The SMCC Beacon 11-18-2014

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NOVEMBER 18, 2014

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mbeacon@smccme.edu. www.theSMCCBeacon.wordpress.com YouTube SMCCBeaconNewspaper FaceBook thebeacon.smcc

Ins ide Other World

Pages 2-3

Noyes Street Fire

Arts & Features Pages 4-5

Taco Trio

Op & Ed Pages 6-7

Election Reform in Maine

Campus News Pages 8-10

Greenhouses for Good

Sports

Pages 11-12

Hoop Highlights

VOLUME 12 ¤ ISSUE 6

S T U D E N T S ,

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America’s Obsession with the Ebola Outbreak An Attempt to Allay Fears

country of Africa on a blank map.

The Ebola outbreak is not a new story. In 2000, Ebola occurred in Gulu, Masindi, and Mbarara districts of Uganda, just a few miles from my home district in Rwanda.

The three greatest

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hen I was a little lad, Ebola was a few miles from home, just across the border in Kabare, one of the largest slums in Uganda. This suburb in southern Uganda, a country in East Africa, had several cases of Ebola, but at the time, the disease never crossed the border to Rwanda, my birth country. Uganda embarked on embargoes that stopped the outbreak.

Few will deny that this time around is different: the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the worst in history.

Ascertaining possible measures to avert the Ebola from spreading around the world, and especially to keep it out of home here in the USA, should be a priority. But I disagree with people who are reinforcing the fears and paranoia driving America’s quasi-apocalyptic political mood. I disagree with people who think that every person coming from the African continent is contaminated. The fear of the general public doesn’t disappoint; what disappoints the most is that pundits and political figures are the ones causing worry and anxiety so many of us are feeling these days.

The big problem is ignorance and misinformation with Ebola. It is not acceptable to see a clueless Kentucky school causing the resignation of a teacher because she spent time in Kenya. And that idiocy leads to fear, which leads to people like Chris Christie implementing nonsensical anti-science quarantine restrictions, and

most recently seeing Governor LePage of Maine hunting down a nurse who was initially screened and found free of Ebola a few weeks ago.

This is not blind optimism, but I shall state that the recent Ebola scare that kept two children who had moved from Rwanda to New Jersey from attending school, despite the fact the East African country is Ebola-free (and further from West Africa than New Jersey is to Texas) is an absolute bêtise. In fact, Africa is a continent, and Westerners often have trouble understanding its geography. Earlier this year, The Washington Post ran an online quiz that asked their readers to name African nations. Most cannot locate a single

SMCC Nursing Club in Action Stopping Flu In its Tracks

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Tuesday, September 9th, the lobby of the Health Science Building was a buzz as the Nursing Club hosted the 2nd Annual SMCC Flu Vaccination Clinic. The Clinic was staffed by club members, which include current nursing students as well as those interested in the nursing profession from the South Portland, Brunswick, and York Campuses.

During the 2.5 hour clinic, prescreenings for illness and allergies were completed by 1st semester students; 2nd & 3rd semester students administered injections, while 4th semester seniors monitored the clients for possible side effects. About 60 students and faculty received their flu vaccine, which is double the turn out from 2013.

The vaccine supply is made available to The Nursing Club through a partnership with the VNA Home Health & Hospice of Southern Maine. SMCC students receiving the vaccine were asked to provide

insurance information or a recommended fee of $30 without insurance; however no student was turned away due to financial need.

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Myth You can get sick with the flu from getting the flu shot.

Fact#1 The flu vaccine, when given as an injection, is not a live virus, and does not cause the flu.

Fact#2 College students, especially those living on campus, are more likely to become sick with the flu because of sharing restrooms and close social contact.

Each year, Influenza infection rates begin to rise around October and peak between January and February.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that most people age six months and older receive an annual vaccination.

Practicing good hand hygiene is also an effective measure to reduce the spread of germs.

It is a goal of the SMCC Nursing Club to promote healthy living,

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education, and illness prevention among members of the SMCC community.

By Jessica Cunningham To find out more about illness caused by the flu or the benefits of the flu vaccine, please visit www.cdc.gov/flu

SMCC STUDENT RECEIVING FLU VACCINE.

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risks were associated with people attending funerals of case-patients, having contact with case-patients in one’s family, and providing medical care to case-patients without using adequate personal protective measures.

A few years later, Uganda was struck again by Ebola; this time around it occurred in Bundibugyo District in western Uganda between December 2007 and January 2008. It is not surprising that the disease disappeared again. What is surprising the most is that Uganda did little to stop it. But they did not have advanced medical technology like Western countries do.

Despite today’s outbreak being the largest in history, so far the problem remains largely limited to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Two other countries, Nigeria and Senegal, have had cases, yet are now Ebola-free. The Democratic Republic of Congo had an outbreak of a different strain of Ebola that now looks like it might be contained. Despite clear geographical limits to the Ebola outbreak, many Americans seem confused. On August 1, 2014, Donald J. Trump, an American magnate businessman and political shaker, said in his tweet, “The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go far away places to help out are great—but must suffer the consequences!”

Many people seem to understand Ebola and its scope of expansion, but

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Page 2 ¤ November 18, 2014

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File Conversion

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ile conversion has always been something that has plagued the typical college student since the early days of computing. Understanding what certain file types do and how they are managed is something that is very important to understand if you’re managing these files on a routine basis. It is also equally important to understand how you can manipulate these file types to your advantage. The reasoning for this is that most college students, or even someone in a business environment has had to deal with when getting a pdf document that they can’t change.

Fortunately there are plenty of options when it come to converting these files to a different format that is much more manageable. Unfortunately these options don’t always format perfectly the way you would like them to, so you might end up with the spacing

in the document being off or the font being a different type.

One of the easiest ways to convert a pdf to another document type like a word document (.doc), or to an open office document (.odt) is to use an online converter. These online converters are usually free and can be pretty quick in a pinch. The drawbacks to something like an online converter are that you are limited on what formats you like to convert too. The biggest drawbacks are that online convertors come in two different flavors.

One being that they ask for your email and then the files will get converted and sent to your email. The dangerous thing about this is that these sites can save your email address and sell that information to just about anyone. This means you will really start having to weed through your email with all the spam your going to

TARGETED WRITING SESSIONS The Writing Across the Curriculum Committee is offering one last 30 minute information session on aspects of academic writing and reading. All sessions will be held in the Writing Center area down the right hallway from the entrance to the Academic Achievement Center (in the Library).

The Literary Analysis: A Research Paper in Disguise Mike Bove 12:30pm - 1:00pm Thursday, November 20

For more info, contact Amy Havel:

ahavel@smccme.edu

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receive.

The other flavor is a direct download to your computer and if you get on a sketchy conversion web site you might be downloading virus’s along with your converted documents. There’s one solution that works really well, which is setup a junk email where you can have stuff like this sent and you won’t worry about your normal email getting clogged up.

You can also use third party programs. This option can be a good way to convert a document, especially if you do large quantitys of documents at a time. There are free ones and then there are programs you have to pay for. Word and Adobe Acrobat can shift files back and forth pretty easily. You can research online and find a third party program for free, but the down side to this is that you don’t know what virus and other programs come with some of these programs, so definitely do your research before downloading. A good option is Doxillion file convertor, it will convert pdfs into a variety of different file types.

Pdf is not the only file type out there though. There are a range of file types that can be easier or harder to convert. These files could be anything from music files, to pictures, to videos files. The list can go on and on. The important thing to remember is the two methods mentioned above will work the same way for most if not all of your converting, either through

Reflections on the Noyes Street Fire

“IT an online convertor and if there isn’t one there should be a free conversion program some where out there for that particular file type.

