The SMCC Beacon 9-17-2013

Beacon

Issue 1 Volume 9 Sept. 17, 2013

The

By Students, For Students

s u p m On Ca

Welcome Back Students and Staff!

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What do you think of Syria?

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Our Campus, Your Campus

d l r o W r e h t O The

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Acting Out!

Serving Life: Learning Compassion at Angola Are we ready for another exciting semester here at Maine’s premier community college? If not, you better start shaking out those cobwebs because we’re now a couple of weeks into this thing.

Can you feel that excitement in the air yet?

There are some big things happening around here this fall, but first, let’s catch you up to speed on what happened around here this summer.

Have you noticed the veritable forest growing on the hill behind the campus center? That is the brand new SMCC community gardens. This summer we offered a free, wait….what? Yes, you read that right, and please allow me to boldly repeat, a FREE sustainable gardening course and this Beacon Staff member jumped at the opportunity to partake. Now I am literally reaping what I’ve sown and enjoying the fruits of my labor. I would like to say many thanks to Chomba Koluba for spending time with us this summer and sharing his knowledge of low-impact and extremely sustainable organic gardening. For more information on the community garden please check out the column on it in the On Campus section.

Hopefully the course will be offered again. I strongly urge anyone and everyone interested to take advantage of it.

Some big changes in the Hub Gymnasium took place over the summer also. Not only did we renovate the men’s and women’s locker rooms for all of our awesome Seawolves, but we also added a brand-new locker room for the non-student athletes among us who like to work out their bodies as much as their brains!! That is great news for those students, and classmates of those students, who don’t live on campus but still want to work out, and finish up by taking that all important shower.

There were also a number of events that the SMCC campus hosted this summer.

Three great fundraising utilized our South Portland campus this summer: the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Twilight 5K, the Tri for a Cure and the Color Run.

The Twilight 5K took place on June 13th with hundreds of runners aged 10 and up committing to raise a minimum of $100 By Jason Glynn

Op Ed

From My Humble Point of View

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7

Free Will

s e r u t a Fe & s t r A Panhandling

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Poetic License

s t r o p S

to fight cancer. Originally the Twilight 5K was a warm up race for the Tri for a Cure race but it has grown so popular that it has become it’s own event. In 2012 over 750 runners took part in the race as it raised over $120,000.

On July 21st, the 6th annual Tri for a Cure was hosted by the SMCC South Portland campus. The all women event is a triathalon format race with a 1/3rd of a mile swim, 15 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. Like the Twilight 5K, The Tri for a Cure is a fundraiser for the Maine Cancer Foundation.

This year’s Tri for a Cure raised more than $1,250,000 in order to fight cancer in Maine.

The Color Run, known as the happiest 5K on the planet, because each runner starts the race in white and is doused with different colors at various stages of the run, came to our campus on July 7th. Celebrating healthiness, happiness and individuality this unique paint race works with a variety of charities helping to get the word out about the work they do.

Congrats to all of the SMCC community members who participated in these great events!!! I know that I was psyched to get out of a grueling chemistry 2 exam and enjoy the festivities. If you are interested in getting involved all you have to do is visit their Web sites and follow the participating or volunteering prompts.

On a more immediate note, some of our awesome students are doing some awesome things. How about a huge congratulations to the bright and beautiful Kristin Korda.

Not only is she an excellent student, but she also was crowned Miss Maine!!! Kristin was the reigning Miss Casco Bay when she was crowned Miss Maine as well as being Miss

Maine’s Outstanding Teen of 2009 and the first year of Maine’s Got Talent. Her vocal talents and pageant platform promoting Big Brothers, Big Sisters: Starting something Big were key in being named Miss Maine.

The 2014 Miss America pageant is slated to be held on September 15th so this is one of those weird situations where this was written before; although you will be reading this after, the pageant takes place. So, hopefully we will be celebrating having our very own Miss America! And if not, then we are still proud to call you Miss Maine and we are sure you looked beautiful and did an excellent job out there!!

Last year our student senate did some research and established that there is a need for many of our students when it comes to food security; let’s face it, paying for a future is not cheap, and the architects of tomorrow should not have to go hungry

today. So Alpha Chi Nu, our chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, which is the International Honor Society for two-year colleges, is fervently working to open an on campus food bank for students and run by students. That being said, if you are the generous type, we are always accepting donations of canned and nonperishable food goods. Where do I bring my donations you may ask? The an(Continued on Page 2)

OnCampus What do you think of Syria?

By Joe Riviera

In the wake of the possibility of U.S. action against Syria, 30 students of SMCC were asked to offer their opinion on the events. Here are 12 examples that resonate the issue and give a look at how the students feel.

“The U.N. will work it out”

“Maybe the U.S. shouldn’t be involved. At least not in a violent way, like in the past.”

“It will be pointless. We don’t need to be the police of the world.”

“It’s terrible. World War III is coming.”

“I think it’s a bad idea. The Russians will be angry with us and if we go to war with Russia it will be World War III.”

Welcome Back

(Continued from Page 1)

“I think it’s dumb. I don’t think we should be helping Syria.”

“We don’t need another Iraq.”

“The U.S. government is getting the public to think the Syrian government is bad but the rebels have terrorist leans as well. It’s hypocrisy.”

“I don’t know about it, sorry.”

“We should be focusing on education with the money instead of going to war.”

“I’m on the fence. My father will be deployed to Syria. Obama makes a good point about how bad things happen there and no one is doing anything.”

TheBeacon

Staff

Contributing Writers

Managing Editor

Jason Glynn

Art Director

Cortney Vamvakias

Photographers

Beacon Staff

Graphics & Layouts

Michael Cote Brandon Roukey Sabra Schirm Laura Young

Advisors

Charles Ott

The Beacon is published by and for the students of SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

2 • The Beacon September 17, 2013

The semester is kickbe on campus to talk about programming ing off to a great start. needs, hand out applications, and answer Starting back up this questions regarding their organizations. year, the college will be actively working Organizations that will be present include: to strengthen community engagement Portland Mentoring Alliance, Long Creek both on and off campus. On campus excitYouth Development Center, Boys and ing things are happening. Phi Theta Kappa Girls Clubs of Portland and South Portis working hard to open a Food Pantry for land, Center for Grieving Children, and the campus community. The Food Pantry the Portland Children’s Museum and Theis always looking for support: cash doatre. Come for drinks and snacks, nations, food, or equipment are stay to find out how you can always at the top of the list. get involved.

Off campus, South The list of organizations English Language ern Maine Community looking for help is endLearners’ Tutors at College is partnering less. If you are looking Deering High School with local elementafor specific places Sewing Divas at ry, middle and high to volunteer or are Portland Arts & Tech schools along with interested in getting local non-profits to involved on campus Pet visits at Elder Communities create meaningful with events please Habitat for Humanity Portland: volunteer opportucontact Madelyn Building Volunteers nities. On September Holm, the new Vista Volunteer Chefs/Cooks 17th, local partners will Volunteer. at Access Health by Madelyn Holm

AMPUSVOLUNTE C F

Hello!

My name is Madelyn Holm, I am the new AmeriCorps Vista working out of the CeSIL office. In my role at the college I will be coordinating mentoring two different opportunities for student. One mentoring program will be focused on working in after school programs and community organizations, and the other will be partnering with on campus veterans and local VETS services. I am excited to work alongside students to create

S NEED ER

Donna Chapman Tiffany Crockett Patrick Doyle Jason Glynn Clara Jones Krista Krasnow-Kelley Michael Micklon Ryan Pearson Joe Riviera Rachel Ryan Rik Sawyer Sabra Schirm Angelina Smith

The communal cat and cultural figure Rudy also had a bit to say on this, stating eloquently, “I do not meddle in human affairs, sorry.”

From The Vista Volunteer Desk

OTHER OF

“Nuke Syria.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

meaningful volunteer programs. I graduated from Marlboro College, in Southern Vermont with a B.A. in Liberal Studies with a focus in Educational Pedagogy and Ceramic Sculpture. For my undergraduate research I looked at community supported arts, and service learning programs in high schools and higher education. One of my greatest passions is creating meaningful engagement points between communities and collaborative projects. Please come to my office to talk to me about volunteer opportunities, collaboration in the community, and bringing art to campus, any anything and everything in-between.

swer which also brings me to my next topic is: the Captain’s House!!

The Captain’s House is more cool news. The building, located right down Fort Road right after Harborview, was left vacant last year when the Maine Community College System moved its offices to Falmouth. Our President, Ron Cantor graciously offered the Captain’s House to the SMCC students!!! It will now be home to the aforementioned food pantry, as well as the Veteran’s Club, Phi Theta Kappa, and it is the brand new headquarters for this newspaper, the Beacon. So now I can say, “If you need me, I’ll be in my office.” Haha that felt good. We are also working on setting it up for a place for study groups. Stay tuned for more info on that.

As for the Beacon, in a nutshell the paper is constantly exploring ways to expand while reaching out to our diverse student population. Can’t get enough of The Beacon and want to read it but are allergic to newspaper or want to help save the planet?

Well, we’ve got you covered; we are excited to announce that there are now 4 formats available to get your dose of the Beacon. Of course we will still have 1000 copies printed bi-weekly, one of which you may be reading now, but we have added an interactive PDF, are working on a Web-based version, and the coolest of all: we have our own YouTube channel!!

Please check out the Notes form the Managing Editor’s Desk on the Opinion & Editorial pages for more information.

