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Lighting our Community
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The Southern Maine Community College Student News | Volume 8 • No. 6 • January 29, 2013
CampusNews Writing a College Application Essay & SMCC Diet Tech Group
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The Secret of Buying Text Books, Spotlight on our Best: {Doreen} & The Senate Notebook
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Editorials& Opinions
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An Adult Conversation on Guns
An Open Letter to SMCC & Let’s Rething This : Guns and More Guns
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Dr. King, What Would You Have Done? & From The Managing Editors Desk
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Presidential Inauguration 2013
A Celebration of Liberalism By Roy It was amazing how Meredith efficiently the whole
to address his constituents. I was excited, but I was not expecting to see an aggressive defense of Democratic priorities in President Obama’s speech. Although he won an intensely ideological election over the role of government against his Republican challenger in 2012, and has become
process went. One million people filled the streets of Washington, all heading for TSA tents to have their bodies scanned before entering the National Mall. Only those with special tickets were allowed to enter the premise. The crowd Rik and I found ourselves surrounded by was largely non-white; most of the people I encountered were either young or lower income. I didn’t bother guessing whether the situation would have been the reverse if Mitt Romney and the Republicans had beaten Barack Obama in 2012. It was morning, 9:00 AM to be precise, and perhaps the reason why everything went so smoothly was because people were still too tired to kick up a ruckThe inauguration as seen from the reporter’s point of view. us. Walking from the metro station to the tents only took fifteen minutes, the tents less than ten. increasingly hostile towards the Repub The crowd waxed enthusiastic once lican Party in recent policy negotiations, everybody found their places and the I expected him to revert towards more names of high profile guests and speak- conciliatory language when speaking ers were announced. Most of the people before a national audience. cheered Jimmy Carter. They unaniFor years Obama’s goal has been to mously booed Newt Gingrich. As the unite Republicans and Democrats into ceremony took off I struggled to hold an effective governing coalition. my interest in what the other speakers To accomplish this, he adopted had to say. I wanted to hear the presimany of the policies and even the framdent; everybody else felt like they were ing of his opponents. This has never going through the motions. Just before noon Obama was sworn in, and turned (continued on page 8)
…And Bearing Witness to it By Rik Sawyer
It was unseasonably warm for January even in Washington DC on Martin Luther King Jr Day. The wind put a little chill in the air but it still couldn’t dampen the mood of the day. The crowds that crammed in the subways and streets didn’t touch the festive atmosphere in the air that day. You couldn’t help but feel the sense of celebration as we made our way to see Barak Obama take the oath of office to begin his second term as President of the United States. The enormity the day could not be lost on anyone as we walked out of Union Station. The streets were completely congested with people making their way to the Mall. Street vendors set up shop anyplace they could to sell their inauguration day memorabilia. Some of it was surprisingly good quality while others sold their dime store wares at highly inflated prices. The level of security could not be lost on anyone either. Every street corner had some level of law enforcement on it. Military Police assisted local police by patrolling the streets and manning the entry points to the mall. The TSA checked people for weapons and any other dangerous objects. The FBI and Secret Service tactical teams make their presence known. Even the Texas Rangers (continued on page 8)
Lunch Box Art Talk With Charlie Hewitt
Floral Arrangements for sale, see page
By Kalyn Van On a brisk Valkenburgh Thursday
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The Silent Flute & Silver Linings Playbook
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Jessica Chastain Beats the Big Boys &What’s Happening in the Music Scene
SportsReports The State of the Patriots
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afternoon, art students, teachers and art lovers found warm refuge in Jewitt Auditorium for the first Lunch Box Art Talk series of Spring 2013. One could not have imagined a better artist to host on such a unforgivingly cold day as Charlie Hewitt, who features hot summery colors in his bold, playful designs. Charlie Hewitt finds most of his inspiration from drawing in Sharpies with his young daughter. He is infatuated with the insignificant idea of the tool, how drawing with it forces his “doodles” (or as he once described them, “emotional sketches”) to come from someplace fluid. Hewitt stated, “When you are unaware of your moment you will allow yourself to make a
mistake.” These supposed mistakes are, in actuality, beautiful ideas which transform into prints, sculptures and paintings. One of Charlie Hewitt’s prints, “Good Dog” is a superb example of his child-like creativity yet sophisticated simplicity. Hewitt described himself as having two sides, “Good Dog” being one of them and best of his nature. One can see Hewitt’s love for experimenting with color in his prints and this can be further demonstrated by his piece, “Black Pearl”, a print take used 8
blocks in order to create. This experimentation with color is very visible is his paintings, which he says feel to him “like nothing more than humiliation.” One can feel that sense of emotion in Hewitt’s paintings, which he scrapes and scratches. He says that an artist must record life and take emotional content to be powerful. Without these emotional paintings, Hewitt believes the happy ones could not exist, “You put that shame on that palette, you put (continued on page 3)