There are other ways to convert files all the way from just changing the file extension to using the windows command prompt and even more radical options. Most of these options require more tech savvy individuals and if done incorrectly can corrupt files and can cause even greater issues depending what you are messing with.

In the end if you get caught with a file that you need converted you can find Google tutorials, get suggestions and get an idea of what you need to do.

If you would like to view this article online, then you can visit my website at http://www.seanlcrider. com/9.html. I’m a member of the computer technology department, and am currently taking senior seminar. My goal is to become a system engineer that will specializing in vitalization technology.

By Sean Crider

Pro-Active Advice

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Erik Squire for Campus News Maisarah Miskoon for The Other World Garrick Hoffman for Op & Ed Patrick Doyle for Arts & Features Sam Coombs for Sports

t’s crunch time, people, and only four more weeks till we get to enjoy the company of family and friends for the holidays, and not to mention, a whole lot of “Me” time. But until then, let us bury ourselves in textbooks, notes, and study guides. I’ll be at the Learning Commons if anybody needs me.

Contributing Writers

Richard Bigega, Tayler Chretien Sean Crider, Jessica Cunningham Dierdree Glassford, Rebekah Marin Maurice Murray, Kevin Staples Carlin Whitehouse, Ian Ziller

Dear Maisarah, I have missed three math classes already and I’m afraid that I will get a bad grade because of my attendance.

Will my instructor fail me?

Photographers

Lauren Michelle

Web Masters

Dear Math-absentee, Why don’t you ask your instructor that question? Send them an email, drop by their office, or ask them after class for a grade update. If you have valid reasons for not attending class, you need to inform your instructor and work something out. No instructor would purposely fail you for missing three classes, but I’m sure that they will appreciate it if you talk to them instead of speculating and pulling your hair out over nothing. Start with a “Hello…” That always helps.

Section Editors

Jennifer Lague

find us Advisers

Chuck Ott, Rachel Guthrie

where it’s at www.thesmccbeacon.wordpress.com southern maine community college

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Dear Maisarah, This is my second year in SMCC and I’m planning to transfer to a 4 year university next fall but I have not been actively participating in any extracurricular activities on or off campus. What can I do and how should I start looking?

Dear Striving Sophomore, For starters, I would direct you to the CeSIL (Center for Student Involvement and Leadership) office at the Springpoint Residence Hall. Our Director of Resident Life and Student Involvement, Shane Long, or any of the friendly CeSIL staff at the office will be able to guide you through the many student clubs and societies on campus from volunteering at the Captain’s Cupboard to building green houses for the Boys and Girls Clubs with ENACTUS or participating in Student Senate meetings. Each club and society have different meeting times and responsibilities, so take that into account when planning your schedule. I hope this helps. All the best for your future endeavours!

By Maisarah Miskoon

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To help the friends and family of the passed, readers are encouraged to donate, to help cover the costs of funeral arrangements.

www.gofundme.com/rememberNoyes seeing how jovial they all appeared in their pictures provides a description of their personalities. They looked animated, happy, wild with youthful spirit.

Ultimately they were human beings who lost their lives in a way that’s inexplicable. Their futures were unfairly robbed from them while the rest of us carry on. We, the observers from the distance, can only attempt to conceive the gravity, magnitude and length of the tragedy’s rippling impact. It is times like these that prove just how unkind, unfair, and unforgiving fate is.

Too often the illusion of our false immortality prevents us from taking prudent measures that could otherwise ensure the safety of others and ourselves. No one is exempt from the possibility of tragedy or harm; no one is invincible. But many of us seem to walk through life as if we are exempt and invincible. We can’t guarantee our safety, but we can do our best to take these measures of prudence to at least secure a greater degree of safety than if we hadn’t. We can keep harm at bay,

but action is required from us to accomplish this. Unfortunately for many of us, safety examination and action are only awakened in the advent of a calamity.

But we don’t know how the fire started, or if the landlord, Greg Nisbet, had indeed tried his best to take preventative measures.

In a written statement published in the Press Herald on November 7, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan said, “This is a very emotional and raw time for everyone in Portland, and it’s important to note that no one should be placing blame. When something like this happens, everyone – including landlords, tenants and the City – should use this incident to educate themselves about best practices and learn from it as we move forward.”

Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families of the victims and everyone affected by this tragedy.

By Garrick Hoffman

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Putting the “Pro” in Pro-Active Advice

Tammy Huisingh Alex Brooks, Jennifer Lague Jennifer Lague & Lauren Michelle

’s this six degrees of separation thing,” said an SMCC student who knew one of the Noyes Street victims. “Everyone unconsciously really knows each other through other people. And it seems like, because of that slim separation, because of that unconscious unity, there’s this sort of energy that has affected everyone in the area. People’s facial expressions are grim. They seem despondent, and it’s as if that somber energy has permeated throughout the city in wake of the tragedy.”

On November 1, residents and guests at 20 Noyes St., Portland, were befallen by a fierce and rapidly accelerating blaze. The fire was reported slightly after 7am but despite the prompt arrival of the Portland Fire Department, the fire went on to claim the lives of six people, all aged in their mid- to late-20s. One of the victims had managed to escape the house but had sustained severe burns and, days later, succumbed to his injuries in a Boston hospital. Two of the tenants escaped largely unscathed.

The fire has been declared the worst fire in Maine in 40 years.

A great deal of speculation as to how the fire began has emerged, with little if any conclusions being drawn.

Investigations by local, state, and federal authorities have been underway, employing the use of fire modeling and

reverse engineering.

One of the survivors noted the porch as a potential origin of the fire due to the tenants’ regular smoking habits, although he said he didn’t see anyone smoking when he arrived home at 3am.

The house has been subject to a slew of complaints - 16 have been filed in the last decade - regarding the conditions of the property. Complaints range from “a possibly illegal unit built on the third floor, to combustible materials on the porch and excessive trash,” according to the Portland Press Herald.

According to National Fire Protection Association, as reported in the Press Herald, careless smoking is the leading cause of residential fire deaths in the United States. In addition, three in five deaths occur in homes with no working smoke detectors.

Indeed, in a small city like Portland, where virtually everyone treats each other like a neighbor, the effects of a tragedy aren’t curtailed at the people immediately impacted. It blankets the community, and this month’s devastating episode is a telling example of this.

The Noyes Street fire has truly gripped and rattled Portland, and surely beyond.

These individuals were in the vicinity of age of many SMCC students.

They had family and friends, co-workers and employers, peers and maybe even professors. The man who died in the Boston hospital was married and had two children.

We don’t all know their stories, but

Harvard and Beyond Team Baghestani / Glynn Proved Adversaries Wrong

guidance or recommendations concerning prudent future action.

Art Director Graphic Design Photo Editing

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Portland Befallen By Tragedy

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ambridge, MA - Two of our SMCC students, Saman Baghestani and Jason Glynn, set out to prove adversaries wrong at the Harvard Debate Costume Contest and Tournament, an event organized by the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) on the 25th to the 27th of October. Many institutions from all across the country flocked down to Harvard University to engage in scholarly debate against one another, including Rutgers and Syracuse Universities. They debated for 7 rounds and received a one “bye,” placing their official score of 2 wins out of 7.

Teams debated on the 2014-2015 CEDA/NDT (Cross Examination Debate Association/ National Debate Tournament) resolution of whether or not the United States should legalize prostitution, marijuana, organ sales, online gambling, and phy-

sician assisted suicide. Both Saman and Jason chose to research and debate on the last issue, which they debated for four rounds on the affirmative on Saturday, and another three rounds on the negative the following day.