Not only am I the Managing Editor of the Beacon and a chapter officer for Phi Theta Kappa, but I am also a peer tutor and research mentor up in the Learning Commons so here is another plug. College classes can be hard, finding information for papers can be difficult, but why struggle when we have all kinds of great resources that you can access?

Whether it’s algebra, calculus, chemistry, or physics (and many more) we have some really knowledgeable and friendly folks ready to help you succeed and make the most out of your college career. As far as research goes, just Googling something usually doesn’t cut it for academia, there is a lot of misleading information to filter through out there.

Thankfully part of your tuition goes to pay for the use of many extremely vast and relevant databases, and we will help you find exactly what you are looking for in nearly any media. Do you struggle with writing issues? Have no fear; we have a whole section in the Learning Commons dedicated to helping you structure and organize those tough papers, and of course it is filled with friendly and helpful staff and peer tutors. So don’t hesitate, stress sucks the fun out of everything. Come see us and we’ll help you!!

Let’s not forget about our fighting Seawolves baseball, softball, soccer and golf teams. Have you been to one of their games or matches recently? It’s actually a fun way to spend a few hours these fall afternoons.

After all, the baseball and softball teams are defending YSCC champions having won their respective post-season tournaments this past spring. So stop by the diamonds or soccer pitch in support of your classmates.

OnCampus Our Campus, Your Campus: Taking Advantage of It Another Semester is By Donna Chapman upon us; some of us have been here for a couple of semesters and for some it is a new beginning. SMCC can seem overwhelming at times, as with any college but in actuality it is a great campus once you find all the classrooms and buildings. We have the most beautiful campus setting in Maine, with direct access to Willard Beach for walking, or sitting, to catch up on homework. For those who want some fun a group can check out volleyball equipment from the athletic director for use on the beach!

There are lots of exciting things to do, sporting events, and dining opportunities in the Culinary Arts program, just check for times and reservations. This is your college experience so try and have some fun and check things out while you are here. A little fact: some of you may not realize that we also have an Inn on campus and they host events for students. The McKernan Center is small and can be very romantic for a weekend getaway! They host events, weddings and Valentines Day Dinners, ect. So start saving now, as we will provide more information in the future.

Let’s remember that this college seems to be a melting pot of cultures and all of us are different in many ways. Personally I have welcomed this opportunity to be back in school after so many years and am truly enjoying my time here. The opportunity to write for the Beacon and hopefully have some messages heard, give something back to other students who may be feeling the same way and will read the paper and get involved themselves, or find answers to something they may have been looking for is an opportunity that should be taken advantage of and not wasted.

The different cultures and races on campus have given me the chance to meet people from all over the world. Where else can you get that but on campus? We do not stop and think sometimes of why some refugees have come to Maine. Mostly it is because of a war that has torn them from their homes. For some it is being persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Do not be afraid to reach out and help another student just because they may be different. They truly are having the same struggles we all have when it comes to academia!

The Beacon On Campus section will

be highlighting students and events in the future. This is where your event news is shared. If you don’t send it we can’t cover it. We print every two weeks so it would be great to get the events in for me to cover, so it can be seen and heard! This section will cover what is going on and who is doing what in future articles.

I am excited to hopefully write about some of my friends and their body art. I personally am not inked, (thinking about one) but I have seen some beautiful artwork on some very inspiring people. If you do not mind me photographing your art and would like to be featured, my contact information is donnamchapman@student.

smccme.edu

Southern Maine Community College has it’s advantages, enjoy some events while you are here, I attended the Welcome Back BBQ and it was nice to see so many out and about.

The brave souls who dared to take the 8 second ride on the mechanical bull, the rock wall for those who don’t mind the heights, and the free food is always a plus. Glad we had such beautiful weather to enjoy it all. I was a little disappointed I did not get to see our new mascot Seawolve!! I think it is great that we have

a mascot. What are college sports without a mascot? I have to take in some sporting event I also want to see if we have a college cheerleading team? I am willing to take in a game, and see just how much college spirit we have here on the campus at SMCC!

We do have some Champions on campus, I do not just mean our sporting champions, SMCC has one of the best nursing programs in the state, we have an awesome communications dept. and rumor has it one Professor has made a few movies and is currently working or wrapping one up or has wrapped filming. There have been Open Mike Nights, hopefully that is going to continue and we have has Comedy Nights.

We have a great resource in the Library and Learning Commons that can borrow books from surrounding colleges. So much more, will keep you informed.

As you see there is a lot going on here at SMCC campus. While you are working for your degree, make sure you make time for yourself and add some fun, because college is stressful and we want you to be successful in getting your degrees, so reach out and see what SMCC has to help you achieve success!

Midcoast Campus Kicks off First Annual Back to School Festival Building a new campus and starting new traditions is not without its challenges. For a full year now, the Midcoast Club has taken the role of planning the majority of student activities. On a campus with such small numbers, (five hundred as of this semester with the goal of reaching 2,000 students), and no live-in students, coming up with events that can draw students away from their daily hustle to a planned event can be difficult. But club members seem to have found a good recipe—BBQ. By Daniel E. Gagne

The PTK Update Welcome to another great By semester at SMCC! As the Angelina Smith V.P. of Communications for Phi Theta Kappa this year, I’d like to take a moment and explain what PTK is all about.

Phi Theta Kappa is the National Honor Society for community colleges, and is a great way to get recognized for your hard work and achievements.

If you’re a student with a GPA of at least 3.5, you may receive an invitation to join Phi Theta Kappa’s Southern Maine Community College Chapter, Alpha Chi Nu. Invitations to eligible students will be sent by email and snail mail around the 20th of September, don’t miss your chance at exclusive scholarships and amazing opportunities for leadership, community involvement, and tons of fun!

As an active member of our PTK Chapter, your participation in Phi Theta Kappa is also an excellent way to bolster your resume. There are many ways to be involved and hone your professional and scholastic skills, so be sure to join!

Alpha Chi Nu is also excited to welcome its new Chapter Officers and Faculty Advisors to their positions in the Phi Theta Kappa family: Leanna Shields, Chapter President Jason Glynn, V.P. of Leadership Mary Jo Sellick, V.P. of Fellowship Angelina Smith, V.P. of Communications Aizhana Myrzatayeva, V.P. of Scholarship Dianna Young, Chairman of Chapter Advancement Committee Dawn Smith, Officer at Large Shane Long, Advisor David Stankiewick, Advisor

We are looking forward to an awesome

For the second time, Fiona’s of Bath has come to Brunswick to cater the event with a portable grill, serving bbq chicken, hot dogs, vegetarian beans, macaroni garden salads, and veggie burgers. Students flocked at noon to get their fill of food in between and even during classes. President Cantor, Shane Long, and Joan Cohan from the SMCC Foundation came up from South Portland to see how the club and campus are meeting these challenges. President Cantor reflected upon the days BBQ and activities by enthusiastically stating, “It’s great to see such strong community developing

academic year and are deeply thankful for the support and dedication of our Officer team! Your pursuit of excellence is truly reflective of our PTK Hallmarks: Leadership, Fellowship, Scholarship, and Service. More Officer positions are currently available.

Please contact Leanna Shields at leannadshields@student.smccme.edu for more information.

Student life can be a huge challenge for many individuals. As part of a major Phi Theta Kappa project called Honors in Action, we’re extremely pleased to announce the development of a Food Pantry on the South Portland SMCC campus! The Food Pantry will be located in the Captain’s House on Fort Road. Donations of non-perishables are warmly welcomed and can be dropped off at the CeSIL (Center for Student Involvement and Leadership) Office located in the Campus Center. The Pantry is slated to open in mid-October, and will have its own entrance into the Captain’s House for the privacy and convenience of students. We are also looking for several volunteers to assist in managing and organizing the Pantry on a daily basis.

Want to stay up-to-date on Alpha Chi Nu activities and future plans? ‘Like’ us on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/alpha.chi.nu. The Phi Theta Kappa organization also has their own Facebook page, be sure to check it out! There will also be information sessions held regarding PTK, keep checking your student email for updates. Regular meetings are held every Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. All members regardless of member status or level of participation are welcome to attend.

Contact a Chapter Officer or Advisor to learn more.

on our Midcoast campus. I enjoyed chatting with dozens of students at the barbecue and it’s clear that everyone appreciates our growing campus and its importance to the region. We look forward to more students in more classes in more buildings soon.

Activities that complimented the BBQ included a ladder ball tournament, disc golf hole-in-one scotch doubles tournament, and The Hunger Games that played in the new Hannaford Auditorium. The Gaming Club is also provided some tabletop games. The Midcoast Club is looking for new members, and is planning on starting a disc golf club

and have already purchased three new disc baskets and a few disc. The hope this is to turn this into a calling card for our campus by having them available to all students while working on finding them a permanent home on and around the campus by working with the Brunswick Rec Department, who will soon be moving onto the base. Future events that are in the planning stages include a Halloween bash, and a mid-term festival. For more information contact Daniel E. Gagne at, danielegagne@ student.smccme.edu or Nancy Collins, the clubs adviser at ncollins@smccme.edu

A Portrait of the Artist as a Smoker at a Smoking Hut

I’m going to assume that all of you are aware of the changes that have occurred throughout the campus, at least in regards to cosmetics. The long, paved, sweltering road that brings the peninsula to the beautiful halting position of the campus is now in the midst of reconstruction; this may bring long delays stuck in traffic, leaving a student to listen to the radio, check their cellphones . . . or smoke.

It wouldn’t take long to notice the cosmetic changes that have come to fruition in regards to smokers. A hut, a “smoking hut” or “designated smoking area,” as they are sometimes called, are the latest implement in a crackdown on stray cigarette butts and an overall theme to the school as one where the students don’t whimsically stroll about blowing smoke every which way.

