being forced back to the line. Brett finished the game with a fearsome double-double, scoring 18 points and 14 rebounds against the Moose.

Men Look to Finish (Continued from Page 12) For the fourth and fifth time this season, the SeaWolves have broken into triple digits in the scoring column. Against the University of Maine-Augusta Moose, the ‘Wolves won 113-70, and in the following road game against the Black Sheep of Hampshire College, the men posted a 10844 victory.

Six SeaWolves broke into double-digit scoring. Ryan Cloutier led the team effort with 19 points, his fifth consecutive game with 13 or more. Both Cloutier and co-captain Dylan Silvestri scored their 800th career point in the game, as Silvestri moved up the ranks in all-time rebounding. He is now in sole possession of sixth highest rebounder with 558.

First-year Oumar Keita notched his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and first-year Sean Bowering scored a season-high 11 points.

Prior to hitting the road against Williamson College, Unity College visited the Hutchinson Gymnasium on Jan. 16, where the ‘Wolves managed a 24-point win against a feisty Unity Rams team. The SeaWolves started out strong, jumping out to 15-2 score to start the game. The Rams,

who always seem to find a way to be competitive, chipped away at the lead, cutting SMCC’s lead to 5 on a 3-pointer by Den Suehiro as the halftime horn sounded.

Early in the second half, Unity pulled to within one (34-33), after which the ‘Wolves started to pull with a 13-2 run, gaining separation.

The SeaWolves were fueled by Gregory Trinidad, who drained seven 3-pointers in the second half. Trinidad would net eight threes for the game. SMCC wouldn’t let up as they built a 24-point lead, the largest of the night, and went to complete the season sweep.

This was Trinidad’s first game in which he set a new season-high with 26 points for himself while leading all scorers for the game. The Pelham Connection, Dylan Silvestri and Ryan Cloutier, both players who attended and played for Pelham High School as teammates, combined for 30 points. Silvestri earned his eighth double-double of the season.

The Beacon would like to wish the Men SeaWolves the best of luck as the 2017-18 season winds down.

A SeaWolves Winter Break Update While the Beacon has not been published since Dec. 12 th, the SMCC SeaWolves basketball teams have hit the courts 19 times.

To date the men have compiled a 15-7 record as the ladies have compiled a 16-6 record. In the latest USCAA Coaches Poll, which was released on the 24th, the Men

SeaWolves were ranked 12th and the Lady SeaWolves 8th. Other YSCC teams that are ranked in the coaches poll include: NHTI ranked second, CMCC ranked ninth and Vermont Tech who are ranked 11 th for the men. For the ladies: NHTI is ranked third and CMCC is ranked ninth.

MEN 12/13 CMCC 96-80 (L) 12/16 Navy Prep 70-56 (L) 1/6 CCRI 79-67 (L) 1/10 UMM 104-70 (W) 1/12 Paul Smith’s 92-48 (W) 1/16 Unity College 88-64 (W) 1/20 Williamson 82-65 (W) 1/24 UMA 113-70 (W) 1/27 Hampshire 108-44 (W)

January 30, 2018 • The Beacon 11

SMCC Sports Women Win Thriller Against UMA

BEACON STAFF PHOTOS Jordan Farquharson driving into the paint with power, scoring 2 of her 15 points in a nail-biting game against the Moose.

Amanda Brett beautifully passing out to Emily Keene to score 2 of her 4 points against the Moose, leading to an SMCC victory.

Lady Seawolves Overcome 16-Point Deficit

By The Beacon Sports Staff Since the last Beacon, the Lady SeaWolves have taken to the court 10 times, winning seven and dropping three. 2017 ended on a down note for the Lady SeaWolves, as they dropped a 9-point loss to Central Maine Community College in the Hutchinson Gymnasium and were beat soundly at Navy Prep.

With the start of a new year, 2018 has seen the team amass a 7-1 record. The biggest win came against the University

of Maine-Augusta, a come-from-behind thriller in which the game was decided in the final moments with hustle and from the foul line.

The Lady Moose, who took the first game of the two-game season series in Augusta 62-60, looked to sweep the SeaWolves last Wednesday. For three-fourths of the game it looked as if the Moose would accomplish this.