Preparations for the debate began a month before for the duo, who independently researched the issue by watching YouTube videos, practicing debate rounds, and went through intensive coaching with Jason McDonald, a friend of Saman’s from Houston ,via Google Saman Baghestani Jason Glynn Hangout sessions. The two-man team was indebted to Mr. McDonald for putting in the time and effort to coach them, and sup“I decided that it would just be fun to entertain the ported them during the competition. The team was possibility of success at one or more of the most also joined by Professor competitive college debate tournaments in the counJustin Amoroso, one of try. Coming our Philosophy adjunct from a community college, the assumption is that faculty, for the trip. succeeding would be an uphill challenge, and it

According to Jason was. Jason Glynn and I showed, however, that winGlynn, the debate was ning is possible, and win we did.” “such an intellectually

Team Baghestani/ Glynn had achieved nationstimulating experience al exposure for SMCC, being the only community (and) I had gained a lot college to compete in this event. They planned to Hey “night owls!” The Learning out of it, thinking quickcontinue achieving at the 2014 Franklin R. Shirley Commonsis open until 8:00pm on er on my feet, and even Classic at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, weekdays. Professional librarians and how to speak clearer and North Carolina, on November 15th to 16th, where tutors are on hand to help you out. Stop faster…” more that 130 teams from all across the country will by after class or dinner for all the same

When asked the be competing. service and in-depth help you get during the reason why they were

We can’t wait for what the future holds for day without any of the crowds! willing to compete in a these two individuals and we wish them all the best national event such as for their future endeavours. Go Team Baghestani/ We’re here for the “weekend warriors,” too! this, Saman Baghestani’s Glynn!

Saturdays from 12 - 4 pm, and Sundays from 4 - 8pm. reply was simply this,

By Maisarah Miskoon

Learning Commons Open Late!

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Taco Trio

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your eye here and there. Metal lizards of all different shapes and sizes live on the sun-colored walls, reminding you of the desert and making you feel toasty warm as this frigid winter air makes its way through our bones.

The wait is worth it, as you walk in you find yourself behind several other hungry civilians who have made Taco Trio one of their regular hot spots for good eats. The time in line gives you a minute to catch your breath and examine the menu, which has many different traditional Mexican options, from your basic burritos and tacos, to chimichangas and sopas. I decided on the special of the day, a chimichanga with chipotle mayo, a delicious combination of flavors with a slight kick to it. Ok, a bit more than slight; I personally am not much of a spicy food person, so it took some willpow-

IT’S BUYBACK WEEK at the SMCC Bookstore Sell your textbooks for $$$!

Monday – Thursday Dec. 8th – Dec. 11th 9am – 4pm Friday Dec. 12th 9am – 3pm

50%

REMINDER:

All rented books are due back at the SMCC Bookstore by 5pm on Dec. 15th.

er to get through. Not only does Taco Trio pride itself from making all of its ingredients fresh daily, they use ingredients that are as traditional to the culture of the food as possible, such as epazote, nopales (cactus leaves), goat meat, cilantro, and masa.

One of the most unique and exciting parts of the restaurant is the many different options they provided for fresh salsa! Each menu item comes with at least two different options for salsa, and at the self serve station you can pick from an array of different flavors and heat levels! For people more on the mild side they had the option of trying a mango salsa, which had a burst of fruit flavor that helped to offset the spice in the dish! For someone a bit more on the adventurous side and likes that bold spice to

their dish, they have options such as a habanero salsa or a jalapeño toreado, which are both determined to burn your tongue off, in the best way possible of course.

Once ordered the wait for your food is fairly short. With the chefs going at warp speed, you can watch the open kitchen as they create the food they are passionate and proud of.

The entire place feels like a beehive, a buzzing of people from all different backgrounds and age types can find themselves comfortable and at home amongst the lizards and the Spanish music playing over the speakers. The sound of conversation flowing over a filling delicious meal is music to my ears. I plan on making Taco Trio my go-to stop for my Taco Tuesday, how about you? ‘til our next bite,

Dining Dierdree

America’s Obsession with the Ebola Outbreak

Marin at the Movies: Interstellar

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life on Earth becomes increasingly tough, Cooper, played

by Matthew McConaughey, leaves his family behind to embark on a brave mission to discover what lies beyond our galaxy. He leaves behind his brilliant daughter Murph and his son Tom to cope with Earth’s current conditions on their own. Murph spends the time away from her dad trying understand how signs from the “ghost” of her childhood lead to the answer to Earth’s biggest problem yet: how will the human race survive?

Meanwhile, Cooper and his team enter into another galaxy to investigate planets that may be suitable for

Tech Talk: The Necessity of Updating

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(Continued from Page 1) still everyone seems unaware of exactly how many Ebola patients are in Africa.

The epidemic is at a critical turning point. It has infected 8,400 people so far, but it is spreading very quickly and projections suggest it could infect 1 million people or more over the next several months if not addressed. Ebola needs to get under control in the near term so that it doesn’t spread further and become a long-term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at a large scale, similar to the fight against HIV or polio.

The bottom line is that people should not act in fear, but they should heroically take measures that keep them away of the danger. While the use of survivor’s blood isn’t a proven therapy against Ebola, the World Health Organization urged in September it be used as an experimental treatment. Survivors develop antibodies that recognize the virus and, in theory, donating some to a sick patient may help fight the disease.

One of the things people can do is to support the Center for Disease

Prevention (CDC). Donations to the CDC Foundation helps the CDC in its real-time response to the epidemic while enhancing disease surveillance and response in these countries going forward. Just two weeks after Kent Brantly, the first person to be treated on U.S. soil for Ebola, walked out of Emory University Hospital cured of the deadly virus, he received a call that another doctor, Rick Sacra, was infected. Brantly was asked if he would be willing to donate some of his blood.

“I would give Rick Sacra my right arm if it would help him,” Brantly told reporters at an event in North Carolina. This paranoia that is causing us all to fear as if the apocalypse has arrived should stop. People should research a little bit more about where the Ebola cases are before segregating everyone coming from Africa. And while some western African regions are becoming Ebola epicenters, let’s not forget that medical technologies are being developed, and that the international community has already put in places strategies to stop this deadly disease.

By Richard Bigega

you update your computer regularly?

If you do then that’s great your computer should be at peak performance and protection, but if not, you might want to change that. Not keeping your computer updated can put you at risk for viruses and even cyber attacks, as it is much easier to hack or be invaded by viruses if you have not updated your system.

Now you might be thinking that being hacked or invaded by viruses is impossible because you didn’t update your system. Or you maybe thinking that you don’t have the time, or you might even think that your computer

human life, while whisking away years of life back on Earth in mere hours in the new galaxy. The extreme time warp means Cooper must make the ultimate sacrifice, watching his children grow up and have children of their own, all through a series of home videos. It is through one of these home videos that perhaps the biggest secret of the crew’s entire expedition is revealed, leaving them to map the remainder of the journey without guidance from their main source of information back on Earth.

While things are going haywire in the new galaxy, Murph starts to get a footing on the situation and finally

connects with her Dad after years without any kind of contact.

It is their powerful connection through multiple galaxies, light years of time, and space that leads to the resurrection of mankind in a foreign place.

“Interstellar” is a stunning brain teaser that stitches together elements of reality and explorations of a hypothetical world beyond our own, to excite even the most skeptical view.

is fine and that you don’t need the update. However, hackers and viruses depend upon how you use updates to make their malware useable.

For example: if there is an update from windows 8 to windows 8.1 and you decide to not update your system and a hacker has made a virus for windows 8 then you are vulnerable, but if you did make the upgrade then you will be protected.