The architecture of the huts, are, as one would expect, quite archaic. There are no walls, no pull-out couches, no Maxim magazines, nothing. A few rocks sprinkle as Stonehenge sofas at the smoking hut across from the Campus Center. That’s about it.

When the dead of winter rears its buffooning head to enforce a next coming season, the smokers will be conned into wondering how big of a drag they actually did take, which could lead to further health problems, because the smokers could run out of oxygen to an extent they are not familiar with yet, even with their “nasty habits.”

What ever happened to the phenomenon, the ancient practice of hurrying to class or meeting sucking down a cigarette on the way, your nerves shot to the sky, that little flickering ash your freeway to By Patrick Doyle

the freedom of doing something that you wish to do, where you want to do it? Call me embittered, a smoker no less, and I will say that I think the smoking huts victimize us smokers, an emblazoned confirmation that we make a decision that is deemed “wrong” or “unhealthy,” that needs to be put out for people to see. For such an unhealthy practice, I would say it’s a tad, hm, I’d say a tad counterproductive to have a smog of smoke more or less stay within one area, especially within eye shot of the sports field.

Am I advocating smoking? Sure. I’ll go for that. Well, no, I won’t go for that.

Where am I going with this? I like smoking.

It feels “right,” it feels like something that should be coupled with a coffee. You can do an essay for a class thrice faster, or at least look quite dashing while you do it, if a pack of Marlboro is on the desk with you.

Remember that time (if you’re a smoker) when you asked someone for a lighter or spare cigarette, and it lead to even a vague acquaintance you could small talk with, maybe even a friend? Cigarettes are social.

We are social beings. Therefore, we should smoke. Well, at least when we’re young. It goes with the territory. Smoke for a while, then quit. I’m not telling you what to do!

Until the smoking huts come with an array of leisurely items, just like the non-smoking campus areas get, I will cease to be satisfied. I will be on my hands and knees when the smoking huts get smoking huts, who then get smoking huts. ‘Til then, I will probably be a cynical grump on the heels of “the tobacconist question.”

The Beacon September 17, 2013 • 3

TheOtherWorld Acting Out - A Column for the Activist in You Hello and welcome to a brand new column geared toward activism or acting out as the title suggests. My name is Clara Jones and I am a transfer student studying liberal arts at SMCC’s South Portland campus. My focus is on art, specifically photography. Aside from studying photography, I am an activist at heart. If I could choose three words to describe me most accurately, it would be, “save the planet.”

Yes, environment matters which brings me to this edition’s topic - Tar Sands.

As some of you may already know the Keystone XL pipeline carrying Tar Sand oil has been a heated topic of discussion for the past four or so years. Looking for approval from President Obama to expand the existing pipeline, TransCanada, owner of the pipeline still waits. While the pipeline has been approved in the southern segment, the northeast is lingering on new scientific results. According to a timeline published on a Tar Sand’s Action’s website http:// tarsandsaction.org, on September 7, 2012 “Nine Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South AfBy Clara Jones

rica and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, write to President Obama to reject the pipeline.”

Now it’s our turn to act out.

The pipeline wants to start pumping this same tar sand that has already had “12 spills in 1 year” (tarsandaction.org) through Maine, and even closer, in SMCC’s back-

yard where the ships come in.

Do you want this in your neighborhood? I know I don’t.

On safety, tarsandsaction.org reports, “A rupture in the Keystone XL pipeline could cause a BP style oil spill in America’s heartland, over the source of fresh drinking

Serving Life: Learning Compassion at Angola When you think of maximum-security life sentence inmates what comes to mind? Is it compassion, warmth, kindness, altruism? No, these aren’t the descripting words you would generally think of? Well, Serving Life tears the wall of judgment down and totally opens your heart to other human beings that you may have disregarded as violent offenders.

Serving Life is a documentary about the Louisiana state penitentiary at Angola, the countries largest maximum-security prison, with over 5,000 inmates. Most of the inmates in this prison are serving life sentences for murder or robbery. Louisiana has the 3-strike rule as well, so anyone that has committed 3 serious criminal offenses gets life in prison. The warden of this prison has created a Hospice program, as many inmates spent there last days inside those prison walls. He created the program as he believes even harden criminals deserve a safe, comfortable place to die. The hospice program is largely dependent on other inmate volunteers. The program was established by the warden with hopes that the hearts of the inmates who cared for the dying inmates would change.

Forrest Whitaker the executive producer of the documentary states, “We got to explore our incarcerated prisoners and what By Krista Krasnow-Kelley

occurs in their lives, and how they are able to search for redemption, and also to search for a deepening of their own compassion, which hopefully moves toward love.”

The documentary focus on 4 particular inmates and their relationships with each patient they’re assigned too. The inmates go through a 40-hour training, and have long class discussions about death, and learning how to be with another person in the dying stages. The documentary focuses on the inmates, as well as the human heart.

Can a human learn compassion? Can someone’s level of empathy change with the death of another person?

The documentary raises some serious questions about how these men got to the place they are. The documentary launches into backgrounds of each of the 4 featured inmates. Many of them grew up in broken families and committed their sentenced crimes very young. The documentary humanizes these men, it discusses their remorse, and deep longing to make right what they wronged.

This documentary discusses the importance of altruism in this world. Altruism is the absolute desire to help someone else with no expectations of anything in return. Studies have shown this is something as humans we all universally share, the desire to want to help someone at some point in our lives with nothing in return. When

Incongruent Disclaimers

by Ilana Welch

4 • The Beacon September 17, 2013

one of the hospice patients are in their last stages of life the hospice program makes sure there is an inmate there at all times, so they do not have to die alone. Serving Life just blows your heart wide open. It teaches us that everyone can have compassion for another human life. It teaches us that ev-

water for 2 million people. NASA’s top climate scientist says that fully developing the tar sands in Canada would mean, “essentially game over” for the climate.”

Oh, did I mention the pipeline is right underneath Sebago Lake where we obtain our drinking water? Not good. but, don’t just take my word for it, do a little investigating yourselves, heck, “google it.” You will not like what you find more than likely.

Are you riled up enough to take action or act out yet? If so, I have a few suggestions. First, if you are an SMCC student you can join the newly formed student group, “Tar Sands Free SMCC” by reaching out to the group’s contact person, Brian Leonard.

Brian’s email address is: briansleonard@ smccme.edu

Second, if you are a South Portland resident and of voting age, the city will be holding a vote on November 5th to either approve or deny the transporting of tar sands oil through the city. Third, there are several online petitions in need of signatures to either support or oppose Keystone XL through the Nation, not just in our own backyard.

eryone, even the disregarded members of society, absolutely have the ability to love, as love is said to be the most powerful emotion to transform the heart.

Serving Life is available on Netflix, take the time to open your mind and have a new experience.

TheOtherWorld Water is fluid, soft, and yielding.

But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.

-Lao Tzu. The ocean is a giant liquid breath inhaling all my tension and exhaling the stagnant air into a recycled polished lesson. The sand is an adaptable consciousness, attaching itself to me and passing on stimuli of cold stone and it’s inner magnetic intelligence.

Have you ever walked with tension along the oceans lung? At first there is resistance as the water pulls you into itself, a false sense of loss as it’s decomposing troubles you cannot let go. Your fight will slowly be smoothed away, changing from a dangerous piece of glass to a smooth and reflecting piece of seaglass.

I go to the ocean when my thorns are peaking and thinking cannot prune them away. I go the ocean when I am bitter, as the ocean will become an enormous smiling face staring into me with unconditional love. I find myself on the oceans edge when I feel lost because it will tell me that simply living is always being on one’s path. The waves are humble and the life within them are unified and balanced.

By Rachael Ryan

Meditations On the Ocean and Forest

Trash and pollution will make its way to the ocean, at first anger and despair arises in me at its unwelcomed presence. Then I think, perhaps it is making its way to the ocean just as I am to dispose and recycle my indifference.

Perhaps the ocean seems like a victim to our consumption and carelessness but is

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness -John Muir. strong and will steadily transform the peoples ego represented in pollution and trash.

Perhaps the ocean is our mother and loves us unconditionally, letting us vent in our misunderstanding to be reunited and humbled with her after contemplation. Perhaps the ocean is us in a wise liquid form, surrendering to the laws of existence and paying us her ego, her bare child, a visit by kissing and washing our toes.

I go to the ocean to remember who society really is underneath the greed and defensiveness. I go to the ocean to remember.

Trees, these grand beams grounded within the heart of the earth, drinking its essence sprouting into leaves that love the sun. I plop down into the forest upon a patch of moss. An echo, powerfully silent

and persistent is swirling around and above the trees. It is traveling in a circle mimicking the earth rotating on its axis.

The ocean is brilliant in it’s relentlessness to my sorrow, yet the forest takes on another approach. The forest completes this sort of commune with me. I recognize the ocean as pure feeling and transformation, healing destruction. I recognize the forest as a person, with the same nature as humankind, skilled and talented in its means to survive.

The forest poses questions and difficulties to build upon my character and sharpen my mind. It will nurture you when you have failed and give you the strength to find the root of stumble. The forest represents our duty to others, to ourselves and to the earth. The ocean does not think in terms of duty, it is too encompassing and ethereal in its ways, it is here to revive us when duty becomes confused and direction is doubted.

Sometimes after a visit to the ocean I don’t know how to apply the powerful remembrance to functioning in the world.