UMA would scorch the nets from behind the three-point line shooting 6 for 10 (60 percent) from downtown, helping them to

build a 9-point lead at the half-time lead.

Twelve of the 16 first-quarter Moose points were scored from beyond the three-point arch.

While UMA was shooting the lights out, SMCC struggled to keep pace, as the Moose’s 5-point lead grew into a 9-point halftime lead and eventually a 16-point lead at the 5:36 mark of the third quarter.

What was anticipated to be a highly competitive battle between the nationally ranked teams seemed to be on the verge of becoming a runaway victory for UMA, but

turned in the SeaWolves favor as the Lady ‘Wolves started to chip away at UMA’s lead.

The Lady SeaWolves would out score the Lady Moose 16-5 over the course of the final five minutes of the third quarter. SeaWolf guard Abby Ramirez would spark the comeback by driving to the basket, scoring six of the ‘Wolves’ 16 points.

With a minute and half left in the quarter and the SeaWolves down by 14 (50-37), the Wolves would hold UMA scoreless and cut (Continued on Page 11)

Men Look to Finish Season Strong

PHOTOS BY JACOB CLOWES Oumar Keita DESTROYING it in the paint over two defenders, scoring another 2 of his 11 points against the Moose.

Tyler Mickle being aggressive in the paint, scoring 2 of his 4 points against the Moose.

Face Four Tough Opponents Before YSCC Tournament

By The Beacon Sports Staff With four games remaining in the Yankee Small College Conference season, the men’s basketball team heads into what some may think is the most challenging part of the season for them. This Thursday the ‘Wolves travel to Concord, New Hampshire to battle it out with the conference’s top team, New Hampshire Technical Institute. The Lynx hold an impressive 11-1 conference record, with their only loss coming at the hands of the University of Maine-Machias Clippers.

Former YSCC member team the Saints of the College of St. Joseph’s of Vermont will visit SMCC on Saturday, Feb. 3, and on the following Wednesday the Wolves will venture to Auburn to take on the Mustangs of CMCC. The regular season will end on

Saturday, Feb. 10, when the Knights of Vermont Tech visit SMCC. If all remains as it is now, the SeaWolves will be seeded in the third-place slot for the YSCC Elite Eight Tournament. As is the case in any sporting conference, the SeaWolves are the masters of their own destiny. With victories against NHTI, CMCC and Vermont Tech, the ‘Wolves could place themselves in a more advantageous position setting up a deeper run in the tournament.

Regardless, the games need to be played, and if there is one thing about this SeaWolves team, it is that they seem to be hitting the right stride at the right time. After a road win against Williamson College in Media, Pennsylvania, Head Coach Mat Richards said, “We had a great opening to the game with efficient offense, defensively controlling the glass. This lead us to

a complete game effort — something we had to have to get the win. Coach Michael’s teams are always very disciplined and play extremely hard. Getting the result today was a statement for our team, a team that is starting to play its best basketball at the right time of the season.”

The SeaWolves would secure a 17-point win (82-65) against the Williamson Mechanics on Jan. 20 behind the offensive efforts of Gregory Trinidad. For the second game in a row, Trinidad tallied 26 points.

The 6-foot guard has netted 13 3-pointers on 19 of 32 from the floor over the course of the two games.

Against the Mechanics, the SeaWolves jumped all over Williamson, building an early 25-9 lead going on to grabbing a 12-point halftime lead (40-28). Trinidad and Ryan Cloutier broke even with Wil-

liamson’s first-half total, combining for 28 points after 20 minutes of play.

The second half saw Williamson cut SMCC’s lead to 5; however, with defensive stops and effective offensive execution, the ‘Wolves would drain 42 points in the second half, securing a 17-point road win.

Co-captain Dylan Silvestri recorded his ninth double-double of the season, posting 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Cloutier, the most efficient of them all, flushed 22 points on 80 percent shooting while hitting 4-6 from downtown.

Silvestri’s effects against the Mechanics earned him YSCC Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 27.

(Continued on Page 11)