Some people might even ignore updates because they do not know what they are, well updates which are also knows as, a “Service Pack,” or a “Patch” is a piece of software that is released to enhance the product, to fix bugs, and to fix security vulnerabilities. Also for convenience sake, when you update the updater does all of the work for you. There is no uninstalling

or reinstalling and it runs in the background so you don’t need to worry about it interrupting whatever you are doing at the time.

So the most efficient way to do updates is to let the software do it by itself, think automatic updates. Here’s how you work through the process: First click on Start or the giant Windows symbol, then click on control panel, then system and security and under Windows Updates, click Turn automatic updating on or off, and then select Change settings. From here you can select when to update and the recommended setting for that is Install updates automatically and then you can select which days and what time you want it to update.

The best options for this is everyday for the days and the time where

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By Rebekah Marin

The McKernan Hospitality Center PERFORM EVERY CHANCE YOU GET

by Patrick Doyle

Perform every chance you get. Put on a mascarade, pull back from reality.

In the New York City subway, I saw performances.

Barbershop Quarter paid to a paper bag.

A beat-rap bouncing off Ebola in NYC. Ebola came to NYC and I got to see in the flesh a response on some sort of National scale involved with where I was A woman died from a train hitting her.

They said an hour to get going, do they know what a train does to a human body?

One man in a trenchcoat spoke of how Obama is like Nero, playin’ fiddle to golf, while Rome sparks.

That congo drum while Ebola is a welcoming visit, lays out the guy in gear flash from the eighties.

A guy gave a reel-to-reel review of an NFL football game through a four-star hotel glass wall.

Perform every chance you get. southern maine community college

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Dining Dierdree I have been to a lot of different food establishments in the South Portland and Portland area. I have eaten pizza, pasta, BBQ, had an amazing breakfast sandwich that filled me to the brim. I am a huge fan of new food, especially from different cultures, and this time around I decided to ask friends and family from the area where I should go to get the best Mexican food. Out of all the places, Taco Trio got the majority vote for best place to get your Mexican food cravings out of the way. After eating there myself, I now know what it is everyone was talking about!

Located in South Portland at 119 Ocean Street, a short walk away from Cia, the great coffee shop I reviewed a few weeks back, Taco Trio’s traditional Mexican cuisine is to die for. Right when I arrived I noticed their sensation for the season, decorating and celebrating autumn and making you remember that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Past the seasonal decorations the entire shop has an eclectic but minimalistic décor, giving off comfortable vibes and catching

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you know you will be using your computer so this way you will be automatically up to date. If you keep up with updates you will stay one step ahead of viruses and hackers and you and your computer will be happier for it. Plus, you barely will have to lift a finger to do this as updating is one of the most important things that you can do for your computer to keep it protected and working and not have it vulnerable and sluggish.

By Kevin Staples

Kevin Staples is a member of the Computer Technically Senior Seminar course and is planning a career in Computer Networking and Hardware. You can see what I am doing in the course by going to www.kevinstaples.com

NEEDS YOUR HELP

The McKernan Hospitality Center is collecting coupons for Bed, Bath and Beyond for window treatments.

The response was so superb for the last coupon drive that The McKernan Center saved hundreds of dollars. Thanks to all who donated!

Any and all coupons are of use. 20% off, $5 off, on-line printouts and any out-of-date coupons will help. Send your coupons to Jill Hannaford via interoffice mail or drop them off at the front desk at the McKernan.

Please stop by the McKernan Center to see what was done during round one!

For more information contact:

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(Susan) Jill Hannaford Executive Chef and Manager/ Food & Beverages The Peter A. McKernan Hospitality Center SMCC Conferences and Events 741-5583

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Page 6 ¤ November 18, 2014

An Interview With Sam Underwood Part 2

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the last issue, we presented an interview with SMCC student Sam Underwood, who spent this fall season working for the Maine Democratic Party in support of Mike Michaud. This is the second of three installments.

If you don’t see yourself working with politics in the future, how else do you think you’ll find yourself engaged? Is it just like you said [in the last installment] - fulfilling those duties of a citizen?

That’s really the bare minimum.

For me, it would be important to make financial contributions to worthy causes, to be charitable with my time and money, to really not just meet those obligations but to carry them out to the fullest extent possible. And I understand that if young people don’t stay in the game, we can never have another JFK or Barack Obama or Bill Clinton. The reason that guys like that got to be in high office is because they stuck around. Since I’m not gonna be running for office ever, I’ll be able to offer my support to people who will do the best they can for the state or the country or however you see it.

Do you think that there’s this

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kind of heightened sense of apathy with our [millennial] generation now?

About political issues, social issues, current affairs, the world that we live in, etc? If so, do you find this apathy is more pervasive in our generation than ever before? Or do you have a more optimistic lens of the world, and that our generation has the tools to make a change and to inform ourselves better than previous generations?

That’s tough because there are a couple different ways to look at it.

I’ll tell you I wasn’t born yesterday; I know our generation is apathetic. I wouldn’t dispute that I wish our generation could be a little more proactive and could spend a little less time complaining.

That being said, we have a lot to complain about. I can’t comment on how it was in previous generations because I wasn’t around to see it, and neither were any of my peers.

But it’s my assessment that probably the most destructive meme - and I’m using that particular word “meme” very specifically - that is so pervasive is this perception - and its not just our generation that thinks this way, it’s older generations too - that “all politicians are corrupt, the system is broken, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it, so why bother trying?” If you

buy into that lie, if you allow yourself to give up, to give into despair, sacrifice your hope, trade it in for apathy, then you’re playing into the hands of people who already have power.

You’re not making them less powerful. You’re not part of the solution; you’re part of the problem. So when I talk to people who don’t want to vote, for example, or who think voting is pointless, it really aggravates me because they don’t understand how much power they really have.

When you say, “I’m not gonna vote because there’s no point,” you’re not just exercising your right to free speech (although you are doing that), you’re also putting that out there for people who hold you in high esteem to take on as their own ideology. I spoke with a woman recently who told me that she had never voted. She was in her 40s or 50s I would say. She had an adult son who was close to me in age.

This woman, who had an adult son, who had never voted in her life (and her son has never voted either) said, “I really want these changes in our state. I really want XYZ, but I

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don’t really see the point of voting.”

And what I told her was, if you say that you’re gonna go vote for XYZ reasons, and you’re going to vote for so-and-so because you like what he’s all about or what she’s all about, even if you dont make it to the polls, if you start talking about it, people who hold you in high esteem, people who think you’re worth their time and look up to you are gonna hear you say that, and that’s going to affect whether or not you go to the polls. It might not make or break their decision. Somebody has to be touched with an idea a certain number of times before it takes root.

But the idea that you only represent yourself in your vote is false.

So yeah, I think that a lot of people our age have fallen victim to the idea that apathy is safe. It’s not.

By Garrick Hoffman

Why We Need Election Reform in Maine

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here are many election reforms needed, but one that I shall discuss and that we should be considering is a change in our election process called instantrunoff voting.

Instant-runoff voting, or ranked choice voting, allows the voter to rank the candidates in order of preference, eliminating the candidate who receives the lowest amount of votes.

For example, if three candidates are running and you like A, somewhat like B, and dislike C, you could rank them A1, B2, C3. If candidate A got the lowest votes, your vote for them would shift to B and this would happen until a candidate got 50% or more of the vote. This is the only way to ensure that our elected officials get the majority of the vote.

One reason why this could be something to consider is with our Governor’s election out of the way and the reelection of Paul Lepage with 48% of This political slant courtesy of Arts 190

the vote, which is not the first time a candidate was elected governor without a majority. For example, Angus King’s reelection in 1998 was the last time a candidate for governor was elected with a majority of the vote. But this was a reelection where it is more common for a candidate to do well.