I’m at a loss to act. That is when the forest is needed, it teaches us how to take that experience and apply it to work and sustaining a meaningful life. The ocean is to remember, to rejoice with our mothers and the forest is our blueprint to living and flourishing.

SMCC Veterans Club The Science Watchroom

Global Warming There are few things cerBy Jason Glynn tain in this world, among them: taxes, death, evolution, and there is enough empirical evidence to add global warming to that list. Whether it is a natural cycle or rapidly exacerbated by man is the center of much debate, but one thing is certain, the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere is rising.

Shortly after many of our students reached a milestone known as graduation last May, our Earth reached a much less awesome milestone of its own, the oldest continuous carbon dioxide detectors located on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii have, for the first time, climbed over 400ppm (parts per million).

Okay, calm down, and no, the world is not going to end tomorrow, but this is nevertheless a bad milestone to reach.

Scientists say it has been 800,000 years since levels have been this high, and they are growing at an exponential rate. They were estimated to be at about 280ppm during pre-industrial times, and we have seen a big increase in the 21st century here alone. From 2000-2009 it was growing at about 2ppm per year, and seeing as though it was at 389ppm in 2009, it is now growing at about 4ppm per year with no signs of letting up.

However, at the moment those levels have receded, as it does every year. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere peaks in May, there are more plants in the northern hemisphere that become more active in the summer months, and if you may remember, plants eat carbon and respire that other, very much needed molecule: oxygen. Also other factors such as more industry and population in the northern hemisphere lead to increased fossil fuel consumption in the winter months which therefore leads to more CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.

So what is the hoorah about if the ppm count is now back under 400? Unfortunately

on a yearly basis we pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than is extracted out, which leads to our yearly net increase. This is obviously unsustainable and poses some great problems. Problems that we woefully neglect to confront even though we now know it is a real problem. All that carbon dioxide, along with other so-called greenhouse gases, such as methane, CFCs, and------ all give the atmosphere a greenhouse effect, by effectively trapping that infrared heat that is given off when visible light shines on something. A good analogy to this would be your car and how it gets super-hot when you leave the windows up, or perhaps think of how a greenhouse works, hence the greenhouse gases name.

As the concentrations rise so does the resultant temperature and we’ve been breaking heat records nearly every year. When that happens it leads to a whole slew of other issues, such as more frequent and ferocious storms, and the glaciers way up north begin to melt. Which they are at an alarming rate, and when that happens the water must go somewhere. So ocean and sea levels begin to rise, and that is a problem for places like Florida, New York, and nice community college campuses that happen to be a stones’-throw from the ocean...have any places like that in mind?

It also throws our whole ecological systems into flux; plants, animals, and venomous things that were once only a problem down South begin to creep north as the region suddenly becomes habitable to them. And the things that already inhabit an area may find themselves’ extinct or outcompeted for resources. Not only do ocean levels increase, the ocean temperature rises and we get more of those warm-water Great White sharks up here. So what do we do?

To sum it up, we need to live like there is no planet B, and start taking care of this one as it is the only one we have.

Want to join the program of the year? Membership is open to all Veteran & Non-Veteran students, faculty and staff.

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Meetings will be held on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of every month from 12:30-1:30pm 2nd Annual Veterans Week, November 4th-8th For more info email: smccmevetclub@gmail.com

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The Beacon September 17, 2013 • 5

OpEd From My Humble Point of View By Micheal Micklon Introductions are always akward for me, so I am going to do my best. Hello, my name is Michael and I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day for reading my column, and I hope that I can keep your interest so that you will follow me on a regular basis.

Being able to write in the Opinion and Editorial section is a privelage and my goal is to engage the readers of the Beacon and hopefully create a forum for some insightful conversations.

As for my political background, I was first a Democrat while serving in the military and while going to college the first time around. Somehow I ended up living in Mystic, Ct in a very conserviative community and started to see things from a different aspect and slowly jumped the fence and become a liberal Republican.

In 2000 I moved back to Maine and then slowly transitioned back to be a reformed Democrat. At this moment I tend to identify with being more of an Independent/ Libertarian.

I am very excited to see that The Beacon has addopted Amnesty International.

Amnesty International is an organization that we don’t hear that much about. Now more than ever is a time that we need organizations like Amnesty International. Most people think that the issues to focus on are in countries like India, China, and other countries that are far away from us. As I write in future editions I will show how as a country, The United States of America is just as guilty as any other country in the world.

As we speak, Syria is the real hot

topic. I am not sure how I feel about what we are going to do as a country or what we should be doing. What bothers me the most about Syria is that I first came aware of it three years ago while traveling to Boston on a regular basis. Every Saturday there would be a group of Syrian nationals protesting in Coply Square with pictures and literature about what the government was doing to their people.

Most people don’t realize that Syria is a key player when it comes to foreign oil.

Syria is bordered by Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. I think part of the U.S. interest in Syria is due to the proximity of these countries in keeping the oil supply to the westen nations flowing while keeping the major oil producers happy.

Are we entering into another Iraq situation?

It is hard for me to support a military action against Syria without the support of the United Nations. I do think that we need to provide as much humanitarian support as necessary. As I am not a religious person, but it was very encouraging for the Pope Francis to come out and speak against a military strike and seeking other methods to resolve the conflict.

I think the key to resolving some of these issues is to take the back seat. One of my co-workers made the observation that what is going on is very similar to what bullies do. The way he put it was that the Syrian government is bulliying their citizens and now the U.S. is coming in and trying to bully other nations into doing what we feel is the right thing. Unfortunately what we may think, may or may not be the best way to approach things.

Instead of looking at things for the United States point of view, we need to look at it more as a global view. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own Christian based culture we forget about other beliefs and

cultures in the Middle East.

We are very fortunate to have a campus filled with a wide variety of cultures and the more we can understand of cultures that we have not been exposed to, the more we can get a better view of what is really going on in the world.

I want to encourage the readers of

this article to respond with opinions and comments on what I am writing, so that we can learn from each other. I am going to appologize now if I offend anyone with my writing, that is not my intention here.

I hope that this is a good starting point for my article and I hope to hear from anyone and everyone.

Lets Rethink This: The Cost of a College Education A college degree has become the new high school diploma. It is essentially required for many of jobs. This is a proposition that is a double edge sword.

It insures that the workforce is highly educated for more skilled jobs. On the other side though it has created a culture of insurmountable debt that many have to live with upon completion of their education. This becomes a problem at a personal and family level, but also on a national economic level.

Recently the total student loan debt in this country has raised higher then the total credit card debt. According to CBS News it now stands at 1.2 trillion dollars.

While people are trying to position themselves to have a better life down the road they are at the same time handicapping their potential to be economic drivers.

Without this burden the US economy would be unquestioned in its status as the apex powerhouse around the world.

Massive reforms need to be made.

The system of constant rising tuitions and choking debt for graduates cannot continue. There will not be one magic wave of the wand to fix it. Everyone involved needs to change. The government has made great strides but still has a long By Rik Sawyer

way to go. Institutions need to overhaul how they view tuition and their greater standing in the world. Most schools simply cannot be everything to everyone and they shouldn’t try. Most importantly, the student must change.

Students need to understand what they are getting into. They need to have a plan to have an idea of the potential of what they’ll make afterwards. Ask, “Is my future profession going to be worth the cost of schooling, or what I plan on borrowing for school.”

Students also need to understand they will most likely not be making their industries average income out of the gate.

And most importantly, students must know that there are limits. There is max amount someone can receive for both Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. The loans have solid limits, but the Pell grant has a formula that changes the amount for each individual.

While students’ being smart about their debt is important, it is just as important that the system they are entering into considers this as well. Higher institutions need to end burdensome tuitions. Since a college degree is now essential to get almost any good job, it should not have to be a bargain with devil.

From the Managing Editor’s Desk Welcome back everyone!! It is with great excitement that I introduce myself to you a this semester’s Managing Editor of the Beacon. As it is with many of our fellow students here at SMCC, I wear many hats as I also write the Science WatchRoom column that you will find in The Other World section of the paper.

This is going to be an exciting year for us at the Beacon and here is why. The one thing I am pretty stoked about is that the Beacon now has an actual and official, office!!! We have moved our operations out of the cramped CeSiL office, from using email to communicate with each other, and are making our home on the second floor, ocean side, of the Captain’s House. Having By Jason Glynn

REFUND SALE AT THE SMCC COLLEGE STORE!!!

9/27/2013-10/4/2013 10-25% off ALL clothing and gift items, including our new shipment of CHAMPION SWEATSHIRTS 6 • The Beacon September 17, 2013

dedicated offices presents a wonderful opportunity for the staff of the Beacon to work together as a collective unit.

The offices consist of 2 rooms, one for general staff meetings, whether they are writers, layout, illustrators, or photographer meetings, The layout crew will be working extensively there fine tuning the Beacon look. There is also an office for our faculty advisers, Chuck Ott and Rachel Guthrie. Both who are more than willing to open their office up for the section editors, layout crew and Beacon staff to meet in.

The paper is also growing in terms of contributions, distribution and media. Last spring we reached out to our fellow Maine State Community Colleges via Tiffany Bentley in an effort to make the Beacon available to their students to read as well as to contribute to. Of the 6 sister schools, Northern and Eastern Maine Community Colleges are open to having the Beacon sent to them as an interactive PDF.

What a great opportunity to have your voices reach a greater population of Maine community college students as well as, opening up the Beacon to these students in an effort to share their voices and visions with all involved.