The last time a governor was elected to a first term with a majority of the vote was in 1966, when Kenneth M. Curtis, a Democrat, defeated Republican John H. Reed with 53% of the vote.

Maine is an example of a state with a high independent spirit and a history of independents and third party candidates doing well, so it makes sense to have ranked choice voting in the state. Without it, it leaves the state vulnerable to continue to elect people who do not have the majority support of the people of Maine.

By Ian Ziller

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor, I think the Beacon is a great way for students to know what is going on in the campus community. However I’ve never heard of it until it was presented by one of my professors to the class. It’s a great idea but I think it should be publicized more for students. On display in the dining hall and lobbies of the dorms perhaps.

Thank you, Caleb Dostie Caleb,

The Beacon thanks you for your kind words and your consideration for submitting a letter. We appreciate it!

You mention that The Beacon should be more publicized and it should be made accessible in more locations on campus. Yes, while we also wish it could be seen, known, and picked up by everybody, The Beacon is indeed in many locations, including the places you mentioned. If you walk into the cafeteria, there are stacks of Beacons on the newsstand in front of you, in the foyer. If you walk into the dorms, the Beacons are immediately to your right as soon as you walk in.

In fact, The Beacon is actually located in all of the buildings on campus, but that’s not where it stops. It can be found in 158 Pickett Street Cafe, Gritty’s Pub on Fore Street in Portland, Buck’s Naked Barbecue in Portland’s Old Port, the Portland Public Library, and even scattered throughout the Greater Portland area.

Again, we thank you for your contribution. Furthermore, if you’re interested in working for The Beacon, feel free to inquire!

Illustration by Marie Gorton southern maine community college

Garrick Hoffman

Opinion & Editorial Section Editor ¤

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the wake of 9/11, the National Security Agency (NSA), authorized under the Bush administration, the USA PATRIOT Act, and under their surveillance program PRISM, found itself with more power and oversight than it previously held. Its reach was more pervasive: the agency could monitor all the activities of the average citizen, both domestically and abroad, via the citizens’ cell phones, laptops, and myriad other forms of technology.

It could and can trace one’s history of locations and the nature of all of one’s interactions. In 2014, this has not since changed.

In his first interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald from British newspaper The Guardian, whistleblower and former NSA intelligence analyst Edward Snowden explained the motives behind his high-profile leak of confidential U.S. government documents:

“When you’re in positions of privileged access [like I was]...you’re exposed to a lot more information on a broader scale than the average employee. Because of that, you see things that may be disturbing....you see them on a more frequent basis, and you recognize

that most of these things are actually abuses....Over time, that awareness of wrongdoing sort of builds up and you feel more compelled to talk about it....

You eventually realize that these things need to be determined by the public, not somebody who was simply hired by the government.”

Snowden, upon seeing these abuses so routinely, began to feel more and more compelled to address this issue.

And indeed he did “raise concerns, regularly and widely...both laterally and vertically” in his workplace, as he mentioned in a July 2014 interview with more Guardian journalists.

“Isn’t this unconstitutional?” he told the journalists, expressing what his thoughts were upon seeing these abuses. “Isn’t this a violation of rights?”

Feeling more and more the feverish urge to address this issue with a farther reach than he could attain in the States, Snowden went through with the massive document leak. He felt this was the only way to accomplish his mission.

The question emerges: Why did Snowden take it upon himself to release this information in such a dramatic fashion? Why did he not broach these issues before a judge, rather than expose such subversive information to the

One Small Step To The Right, One Giant Leap Into The Abyss

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here is much political fist pumping in America this month.

Republicans couldn’t be happier now that they have commanding majorities in the House and Senate. They are chomping at the bit to further emasculate Barack Obama’s presidency and probably plan to subject him to more derision and abuse than ever. Maine, too, ushers in an era that is committed to conservative ideals. Governor LePage has now earned carte blanche to execute his vision for the state and oh-so-ineloquently speak his mind.

Waves of crimson-hued voters have apparently sent a message to Washington and Augusta, “We demand a new direction!” Yet, this socalled “mandate” is actually the same one that is sent in the middle of nearly every American president’s term in modern history. It doesn’t so much signify a revolution, but merely the pendulous trends of two-party politics.

Nevertheless, the 114th U.S. Congress and Maine’s 127th session could very well bring some of the right wing’s best theories, fiscal or otherwise, to practice: the stock market could soar to record heights on the heels of multinational corporations, “too big to fail” financial institutions, and the exorbitantly wealthy being freed from burdensome minimum wage raises, taxation, litigation, and regulation. The working class could be awash in a historic trickle that may include boosting employment rates (currently at 94.1%) a point or two, an IRS refund of a few hundred dollars and/or an irresistibly low APR on a line of credit. Even though Obama has

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knocked almost a trillion dollars off what he inherited, we may also see further whittling of the federal deficit.

Hawkish Republicans and the accompanying urge to spread democracy will surely see to it that the armed forces see a swell in both investment and theaters of war. This could produce some dazzling strikes and victorious battles, maybe even another Hollywood spin-off.

Make no mistake about the glittering opportunities that Reince Priebus, Mitch McConnell or Paul LePage promise. When the “Greatest nation in the world… Kiss my butt…U-S-A! U-S-A!” rhetoric fades, their center-ofthe-world views won’t deliver on the issues that ultimately matter most. For every short-term gain that is theoretically possible under Republican power, America risks dire, long-term consequences that dwarf any spikes on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The United States of America can ill afford to endure many more election cycles dominated by rightwing ideologues. The laundry list of platforms where Republicans simply get it wrong is daunting: continued nuclear proliferation, Constitutional amendments that codify heterosexual supremacy, the hubris and illegality of sidestepping the Geneva Conventions with torture and extraordinary rendition, “Drill, baby, drill” energy policy, philosophies of education that treat schools as businesses and students as consumers, and on and on. Hoisting female candidates this season was strategically inspired, though ironically, the GOP continues to bend over backward to both maintain gender ¤

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world, potentially harming the national security of the United States?

Snowden has pointed out the 1917 Espionage Act, which is designed to prosecute leakers. Furthermore, he has noted the lack of whistleblower protection for government contractors and, ultimately, his lack of faith in the “internal reporting mechanisms of the US government,” which could have “destroyed him and buried his message forever,” as an article in The Guardian reported.

All of these factors led him to his decision, and he says the greatest fear he has regarding the outcome for America “is that nothing will change,” and that people “won’t be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things, to force their representatives to actually take a stand in their interests.”

Upon hearing the news of Snowden’s revelations, many US citizens scoffed at the importance of what Snowden was revealing, saying that, “I’m not doing anything wrong, so why should I care about being watched?”

But when asked about why the average citizen should care, Snowden said, “because even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched

inequalities (i.e. 20+% wage gap, Equal Rights Amendment) and obstruct women’s reproductive rights.

The experiment of deregulatory Reaganomics and ambling toward the mirage of a “free market” has failed.

The wanton exploitation of labor and resources, domestic and abroad, reliably leaves a wake of destruction and the very real potential for cataclysmic events like Bhopal, Deepwater Horizon and 2008’s economic meltdown.

Speaking of melting, NASA findings assert that the warming of vast swaths of Antarctic ice is, as of Spring 2014, irreversible. Yet in the face of evermounting evidence, folks who unabashedly deny climate change will be steering the ship for the foreseeable future. There could not be higher stakes for Earth and all her inhabitants.

A tragic reality of “passing the point of no return” is that it’s virtually impossible to recognize it…until it has come and gone. Tallying battles won is utterly worthless when the war obliterates one’s very livelihood.

Therefore, citizens must demand that their governments rebuke shortsighted and narcissistic worldviews for holistic ones. Elections must prioritize a sustainable “justice for all” above a superficial prosperity for some. Time will tell if America has voted too much power into the hands of politicians who focus on the wrong outcomes. By then, democracy may prove altogether irrelevant.

and recorded.... You don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use the system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made and attack you on that basis to derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.”

Besides this fact, what the matter ultimately comes down to is that the nature of activity in itself is also, as Snowden phrased it, “a serious violation of the law. The 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution of my country, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance. While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize an illegal affair.

These rulings simply corrupt the most basic notion of justice – that it must be seen to be done. The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law.”

By Garrick Hoffman

GET HELP

...without ever leaving the classroom!

Tutors are located in many departments across campus: Anatomy & Physiology Recitations Architectural Engineering Design Automotive Business Computer Science Computer Technology Communications New Media Early Childhood Education Electrical Engineering Technologies & Pre-Engineering Fire Science Microbiology Recitations

For a detailed schedule, visit: smccme.libguides.com/ department_tutoring

By Carlin Whitehouse

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Student Interview

Kelby Nicolas

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elby is a student who works at the security building on campus.

He is in the heating and air conditioning program. He was originally working at Dunkin Donuts, and then his friends told him to apply for one of the security positions. He did and got it. Being part of security team puts more on his plate but adds to his resume. He has been a supervisor for

a year now. When asked what some of his craziest on-campus calls were, he shared a few of his stories.

Once Kelby had to stand outside for 2 ½ hours in the freezing rain, when the sailboats came crashing to shore. He and another security student needed to make sure that everyone was safe. Another incident was when he had to take down two students who had drugs on campus.

Kelby’s also had to deal with students

PTK and the Student Senate Tackling Parking and Fossil Fuel Divestment

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ith Thanksgiving rolling around, we can all be thankful that the election is finally over. Not having to watch crumby political ads on TV isn’t the only thing to be grateful for though. We can be grateful for our productive students that do great things on and off campus. We can be thankful that the Student Senate is addressing parking issues. We can also be grateful that Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) is taking measures to make sure Maine Community College System (MCCS) is investing in socially and ethically responsible investments.

Parking:

The Student Senate had a special guest come and visit a few meetings ago; the man of the hour was Public Safety Director, Jay Manhardt. All the

questions on the agenda were parking/ road related.

The Student Senate talked with Mr. Manhardt about making a commuter lot to allow easier access for students who have to rush to a job after school.

After discussing this idea with him the Senate decided to address the idea with policy in a later meeting.

The Senate also brought up their concerns about students speeding in and out of Benjamin W Pickett St. Recently a student’s dog was killed in a hit and run. The suggestion put forth is to put a speed bump in the road to slow things down. Mr. Manhardt explained that the City of South Portland owns the road and that SMCC can’t control anything there. However, he

slow and calm, but it only takes one person to tell them that something’s wrong. They must be ready to jump into action and take on anything. It could be anything as minor as cleaning Rudy’s litter box or as drastic as responding to an emergency.

A lot of people think the security team just gives out tickets for parking on the grass, but what people need to understand is that, at times, they risk their lives to protect yours.

did say that the students could draft a letter to the city requesting a speed

fines, because the tickets can’t be enforced. However, this only applies to visitors who are not students. Anyone who has an SMCC parking sticker can/ will be ticketed for parking violations, and the fines will be upheld.

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By Erik Squire

bump be placed there. The Senate intends on following up with this letter as well as requesting endorsement from businesses along the road.

Mr. Manhardt also talked about a few things in regards to parking fines: 1. SMCC got rid of the policy that prohibited students from signing up for courses until they paid their fines.

2. Visitors don’t have to pay their

RULE OF THIRDS

The Captian’s Cupboard

NEEDS YOUR HELP

Thanksgiving is around the corner and we would like to get some festive food for students and their families.

Photo II students are exhibiting their works of alternative photography – entitled Rule of Thirds – in the Learning Commons. This selection of chosen images includes examples of historic photographic processes such as cyanotype printing and scanner-photograms learned during the semester, pieces which draw from the field – street and county fair photography, as well as those which represent individually chosen, long-term projects.

WE NEED: Monetary Donations: A little goes a long way at Good Shephard Food Bank

Festive Food Donations: Turkey (slices, ham, etc.)

Cranberry (sauce, preserved, etc.)

Corn (canned, kernel, fresh) Canned Vegetables (peas, carrots, etc.)

Baking Needs (flour, sugar eggs)

Each student has printed, matted, and framed three pieces of their choosing for this exhibit. The SMCC community is encouraged to view these works of theme and process.

Drop off at: The Captains Cupboard 125 McKernan Drive

Rule of Thirds will be showing through:

By Tayler Chretien

3. Students can/will be ticketed multiple times for the same violations in the same day. For instance, a student parks where they shouldn’t and gets ticketed. Then the student leaves their car in the same place after removing the ticket from their windshield. They can/will receive a fine for the same violation.

4. Mr. Manhardt addressed the fact that handicap students and visitors can park virtually anywhere as long as they aren’t blocking a fire hydrant or in the way of traffic.

Finally, the Senate asked about the number of parking tickets that had been given. Mr. Manhardt stated that 1,362 fines had been dispensed since the beginning of the semester. Out of all the tickets received only 13 were overturned. Equipped with this new information, the Student Senate is working on having “No Parking” signs painted on areas where there are large amounts of violations being made.

PTK Referendum:

Many of you may have noticed voting booths in the Campus Center.

No, they are not for electing politicians. As mentioned in a previous edition of Campus Exposed, PTK (the international honors society for all two-year colleges) has put forth a referendum to vote on whether or not MCCS should divest from fossil fuels.

Up until this point, 200 people have cast their votes. Of the votes casted, about 85% are a yes (MCCS should divest), while 15% said no (MCCS should not divest).

The president of Alpha Chi Nu (SMCC’s chapter of PTK), Jason Glynn, is considering keeping the referendum open another week. If you would like to vote but have only now heard about it, please vote in the Campus Center or online at: surveymonkey.com/s/SMCCVote2014

Thursday, Dec. 11 in the Learning Commons.

Email us at:

captainscupboard@ smccme.edu southern maine community college

wanting to kill themselves.

When Kelby graduates he hopes to have his own business in the heating and air conditioning field. His back-up plan is to become a border control officer, which is to guard the borders of Canada or Mexico. His job varies from making sure everything goes smoothly; to ensuring everyone is where they are supposed to be, as well as going to buildings on campus to make sure that nothing looks out of place. The security team mostly patrols the Early Childhood Education building, because of the daycare.

There are some days where it’s

Open House and reception to be held: Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 5 - 7pm in the Learning Commons.

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The Captain’s Cupboard

My IHHS Service Learning Project

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received an opportunity to perform my service learning project by reaching out to one of the students, Jason Glynn, who spoke in my class about possibly volunteering. I went to the Captain’s Cupboard and went through a brief orientation with one of the volunteers about the requirements of receiving services there, and how to sign in students that needed to receive services.

Starting four years ago, students from Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and former SMCC President James Ortiz came together to talk about barriers to student success at SMCC. From these discussions it was determined providing students with access to an on-campus food pantry would address issues of retention, and student persistence. The first location of the pantry was in the basement of Hague Hall, which leaked and was unfit for food storage. While the location of the pantry stalled, students actively looked into the needs of students on campus.

From a survey conducted through the initiative of the Student Senate, students determined 2.8% of students are homeless, 31.5% struggled to keep food on the table consistently, and 9.9% did not have adequate transportation which prohibited them from accessing food. The results from the student survey proved there was a high need for on-campus resources.