This brings me to the next announcement: new online formats!!! We are excited to inform you that gone are the days of anxiously awaiting the distribution of the paper every two weeks. The Beacon will be distributed as an interactive PDF with live links, slideshows, videos and extended written content. We also are working on a web-based version; this is where you will find the contributions from the Northern and Eastern Maine Community College campuses as well as an interactive PDF!!

And last but most certainly not least, we are extremely excited about the SMCC

The Captain’s House Beacon Staff photo Beacon YouTube channel. It was started last fall semester and currently has three videos in stock. A 1 part Angus King interview and a 2 part Cynthia Dill interview when they were running for the US Senate.

Obviously the channel needs more content and is more than happy to work with any and all SMCC students who are interested in working with the Beacon on this.

Also in the works is a new venture for the Beacon: The Beacon Talks series!!!! Conceived of as a Ted Talks style lecture series, the concept is to invite SMCC community members, students, staff and faculty as well as community members from the Portland area to share their visions.

See, isn’t this exciting and awesome stuff! Times are a changing, and it’s time we get better acquainted with this new-fangled technology stuff and make the Beacon the best college newspaper experience it can be..

And for those of you just panicked

there, alas, have no fear, you will still be able to anxiously await the bi-weekly distribution of our aspiring to be award-winning, and internationally acclaimed (that least in Austin, TX and Minsk, Belarus), printed Beacon.

As always, we are continuously looking for excited students like you that want to get involved with the paper. It provides some excellent experience if you are looking to get into the field of journalism, as well as certainly spiffing up your resume for a career, scholarships, or transfer purposes. Speaking of scholarships, the Beacon is currently ironing out the wrinkles with the SMCC Foundation in order to award deserving Beacon staff members.

Lastly, the Beacon would love to hear from you, the SMCC student population.

Please do check out our other venues and provide some feedback as to how we’re doing. We look forward to hearing from you.

I decided to do my essay By Ryan Pearson on free will, and I am going to pull from a very personal experience that I don’t share with others too often to support this choice. To me, “free will” is not only an undeniable, unassailable, God given right, of every human being. But it is also a state of mind and a state of being that one must possess in order to be truly free. What I mean is that if you do not genuinely believe that you are free and strong enough to make your own choices in life, then your will becomes subjected to others’ wills that may be stronger than your own.

I came out of the closet, to my parents, 11 years ago, and this is where my story/ experience of deterministic forces starts to take over my “free will.” After my coming out, my father was furious and kicked me out of the home I grew up in. My father is a minister, and a very religious man, and I am his only son. So, it was with a very heavy heart and an intense feeling of being utterly alone and unlovable that I moved to Portland. I rented my first apartment and took a job waiting tables at a new restaurant. I started making friends, and I found my first boyfriend, but little did I know how my life was going to drastically change, and not for the better.

At first, things with my boyfriend were good. He was older (which I equated with maturity), and he was very nice and told me he loved me for the first few months. It was after he moved in with me

SMCC that I saw how wrong I was about him, but it quickly became too late to do anything about it. That is when the manipulation and abuse, both verbal and physical started. That was also when drugs, both cocaine and crack, were introduced to my life.

It’s no excuse, but I was truly lost, I was depressed, and I felt like this was the life I deserved because I was gay. My father told me I was condemned to a life of hell and misery, and I just figured that he was right and that because I chose to live my life as a gay man, that this was how things were supposed to be. So, I immersed myself in the drugs to numb myself from the pain of the abuse, and of being constantly cheated on, demoralized, and stolen from.

After a year of being addicted to drugs and suffering in this horrible relationship, one of my wonderful sisters reached out to me and we met for coffee. She took one look at me and knew something was very wrong, so I confided in her everything that was going on. She consoled me and told me she loved me no matter what, and that I deserved better than this. Shortly after rekindling a relationship with my sister, my boyfriend stole every last cent I had from my bank account and bought drugs with it, and this wound him up in jail. Because of this, my rent check ended up bouncing and I got evicted from my apt. I was about to become homeless, but my sister took me into her home instead. It was through her love and her support that I finally found myself again and found my will.

ART

I finally realized I was free, free of my horrible relationship, and free from ber of there are a num having access to drugs I never wanted to be addicted to in ts, events, exciting projec the first place. I knew taking anned for the drugs to cope with my nd activities pl a life was wrong, but I chose ar. the upcoming ye to do it anyway. I made some very poor decisions, but the ay, 12:15 in experiences of that year, made Every Thursd m se classroo me a stronger person without the lighthou m) oo y classr even realizing it. After the drugs (art histor worked their way out of my sysston, Sunday tem, I made the choice to never Trips to Bo g sessions, again allow my “free will” to be life drawin l exquisite taken from me, not by a signifiinternationa a screent, ec cant other, or any other person corpse proj ge, & more! in my life for that matter, or by print exchan any drug or life circumstance.

I have been clean and sober for over 9 years and haven’t touched any drugs since. I was in therapy for years after all this, working on rebuildGod given right of every human being, ing my confidence and learning to accept but it’s also a very important state of the good person I knew myself to be. mind, because if you, like me, are in a

I will never again take for granted my very bad mental place, not truly believing right and ability to make my own choices. you are free, then your will will never be I will never again allow anyone to tear me your own. I overcame my circumstances down so much, mentally or emotionally, (deterministic forces), and I found my that I lose sight of who I am and that only I will, and my will has since been mine and have the right and ability to choose what is mine alone. Free will does exist. It is a right for myself and my life. It took a long viable thing. It is there inside each of us. time to believe that I deserve to be HAPPY! We just have to believe and trust in it and

So, it is because of this experience that ourselves.

I view “free will” not only as a natural,

meets

Free Will

CLUB

OpEd

From This Side of the Syrian Debate From the people who By A.S. Kinsman brought you the fantasy about the despicable video that caused the Benghazi massacre and who use the IRS as a weapon to go after their political enemies, the ones who chip away at our first, second, and fourth amendment rights, only to turn around and trumpet their right to hide behind the fifth amendment…

The latest to come out of the Obama Administration?

Just a little slap at Syria.

This week the Obama Administration seeks Congressional approval to strike Syria. The narrative: “We go in for just a couple of days, do a quick military slap, no intention of regime change, and then call it a day. We’ll show them!”

Mr. President, why for two years did the United States and the rest of the world stand silent as the civil war unfolded in Syria?

There have now been over 100,000 casualties. Women and children included, victims of bombings, shootings, missile attacks, executions, dismemberment and decapitation. And now, 1,400 of over 100,000, just 1.4% of the total dead, are believed to be victims of chemical weapons. NOW we need to engage in a dust up with Syria and anger their allies, Russia and Iran?

Mr. President, why is killing one way more heinous and more worthy of our response than another?

And why now?

And your reason?

Oh, here it is: “I didn’t set a red line.

The world set a red line. Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty. My credibility is not on the line. The International Community’s credibility is on the line.”

Obama quote, September 4th, 2013.

That’s just not true. It’s another one of your false narratives.

“A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons being moved around or utilized.” Obama quote August 20th, 2012.

A lie is a lie is a lie. You said it, the world heard it, and the world heard you say it. Syria heard you say it. And they gave you no mind, and they did it anyway.

And by the way, if you didn’t draw a red line, then why are we going in?

Mr. President, in the past when America was respected and feared, no one would even dare think of crossing an American President’s red line. No one respects us. No one fears us. YOU’VE done this to us.

But I gotta give you one, YOUR credibility is NOT on the line. With all due respect, Mr. President, you have no credibility. To be credible, one must be clear and constant. Your actions must be swift and certain. You lost that credibility when you left Americans on that rooftop in Benghazi, but fired up Air Force One to go to your Las Vegas fundraiser. That was a clear signal to the world that it’s open season on Americans, even including an ambassador.

Didn’t you get elected as an anti-war President?

Also, that Nobel Peace Prize you won?

GIVE IT BACK!

You Said What!?

Illustration by Michael Cote

Syria: To Intervene or Not Around the world a great debate has begun that can potentially create a precedent that will set policy around the globe for generations to come. By the time this is published, this topic may already be already decided, but that does not make the topic of conversation any less potent or unimportant. At the heart of the debate is the fact the Syrian Army has been accused of using Saran gas that killed innocent men, women and children. This is in opposition to a global ban on such weapons of mass destruction. What do we do next?

We are a war weary nation. An entire generation is growing up now that has never known anything but our nation at war. For others it has been their entire adulthood. We have lost so much in the last twelve years and counting. Now we By Rik Sawyer

are once again being asked to commit ourselves to another conflict, even while this country’s longest war continues on.

This is a lot to ask of us. Too much money and far more more important, too many lives have been lost. We have simply been at war for far too long, but this is a fight we must throw our hat into.

We are at the doorstep of history.

Right now, the United States is about to decide where it stands in the international community. We are also deciding the consequences of tyrants who decide to murder their own people. Not just now, but also in the future. Are we simply going to pull back into a more isolationist state or do what is right? There has been a bold line drawn by the world community and it has been there for a very long time.

Al-Assad crossed that line. There must be

a consequence.

Many are worried about being apart of a civil war we should not be in. These arguments are not unwarranted, if that was the case, then the answer would simply be no. Of course it is not that simple though. As the politician’s talk and nothing is done Al-Assad will be able to repeat his crimes with bigger and bolder actions. If nothing is done he will gas his own people. He must be stopped.

This action is not exactly what the US wants, but it must be done. We can no longer afford to have a policy of talk and, but no action. We have seen the consequences far too many times before from this.

Regardless of people’s thoughts on what we have done for the pass decade, there needs to be a line in the sand that says this will not be tolerated anymore. Right now that line has been crossed.

The Beacon September 17, 2013 • 7

Arts&Features

commuter & campus parking info

SMCC GO 8 • The Beacon September 17, 2013

Arts&Features Poetic Justice

It’s good to be back again. Another summer is over and the daily heat and light are being vacuumed as this is typed, leaning the season into another fall.

And another semester! Another goaround of academic progress. I can see it now! The huddled congregations of cagedin smokers, tiredly standing around the shrines of their unhealthy choices (I am a smoker) while students hurdle themselves By Patrick Doyle

in varying directions over the campus; food & drink are prepared to nourish the hearts & minds of the student body. Here we go again! Hoo-ray!

These poems were written over the summer. Summer is a sentimental season where a lot of peepers, birds and tourists fill the sphere of existence here and elsewhere.

Sometimes you walk in a field or a trail and a V of geese go overhead and you forget about the things in life that are less promising. I think these poems reflect that feeling.

BBQ BEHOLD! The rare and elusive Mechanical Bull, caught & tamed from the grazing capital of the Midwest, a savage beast of which brings facilitated mechanized humor and daring acrobatic performance to the outdoor BBQ ‘welcome back’ extravaganza of SMCC. The rock wall, another excavated treat, was can-opened from one of the most precious rock formations in the gloomy Puritanical party of the Northeast, The towering mass of Mt. Washington!

Students testing their wits and skills to muffled criticisms and championing cheers from a deadly 15 ft. below!

An alpaca was accidentally turned loose from a bread truck and ate a student before the event was out. Three other students were injured before the alpaca was muffed by a member of our faculty.

SMCC has yet to comment on the tragic events.

Could this be a preceding, atavistic vision of what is to come when you sacrifice the natural splendor of the Mechanical Bull, a stunning Davey Crockett impersonator of burgers & slaw while the sun judges no one high above? Maybe, no one is sure yet.

The comments collected were garbled with bunny burgers, so there is no testament to how the BBQ went over besides that tummies were filled and action stuck the course.

economic bewilderment #7,692,013

so it goes, the homeless of Monterey once owned most of the land or inherited it.

maybe they found more beauty and freedom in life hassling locals or asking for spare cigarettes.

Panhandling: The Reality of it, Captured in Real Life & Photos Some us have seen them By A.S. Kinsman only once. Others have seen them several times.

But most people have seen them multiple times a day, on every corner and at every yield or stop sign. No one has not seen them. They’re everywhere.

And it’s a depressing, eye-opening reflection of ourselves as a whole, as a society and a community.

Never before has our country seen such harrowing financial times. For the first time ever, the student debt loan exceeds the housing debt loan. The price of living has skyrocketing, but the paycheck we earn remain the same with no increase in wages. Gas prices exploded after the election of Obama and once hit over five dollar a gallon in San Diego, California.

Prices have lowered but remain steadily near $3.50 or higher - for just a single gallon of gas. Families have to choose whether or not to buy that extra bag of groceries or have an extra few gallons of gas. Unemployment rates are breaking records and remain at all-time highs, despite what Obama says. The truth of the matter is that times are hard. Especially when it comes to that bloodied currency: Money. We can’t get around it. In our society, we need money to have food, transportation, housing, clothing, health care, and an education.

People lose their homes. There aren’t any jobs. In places that have jobs, they can’t afford to hire more people due to cost.

It’s a grim sight, to see other human beings resort to panhandling. Portland,

Maine, has been a hotspot for this kind of desperate money-making. On my morning commute to SMCC, I pass at least five hungry, homeless, jobless ( often all three) people, holding cardboard signs with various messages, all with the same bleak call: “Help me.” A photo essay by Alex Pontti capturing the pain of being homeless and dependent upon the generosity of others are on display in the first floor hallway of Ross Technology.

With many of us in a similar situation, living from paycheck to paycheck, it seems hard, even impossible, to think of any way we can assuage their pain or ease their suffering, even just a little. We’ve all seen the TV shows (sometimes we’ve seen this in real life) where panhandlers accept your donations and spend it on drugs or alcohol, instead of food. It’s hard to drive by these broken people and feel like we are abandoning them, withdrawing a hand extended to a drowning person.

But there are scammers among the truly desperate, who only seek to make a profit from the goodness and generosity of others. So how can we sort out the liars from the honest? How can we help others who suffer like we do?

Donate to a food pantry. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Offer food if you have it on hand the next time a panhandler asks for food or help. Pray for them. Sometimes kind words can be the best balm.

Some of us could be there next. Remember that they are people just like us, and sometimes we all need a helping hand.

made in the USA

this poem is a trash bag filled with mewing kittens on the side of the road.

a transient of poetic justice may stumble upon it but by then the damage will be done and too late to save.

imagine the 747 symphony of being inside a moving trash bag, nevermind being hauled to abandonment.

“Help Me” Photos by Alex Pontii

The Beacon September 17, 2013 • 9

Arts&Features Campus Community Garden Right after the spring By Green Thumb semester ended one of those annoying en masse “all students” emails went out, and this time instead of just passing over it I opened it to have a read; and boy was I ever glad that I did. I was astonished and excited all at the same time to see that SMCC was offering a FREE sustainable gardening course.

And seriously, who doesn’t like to learn, and score a bunch of free veggies. I was only taking two summer classes so I jumped at this opportunity.

Our resident green thumb, Chomba Kaluba, was to be the instructor, and coming from Zambia he brought some ingenuity and knowledge that many of us didn’t possess. They ended up putting the gardens in a perfect spot, right behind the Culinary Arts building on the top of the hill overlooking the ocean. Facilities made us 20 sweet beds, and protected them all from those pesky groundhogs with a nice fence. Altogether about 11 students took advantage of the free class, and for those of us who did, it meant that we each got our very own bed!! The rest of the beds were given out to staff.

We had our soil tested and were told we were able to grow anything we wanted, providing it was legal, of course. I like my salads, so in mine I planted kale, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, and a couple golden zucchini plants for good measure.

Others in the community planted everything under the sun, and yes that pun was intended. We grew corn, herbs, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupes, strawberries, sunflowers, and a plethora of peppers just to name a few.

We met every Friday, with Chomba arranging for guest speakers to come and share some knowledge. It wasn’t long before my dog became our unofficial mascot.

We even took a trip out to Long Island, Maine, to check out Katherine’s Gardens and learn about lasagna gardening.

Being a community garden we developed a strong sense of community, we would water each other’s beds when they looked dry, and it wasn’t too long before we were picking up each other’s over grown tomato plants. Shortly we will all be getting together to partake in a potluck bash, and it is sure to be tasty.

All in all it was an excellent experience, and I will remember it fondly for years to come. There is something very intrinsically rewarding, aside from the extrinsically rewarding deliciousness of it all, about literally reaping what you’ve sown. SMCC will be looking at offering this awesome course again, so it is well worth the while to keep checking those “all students” emails. To view a slideshow of the beautiful gardens, make sure to check out either our online version, or the interactive pdf.

Movie Reviews Riddick (2013)

Vin Diesel returns as Richard B. Riddick in the third installment of The Riddick Chronicles, appropriately titled Riddick. Riddick, left for dead on a barren planet, must make his way across the desert if he wishes to survive. Accompanied by an unexpected companion, he finds himself confronted by his past in the form of two disparate groups of bounty hunters. As a new, more dangerous enemy appears, he must join forces with his would-be pursuers in order to live to see another day. The film, directed by David Twohy, stars Vin Diesel, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, and Jordi Mollà, and is a Universal Pictures release.

Honestly, whether you enjoy action, adventure, excessive carnage, or cheeseball science fiction, this movie as bit of something for everyone. Less of a triumph of thoughtful science fiction, this film is more a delicious blend of Conan the Barbarian and 300.

Though this is, on paper, an unusual blend of film flavors, Riddick knows exactly what it is, gleaming eyes, sweaty, bulging muscles and all, and gives you exactly that.

In a lot of ways, this third installment is less of a continuation of the second film, and more of a sequel to Pitch Black, complete with the bounty hunters and rabid monsters.

Though the film had a slow start, it kept things interesting enough with Diesel’s performance, and the visually stunning CGI. With a mix of comedic moments, popular film tropes, and a smorBy Sabra Schirm

PRO ACTIVE ADVICE WITH TIFFANY CROCKETT Dear Tiffany, I was wondering if you help me get revenge on C***h Airlines after what they did to me this summer. I traveled to Eastern Europe for 19 days. After being in M***k for 4 days the airlines called my host family and told them my flight back to P****e was cancelled. In reality they sold our seats out from under me and my travel partner.

Anyhow, what they did set off a series of calamities in terms of being bumped from flights and catching flights. It was like they never heard of costumer service, and were more interested in winning the rudest airline costumer service employee of the year award. I was wondering if you had any advice about how to get back at therm.

-Conniving Chuck

Dear Conniving Chuck, Sorry to hear your trip ended bitterly. I actually have a few things you could do to “get back” at them!

1.You could send elephant dung to the airline (not specifically sure how you would do this). It is absolutely anonymous and here is a great website you can use: http:// www.poopsenders.com/ . Not too serious of a revenge but definitely will ruin someone’s day, or possibly be just the thing they’ve been waiting for.

2. Not use that airline anymore!

3. Start a facebook protest on the airline’s page.

4. Call customer service of the airline and keep asking to speak to the manager (possibly even more higher up). Be very dramatic and tell them in details the frustration and

10 • The Beacon September 17, 2013

hardship you endured. Don’t give up! If they are at all reputable they should indeed give you free tickets to somewhere or some sort of compensation. Resource: A travel agent that has worked in the business for several years.