In the fall of 2013, current President Ron Cantor gifted part of a building on campus to house the pantry. Additionally, SMCC partnered with Good Shepard Food Bank to become a test site for the school pantry program at the college/university level. As of November 2013 the Captain’s Cupboard opened its doors to all students at SMCC. The Captain’s Cupboard is need blind, meaning students do not need to be flagged to access the pantry. The pantry currently provides food, personal items, school supplies, and a limited supply of clothing.

The populations served by the Captain’s Cupboard are any of the currently

SMCC’s Outstanding Programs Emergency Medical Services/Paramedicine

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he Beacon conducted an interview with Michael White, one of the EMS Program’s terrific students. This is Michael’s 4th semester with the program and when he graduates (the same goes for most of his classmates) he hopes to be a Paramedic. He is already an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). In fact all the students in the program are EMTs, seeing as it is a prerequisite to get into the program (no worries; SMCC offers courses for that too). Michael took some time out of his busy schedule to fill us in on the program.

The program is five semesters long; it is two falls, two springs, and one summer semester. Clinicals cover the last three semesters. For clinicals students have to do a total of 690hrs between hospital time in the ER, respiratory therapy, critical care, labor and delivery, and in the field service on an ambulance. On top of all that they also have to do 20hrs a semester in an EMT

basic class helping out with the new guys and gals.

The program opens every fall.

There are two classes; there’s a senior class and a freshman class. There are only 25 spots per class and they fill up fast. Unlike courses such as ENG-100 (which are offered every semester), EMS courses are only offered during particular semesters. Because of this, if a student doesn’t stick with it and misses a course or fails out of a course they get pushed back a whole year. As stated previously, there are only two classes total.

The first semester primarily recaps what students have learned in their basics. The first spring semester is about airways and all the skills that one’s required to know about them. Examples of the things students learn about air ways are: intubations, cricothyrotomys, chest decompressions, ventilating, and how to manage an airway.

The summer semester is designated to trauma: trauma scenarios, back boarding, and splinting.

The final fall semester has one of the heaviest workloads. It is seventeen

Greenhouses for Good Enactus Can Dig It

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he Beacon set out to meet with Sineah McGrady, the president of SMCC’s Enactus, to find out what the club was up to. Sineah was happy to oblige, her only requisite was that I give a hand with moving their grow tent. It was an even trade.

After, this is what she had to say about Enactus: Enactus is an opportunity to create a lasting impact in your community. It is a collection of students driven to improve or develop sustainable projects surrounding an area of need. This need could address the homeless population, lack of resources in a department of labor, high cost of groceries, or… anywhere you see fit (and that’s what so special about it)! Enactus extends tools and resources online and encourages collaboration.

It is a worldwide organization that has made a great name for itself and can for anyone part of it. It offers an opportunity to join forces with fellow students and make lasting change. This isn’t just something you can put on your résumé but something that will shape your future.

SMCC’s Enactus is building a connection between our college and the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of South Portland. Enactus is building them a green house. The design was discovered by the Sustainability Club, tried and true. Construction donated the building materials to make this possible. The student senate also played a big role in funding this project including a grow tent and lights that helped start their seeds (though the tent is now part of the horticulture program). The building has been southern maine community college

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enrolled SMCC students who are in need, and are struggling to get by. The services provided by this program are mainly food; however, there are an assortment of other things that are given to students. For example, any of the students can come down and get school supplies if they are unable to afford them. Occasionally there are also hygienic items available; soap, tampons, lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.

The Captain’s Cupboard is located on the SMCC campus in the Captain’s House, and it’s like coming to an office, but to receive something that you need, not to see a doctor or a physician.

I spent my time there being helpful to the patrons of the Captain’s Cupboard by assisting them in obtaining what they needed, and helping them make the best choices according to what was available to them. I also physically lent a helping hand to a few patrons when it was necessary. Among other things, when the place wasn’t busy, I also took the time to stock the shelves with items from the storage closet, cleaned up a little bit, and emptied the trash.

My overall experience working at the Captain’s Cupboard gave a great sense of pride because I was doing something for the sole purpose of benefiting another human being. It also made me feel good to know that, even when no one came, my presence made it possible for any student in need to come and get what they needed should they have the desire to come. Furthermore, I was very surprised by seeing the different races, ages, and nationalities of all the different students that were provided service by the Captain’s Cupboard. I learned that people from all walks of life experience hardships. Most of all, I learned that it’s okay to reach out for help, which is something that I often struggled with.

By Maurice “Moe” Murray *https://www.facebook.com/TheCaptainsCupboard/info

credits and students learn about medical emergencies, pediatric emergencies, advanced cardiology, and about all the different types of emergencies in the field. Students also learn how to treat these emergencies accordingly.

In most cases, students who go into these courses are people who want to make a career out of being a paramedic (seeing as they are already EMTs). There are people who are advanced EMTs (for longer than most students have been alive). There are combat medics who now want to be medics in the civilian world. Then there are some who have only been a basic for a few years and want to go for that next level.

Some of the things that trained paramedics will be qualified to do include administering a large variety of drugs, administering AKGs (where they check out the heart and treat based on what they find), and performing different types of advanced airway procedures. A big part of the program is centered on trying to master basic skills, concept formation, and figuring out what’s wrong with a

patient based on how he/she is presenting. Graduates will then be able to treat these circumstances accordingly.

Michael wanted to make it clear that it’s important for students to get into the mindset that “they’re the one in charge when responding.” Students have to realize that there’s no one that is higher than them out in the field.

Paramedics are the ones that people look to while in the field, they are that leader.

As to what Michael thinks of the EMS Program: He really loves it! He says the instructors are great and he loves how the course is hands on.

Working with high-tech mannequins has been interesting for him as well.

Michael appreciates that the course has a lot of group working, and added that the clinicals are also good.

“It started off (in the first couple of semesters) with more PowerPoints, but now that I’m in my senior year, the program is starting to cover more real life scenarios. I really like the program so far.”

By Erik Squire

accomplished by a superior Enactus team with help from the Sustainability Club.

Enactus will be done building next week (Nov 21st) and they welcome students to glance at it when driving by! The green house will enable the children from the Boy’s and Girl’s Club to grow their own food and have fun doing it. Enactus will continue to volunteer time with the kids during the week to teach gardening and nutrition and they aim to keep them involved when they build the next greenhouse.

The food will be used at Cia Cafe in South Portland for their sandwiches. The sustainable practices that Enactus will instill in these kids will no doubt have a lasting and positive effect.

Enactus is also building another greenhouse on campus that students from all programs will be able to utilize. Construction students helped assemble it, horticulture will help with the plants and even the Art Club is helping with the design.

Enactus aims to use this as a learning tool for all students. Enactus wants to demonstrate that students can do anything, and when working together with others, things can really go far. Sineah says to any student, “Take advantage of all the resources you have now! Have an idea for another project? Let us know!”

Enactus meets Wednesdays in Hague Hall, room 108, at noon.

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ports

The Portland Sports Scene Red Claws and Pirates get Underway

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this point in the year, Portland, Maine is a great small city to be in if you’re a sports fan. Portland has two professional teams under way as the winter slowly approaches.

The Portland Pirates and the Maine Red Claws are both exciting teams to go watch that have a great professional atmosphere right here in Portland, Maine.

The Pirates will be playing in the newly renovated Cross Insurance Arena and hope to have a great season for the fans of Portland. They are an affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes with

TRANSFER YOUR SUCCESS

many future NHL players on their roster. They have seen strong play so far from team captain Alexandre Bolduc and Brenden Shinnimin who lead the team in points early in the season. Both of these players have played for the Pirates in the past and hope to elevate their games to the NHL this season.