Dear Tiffany,

What do you do when your Mom disappoints you over and over again? Since I was 5 she has gone back and forth with my cold hearted step father. Recently she promised me up and down that this was it, she was finally going to live her own life without him. That this was the cherry on top of the sundae, the last straw, after he rejected his gay son that recently came out of the closet.

But much to my surprise (honestly should have seen it coming) just the other day she decided to take back her promise. It is such an insult to all of my brothers and sisters, yet she says she is staying with him for the “family” and that she is too comfortable. He has always been distant and honestly quite awful to all of us (I could go on and on with examples but won’t).

It hurts a lot and I find myself becoming very angry thinking about it. Any advice on how I should handle this without imploding?

-Hurting Hillary Dear Hillary, First off I would like to say that this must be very hard for you, especially considering it is your mom that is letting you down. Growing up we naturally look to our parents for strength and to have God like reasoning accompanied with super powers, but alas we are all messed up and imperfect humans at the end of the day.

I believe accepting that your mother is not ready to leave him would be the first step. It is very clear you love your

gasbord of bloody deaths, this film is an excellent successor to the feeling captured by its origin story.

Just like all science fiction geared towards and written by men, this script has moments of awkward or unusual treatment of its female characters. Thankfully, these moments are more minor stumbling blocks than wrecking balls in terms of the overall enjoyableness of the film—they’re unfortunate, but not unforgivable.

Even when the film falls into the treacherous waters of over-used genre tropes, it manages to whip out the floaties just in time to stay afloat, with the generous help of Diesel’s darkly humorous performance. Unlike with its predecessor, The Riddick Chronicles, this movie does not go out of its way to cover new grounds.

On the contrary, this is very much a film focused on revisiting the past, and in more ways than one. Fortunately, this call back to the origin story works here. With the bounty hunters and the monsters subplots coming back into play, too much additional plot could have made this film too ambitious, too confusing, or both. In the end, this movie manages to wade through the muddy waters of the film series’ earlier criticisms, and stumble onto its own two feet. Though it is not a grand champion, it’s still standing, and that’s good enough for me.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being Starship Troopers (hilariously terrible), and 10 being Stargate (deliciously enjoyable), I’d give this movie a hearty 7, for a job enthusiastically, if not well, done.

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mother deeply and care for her or else this wouldn’t be troubling you so. To make loving her easier I would perhaps speak to her and tell her, “Listen your choices are hurting me and I just want the best for you. None the less I will always love you either way and hope that at the end of the day you are truly happy with the choices you make.”

Sometimes it helps just to tell people exactly how you feel, without pointing your finger at them. It sounds like for your mom the fear of change is far greater than the fear of staying with him. I also would recommend maybe talking with a therapist for unresolved anger and hurt that resides.

Life is too short to carry those dark, heavy feelings. You can only do so much to influence others so it is best to make sure that YOU are ok with you. Resentment only breeds more resentment. Wishing you the best.

Dear Tiffany,

I walk a lot. And during these many walks I find myself spotting miscellaneous articles of clothing lying on the street or on the sidewalk. Sometimes I find underwear, pants, socks and shirts. Mainly it is underwear and pants that I find on my travels. Why????? Post Script - I live in Portland.

-Baffled Brian Dear Baffled Brian, Ah the mysteries of life... Perhaps we live in a city taken over at night by undercover nudists that can afford the luxury of dropping their pants wherever feels right? I honestly have no idea and have wondered the same thing many times.

SportsReport State of the Patriots: Out of the Gates like a…Square Wheel Guest Columnist After a summer that much resembled a Travis Flint sports training camp version of the Twilight Zone, (is it me, or does Bill Belicheck-yourself sound a bit like Rod Sterling?), I won’t even mention or go into the whole Hernandez thing, but then again there is, err was Tim Tebow to wonder about, the Patriot’s journeyed to Buffalo and escaped from Ralph Wilson Stadium with a win. Getting out of the starting gate like a car with one, maybe even more than one, square wheels.

Hey they won and that’s all that matters. Well almost, they lost Danny Amendola, the taller version of Wes Welker, for 2 to 6 weeks and Shane “No Relations to Ben” Vereen until the 11th week. All of which equals 2 non-usable functioning wheels.

But then again Rob Gronkowski “hopefully” will be back for week 3 when the Pats host the Buccaneers. But enough of the problematic areas of that thrilling 23-21 victory.

Here are some highlights: Tom Brady completing all six passes in the final drive, two of which were 3rd down conversions, including a “threading the needle” completion to Danny Amendola that landed the Pats on the Bills 39 yard line.

Shane Vereen running, or dancing his way for 15 yards on the next play.

Tom Terrific connecting with Julian Edelman for both touchdowns.

Kyle Arrington forcing 2 fumbles, both

of which lead to 2 touchdowns.

Stephen Gostkowski’s 3 field goals.

And this being the 36th time Tom Brady has led the Patriot’s to victory when tied of trailing in the 4th quarter.

Speaking of those square wheels, the ones that are on the Patriot’s car don’t even look 1/100th as bad as the ones on the Bills car especially considering that last procession. Let’s be honest, it was like hey, “here you go Tom, we’ll just go through the motions and maybe get a killer punt off, pinning you deep in your end of the field,” not.

Square wheels, how about Kenbrell Thompkins pulling in only 4 passes out of 14 attempts to connect with him. While the starting running back Stevan Ridley saw action for one stupendously inglorious play fumbling the ball after slipping at the line of scrimmage without a hand being laid upon him. But that helmet did look good atop his head for the rest of the game.

Now that is the proper way to handle a square wheel.

After that ugly win in Buffalo it’s safe to say the Patriot’s have less square wheels than the Bills. Which brings us to the next contest of who has the least square wheels: the Jets or the Pats.

There’s nothing like a few nights of incredibly stunning thunder and lightning storms rolling through New England to welcome the NY Jets and remove some of the square from those square wheels. Well,

SMCC Sports

game ended in a 0-0 tie after the double overtime period concluded.

August 31 at Dean College- The Lady Seawolves hung in this game for 101 scoreless minutes before losing to the Dean College Bulldogs in double overtime. Despite failing to generate much offence versus the Bulldogs, the Seawolves freshman goaltender, Sydney Proctor played fantastic.

Proctor only let in 1 goal on 19 shots.

(Contiuned From 12)

goal when EMCC scored on themselves.

September 7 – The match with Hampshire College ended poorly for the Seawolves as they fell 3. Scoring for the Seawolves was Kyle Stiefken who scored twice and was assisted by Dan Couverette.

The lose was SMCC’s first conference loss of the season.

September 4 at Bridgton Academy The Seawolves dropped to 1-1-0 versus Bridgton Academy in a 4-2 loss. Kyle Stiefken scored both Seawolves goals. Seawolves goaltender Josh McDuffie allowed 3 goals on 11 shots. McDuffie was relieved of his duties after 45 minutes of hardship in net by Dan Couverette, who only allowed 1 goal on 10 shots.

August 31 at Dean College- Despite giving up a goal in the first two minutes of their season opener, the Seawolves were able to capture a 2-1 double overtime victory over the Dean College Bulldogs. Michael Curtis and Nicolas Oram scored for the Seawolves, but the team was undoubtedly kept in the game by their goalkeeper, Josh McDuffie, who recorded 23 saves versus the Bulldogs.

McDuffies outstanding performance in the Seawolves season opener earned him the title of USCAA Goalie of the Week.

From The Women’s Pitch

September 11 – The Lady Seawolves found the back of the net 7 times in a route of The Monks of St Joseph’s. Other stats include: 22 shots on net, 2 goals a piece by forward Michela Desjardins and midfielder Emma Bonneville and three assist by midfielder Jessica Reed. Cassandra Dumond and Sarah Clifford who are fresh legs to the squad netted their first career goals.

On the defensive side Ali Waterman, Shannon Blanchard and Sydney Choate played solid defense allowing only 2 shots on net. Ali Waterman also contributed on the offensive side scoring from 40 yards out on a direct kick.

With the win the Lady Seawolves improve to 1-1-1 overall and 1-0-1 in YSCC play.

September 7 at Hampshire College- In their second match of the season, the Lady Seawolves were unable to generate any offense, along with their opponents. The

that and an opening march down the field to jump out to a 7point lead. Then posting a field goal the next trip padding that lead to 10 zip.

Sure the Jets marched down the field but once they got in the Red Zone it was all square wheels for them having to settle for a field goal on their second try after having an alleged TD overturned via instant reply.

More stalled drives, with more rulings on the field over turned via the instant replay authorities all of which brought us to this fun fact: the Patriots recording their first sack of the 2013 season not until 6:50 of the second half forcing the Jets to punt. After which the Pats struck quickly via air attack for a huge gain into Jets territory. And then welcome to the dreaded Red Zone forcing the Pats to settle for a field goal.

The sacks continued with each Jet procession equaling more square wheels for the Jets and less for the Patriots. Until the Pats final drive of the first half, the culprit: the instant replay authorities reviewing and overturning an alleged TD pass to Kenbrell Tompkins forcing the Pats to settle for a field goal attempt that drifted left.

While the score at halftime was 13-3 in favor of the Pats there were more than enough square wheels to go around.

The second half opened up with more Jets style brand of ineptitude and a massive punt pinning the Pats in the shadow of their goalpost. 2 plays resulting in minimal gain and another dropped pass by Dobson,

candidate for square wheel of the game, forced the Pats to punt.

On the ensuing drive, somehow, someway the Jets refused to succumb to their ineptitude and scored. Tightening the score at 13-10. Will miracles never cease to happen?

Highlights from the next Patriots drive include: a Aaron Dobson drop – color me surprised, an Edelman catch and run for a first down, Brady being sacked, a nice run

by Stevan Ridley, and a Kenbrell Thompkins drop equaling lets punt and the beginning of the 4th quarter.

From deep within their own territory the Jets put together a drive mixed with plays gaining little or nothing and big pass plays. Threatening from around the 30yard line the Jets turned the ball over with an errant pass that was picked off by the Pats Devin McCourtney.

After 6 plays, one of which was a Dobson catch and run for a first down – really color me surprised - the Pats were forced to punt.

Again the ineptitude of square wheels takes center stage and the Pats get the ball back returning the punt into Jets territory.

Three plays and a punt netted the Jets procession at their own 20 with 6 plus minutes to play. After a hand full of plays and driving down the field another turnover this time an interception by Alfonso Dennard got the Patriots the ball back and pretty much wrapped up the game.

the past week Stiefken scored 5 goals in the Seawolves’ three soccer contests, including the goal that jumpstarted the offense against conference opponent EMCC leading to a 4-2 victory.

SMCC’s freshman goalkeeper, Josh McDuffie, was named Goalie of the Week by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). McDuffie recorded 23 saves in his collegiate debut for SMCC. His .958 save percentage helped lead the Seawolves to a 2-1 double overtime victory over Dean College.

On August 28th SMCC baseball player and cancer survivor, Brendan Horton, appeared on the Jimmy Fund telethon featured on New England Sports Network’s (NESN’s) Dennis & Callahan show. This telethon is used to raise funds that support research and care for both children and adults at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Since 2002, the telethon has generated more than $31 million dollars.

Please check out his interview at: http:// audio.weei.com/a/80138782/d-c-brendan-horton.htm#q=brendan+horton

Men’s Golf

September 14 -Chris Pierce placed 8th overall in today’s golf action at NHTI, shooting an 83 for the afternoon, only six strokes behind winner Andy Levins of NHTI. Fellow Seawolves Sean Doran and Matthew Kimball also placed in the top 15 with Doran shooting an 88, finishing 13th and Kimball shooting a 92, finishing 15th. Overall the team scored a 362, finishing fourth behind winner NHTI, 321, Nashau CC (339), and Eastern Maine CC (349). The Seawolves will be back in action at home Saturday September 21th at Sable Oaks golf course.

September 8, 2013 - The SMCC golf team and five other conference teams traveled to EMCC The Seawolves, placing sixth overall, were led by veteran Chris Pierce who shot an 88 for the afternoon. Matthew Kimball also had a good showing for the Seawolves, shooting a 90.

September 2 at Sable Oaks - Postponed due to weather.

Women’s Golf

September 2 at Sable Oaks- Postponed due to weather.

Student Athlete’s in the Spotlight

Brown, Stiefken Named YSCC Players of the Week

Baseball center fielder Alex Brown and soccer forward Kyle Stiefken were both named Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Players of the Week for the week of September 2, 2013.

Brown helped lead the Seawolves to a 2-1 week, including two victories over conference rival CMCC. Brown batted .500 for the week with a .600 OBP and 1.000 slugging percentage. In the three games he had a HR, 2B, 2 RBIs and 2 runs.

Siefken is responsible for the bulk of the Seawolves offense so far this season. In

NAME THE MASCOT

SMCC Athletics is looking to name it’s brand new mascot. We will be taking name submissions from any faculty, staff, student, or fan of SMCC athletics. Submissions should be creative and appropriate for responsible marketing of the athletic department and the college. The winning submission will be selected by a committee.

Submissions should include Mascot’s name and your phone number email. Limited to one entry per person.

Deadline: 10/15/13 Prize: Dinner prize package E-mail submissions mathletics@smccme.edu

The Beacon September 17, 2013 • 11

SMCCSports

Fall Sports Swings Into Full Gear SMCC Hosts Round Robin Tournament By While the Fall Semester Zach Pyle Sports season has been in full swing with practices and games for a few weeks now, many of which have been on the road, SMCC hosted a NESC Round Robin Baseball and Softball Tournament this weekend.

In all 4 teams participated, visiting the campus our Southern Maine Community College: Eastern Maine Community College, New Hampshire Technical Institute and The University of New Hampshire Club teams.

The play started early Saturday morning with NHTI faciong off against the SMCC baseball team. After 3 straight days off rain, there was little or no rust evident with the SMCC bats as centerfielder, Alex Brown started the tournament off with a towering homerun in deep right field. The homerun also drove in Brendan Horton giving the Seawolves an early 2-0 lead.

The second inning brought more excitement in the form of a double steal that was exacuted by Adam Volkernick and Ethan Bilderback which enabled Adam Volkernick to score while Ethan Bilderback advanced to second base.

The Seawolves continued to roam the bases freely when Alex Brown singled collecting an RBI by driving in Ethan Bilderback padding the Seawolves lead to 4-0.

After 2 scoreless innings by the Seawolves until Alex Brown and Pat Emanuelson both singled and scored in the 5th inning.

On the NHTI’s side, Andy Johnson stole 2 bases and scored the lone NHTI run in the.

That was mostly due to SMCC pitcher Dan French who continued his solid pitching efforts that he exhibited in last semesters YSCC Championship game. The final line

score for dan was 2 hits and 6 strikeouts through 7 innings.

In the second game of the day for the Seawolves their fortunes took a turn for the worse falling to UNH 6-2.

Nate Boyle, the Seawolves starting pitcher started off the game in good form, striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faced and then giving up a baseclearing double that padded the Wildcats lead to 4-0.

In the 5th inning Brendan Horton homered cutting the Wildcats lead to 4-2 but the Seawolves were not able to plate any more runs while the UNH Wildcats scored 2 more for a 6-2 win. At the end of the day the Seawolves dropped to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in YSCC play.

The Seawolves regained their winning ways with a 9-2 win over conference rival Eastern Maine Community College.

In previous action from September 7th, the Seawolves killed the Central Maine Community College Mustangs in their double header. In the first game, the Seawolves took it to the Mustangs in a big way, crushing them 10-1. Robert Hamilton led the Seawolves hitters to the win by way of his bat, going 2-3 with both hits being triples.

Hamilton also had 2 RBI’s. Pitcher Daniel French pitched a fantastic game, only giving up 1 hit in 4 innings and striking out 9 Mustangs.

Game two of the doubleheader was even sweeter for the Seawolves, were they embarrassed the Mustangs in a 15-0 thrashing.

Earlier the Seawolves traveled to Bridgton Academy dropping their season opener to the Wolverines by a deficit of 6-3. The Wolverines set the tone for the game early on, knocking in two runs in the first inning.

The Seawolves did not fizzle out though,

managing to answer with a run in the second inning and two more in the fifth. The bats were there for the Seawolves, producing 7 hits. However, the gloves and finesse in the field were not, with the Seawolves committing 3 errors.

On the women’s side of the diamond, the Lady Seawolves won 3 out of 4 games they played for the NESC Round Robin Tournament. Sunday was an especially sweet day as they swept Eastern Maine Community College 12-10 in regulation and 11-2 in 5 innings.

In game one the Lady Seawolves spotted EMCC a 3-0 lead until the third inning when Roberta Trafton tripled collecting an RBI when Shannon Blanchard crossed home plate. The Lady Seawolves continued to fight knotting the score at 3 a piece at the end of the third inning after which the floodgates opened as SMCC plated 8 more runs. Doubles by catcher Amber Jones and Charlotte Lewis help the cause.

More excitement came as EMCC pulled with in one run to 11-10 in the sixth inning after which Kathryn Gillio smacked a one run homer paddedcthe lead back to 2 and securing a 12-10 win..

SMCC pitcher Charlotte Lewis pitched a stellar game in game two striking out 5 and only allowing 2 runs. Witth charlotte on the mound in control the Lady Seawolves offense continued it’s relentless march around the bases gathering 17 hits, platting 10 RBIs and racking up 11 runs.

Highlights include: leftfielder Danielle Mobbs singling three times, driving in three RBIs and scoring two runs.

The game was called after five innings with a score of 11-2 in favor of the Lady Seawolves.

The Lady Seawolves improve to 3-1 overall and 3-1 in conference action and will return to their side of the diamond here at SMCC for a double header on Sunday September 22nd when they face Fisher College at 11am and University of Maine – Presque Isle at 3pm.

If Sunday could be thought of as a day that shined on The Lady Seawolves, then Saturday would have been partially cloudy with rolling storms passing through. The day started out rough turn bright and then turn bleak again as the Lady Seawolves split their 2 games of the day.

In the first game the Lady Seawolves fought back from the down side of the scoreboard winning in the bottom of the 7th inning with a walk-off single by Lindsey St. Claire which scored Kathryn Gillio and securing a 5-4 victory over NHTI.

Linsey St. Claire found first base 4 times, collected an RBI and crossed home plate twice. Kathryn Gilio found first base three times, second base, collected an RBI and crossed home plate twice also. Pitching her debut as a Seawolves, Charlotte Lewis struckout seven.

In the second game of the day, The Lady Seawolves found themselves on the downside of the scoreboard loosing 13-0 in five innings collecting only two hits.

In Men’s Soccer

September 8 - In a back and forth game the SMCC Seawolves out lasted the EMCC leaving the pitch with a 4-2 victory. Finding the back of the net for the Seawolves were Kyle Stiefken, Nicholas Oram and Talal Alzefiri who was assisted buy Robert Gately.

The Seawolves also benefitted from a self( Continued on page11 )