The Portland Pirates’ next game is November 26th at 7 p.m. vs. Worcester and would be a great time for any of you SMCC students looking for a night with friends.

The Maine Red Claws kicked off their season on November 14th against the Oklahoma City Blue on the road with a new head coach Scott Morrison hoping to lead his team to the playoffs for the first time. The Maine

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Red Claws play at the Portland Expo building. While it is a small venue it still creates a great atmosphere. There are high flying dunks, fast play and a great professional basketball experience.

There is also not a bad seat in the house and it won’t break your bank, as tickets start at just 10 dollars. Players like Jeremy Lin, Antoine Walker, Avery Bradley and Ricky Davis have all seen the floor in Portland and you never know who you will see next. From Danny Ainge to Doc Rivers, or old faces like Walter McCarty and Tommy Heinsohn, all have come through to watch the Claws in action.

The Red Claws currently have former Celtic Chris Babb on the roster

back in Maine for his second stint, and rookie Dwight Powell who was sent down by the Celtics to get some playing time and experience.

This sports season should be an exciting one in Portland as it is a great city to have some fun off campus while watching high-level sports close to home. So go check out the Maine Red Claws and Portland Pirates, you won’t be disappointed.

By Sam Coombs Maine Red Claws Tickets: 207-210-6655 or nba.com/dleague/maine/ Portland Pirates Tickets: 207-pirates or portlandpirates.com

Today in Sports History: November 18th 1985 Joe Theismann Career Ending Injury

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was Monday Night Football and the Washington Redskins were facing huge NFC rivals, the New York Giants, in a packed full stadium.

The score was 0-0 and the Redskins had the ball.

Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann lined up under center and got the snap.

The play was a flea flicker trick play attempt handed off to John Riggins and pitched back to Theismann that was unfolding to really go nowhere. Theismann was being blitzed from the blind side by Giants players Lawrence Taylor and Gary Reasons as he was trying to extend the play. In the blink of an eye things would change forever for Theismann.

On this play Theismann was sacked by

Taylor, who was one of the NFL’s best defensive players, and immediately after the tackle fans could tell something was wrong. Taylor lept to his feet screaming for help from the sidelines. As the replay showed on TV, it left the commentators squeamish because of the extent of what happened to Theismann. As Taylor tackled him, Theismann’s leg got caught underneath Taylor and essentially snapped in half because he wasn’t prepared for the extent of force from the tackle. This was because it came from Theismann’s blind side.

At the time of the injury Theismann was 35 years old and it seemed like this could be a career-ending injury for him. It was going to take a lot to come back from this type of an injury.

Theismann said in an interview, “I remember everything

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that happened that night. Coach Joe Gibbs came up to me and said, ‘Joe, this is a heck of a mess you’ve left me,’ and we both laughed. It was a light moment in a very tense situation.”

This would indeed turn out to be the last play Theismann would ever be a part of. His career was over. This injury changed the game of football and made the blind side be the most important position on the offensive line. Teams typically put their best and highest paid lineman on that side to reduce plays like this from happening.

Although Theismann would be upset in this moment he went on to say, “I got a standing ovation as they wheeled

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me off and I knew then and and there that whatever Joe Theismann was, had died. It was a rebirth of a person that grew to appreciate people a lot more and this was a defining moment in my life.”

This injury is know as one of the worst in NFL history and was even featured in a movie called The Blind Side, and it showed the importance of protecting that side of the field. Joe Theismann finished his career playing 12 seasons with the Washington Redskins, with 2 Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl victory.

By Sam Coombs

OUR TEAM IS GROWING! At the library’s new Tech Desk, trained student staffers are on-hand to help with your everyday computing needs. We can’t fix a broken laptop, but we can help you perfectly format your PowerPoint slides and upload them to BlackBoard.

Check in with the Tech Desk to get help with lots of software struggles, like: • • • • • • • •

Printing and email attachments Formatting in Word Formatting in PowerPoint Formatting in Google Drive Navigating BlackBoard Navigating MyMathLab Navigating Diet Analysis And more!

Monday - Friday 10am - 2pm

For even more in-depth software help, including Excel, drop-in to Tutoring for a session with a computer app and software tutor!

Mondays and Wednesdays 11am - 2pm

Tuesdays 10am - 3pm

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Page 12 ¤ October 7, 2014

SMCC Hoops Highlights Vermont Tech Comes to Town

held a 2pt lead until SMCC’s Kendra Kagiliery drained her first 3pt shot, putting SMCC up at the 15:32 mark.

Over the course of the next 6 minutes the Lady Seawolves would outscore he Women and Men’s basketball the Knights 16-7, building a 19-9 lead, teams opened up the YSCC conand a lead that would only grow to the ference play this past Saturday afterpoint of doubling Vermont Tech’s final noon when the Knights from Vermont scoring output.

Tech visited Hub gymnasium. The

From SMCC’s point of view the Lady Seawolves entered conference day was a wonderful exercise of play with a 2-3 record while the men teamwork as all 12 players scored and sported a healthy 4-1 record with their sole loss coming at the hands of Bridg- the team shot an impressive 49.5% from the 2pt land while shooting 9 ton Academy. of 24 from behind the 3pt arch. By

The Lady Seawolves conference play officially started with a 1pm tipoff halftime the Lady Seawolves had built a 42-19 lead and continued its offenand as is the case often, the first 5 sive march, giving Vermont Tech no minutes was not a clear indicator as to quarter over the first 5 minutes of the how this game would pan out. Scoring early, the Knights of Vermont Tech second half. After giving up the first 2pts to Vermont Tech SMCC went on a 13-0 run, padding its lead to 55-21. At this point The Knights of Vermont Tech were solidly in the rear view mirror with no real threat to becoming larger than they might appear.

The Lady Seawolves scored 66 points in the 2nd half, the most they have scored in a half this season. Four startling team stats stick out when looking at the box score: SMCC outscored Vermont Tech in the paint 60-6, in bench scoring 63-0, points off of turnovers 47-10, and forced Vermont Tech into 40 turnovers while only committing 21.

If it was the offense that buried Vermont Tech durTHOMAS ENERVA, SMCC’S FRESHMAN CENTER GRABS ing the women’s 1 OF 4 REBOUNDS IN SATURDAY’S ACTION AGAINST game, the high VERMONT TECH. THOMAS ADDED 2PTS intensity defensive COMPLIMENTING HIS REBOUNDING EFFORTS. play by the men

TIANA BURTON DRIVES FOR 2 OF HER 4PTS IN SATURDAY’S ACTION AGAINST VERMONT TECH. TIANA FINISHED THE DAY WITH 4PTS, AND 2 STEALS. Seawolves was the element that gave them the edge in their game. Freshman guards Kevin Fabien and Tyheem Simon did a better than satisfactory job in containing VT’s Jamal Hughes (first team All-American 2013-14). Hughes did finish as game high scorer (19pts - 10 rebounds), but never found the grove with his teammates.

On the Seawolves side of the ball, SMCC was lead by Kevin Fabian who had a career high scoring (11pts of which 9 were scored from behind the 3pt arch), Carlos Gonzalea who scored 12 pts and grabbed 8 rebounds while

not committing a single turnover, and team captain Atencio Martin who scored 10pts.

Both Seawolves teams are on the road for their next 5 games traveling to Unity College on Wednesday evening (11/19), then visit Hampshire College (11/22), University of Maine-Augusta (11/25), EMCC (11/30), and NHTI (12/4). They return home to play University of Maine-Machias on December 6th tip off at 1 and 3pm.

By The Beacon Staff

The Seawolves return to the HUB Gym vs.

Univeristy of ME, Machias

EVENTS

UPCOMING

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Dec. 6 Woman 1pm Men 3pm

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