Beacon The
ISSUE DATE 09.25.2018
Lighting our Community
VOLUME XVI NO. 2
SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The Suite Life of SMCC Students and their levels of comfort depended greatly on their own individual circumstances. One student entering her second semester here at SMCC, had a particularly luxuri-
By ALEX DOWNING
Going off to college is an exciting, yet stressful, chapter in one’s life. It entails meeting a myriad of new people, adjusting to a Illustration by Alex Downing higher level of academic expectations and for many, moving into a dormitory building. The latter can prove especially daunting. I, for one, was racked with anticipatory anxiety over the concept of adapting to an entirely new style of living. Then, it happened. Only a few days before heading off to SMCC, many students received an email spelling out an unusual predicament. We were informed that Spring Point Hall had to be evacuated due to mold. And where were we being placed? Hotel rooms. For 23 days and 23 nights, a portion of the SMCC student body called various hotels home. It was a unique experience that came with both difficulties and amenities. It wasn’t always easy — some had more glamorous stays than others — but it was an interesting situation nonetheless. I spoke with several students to gather testimonies on exactly what it was like to live out of a hotel room. Their recounts were varied
From The Desk of the Managing Editor
kitchen and a separate lounge area. The hotel even offered complimentary breakfasts. She thoroughly enjoyed her time there. “It was a really good stay,” she recalled. “I’d rather be there than in a dorm!” Other students had more typical hotel experiences. Carter Castay, who just started his first semester here at SMCC, shacked up at a Quality Inn. His review was mixed. “It was pretty nice,” he recalled. “The bed was comfortable, and it was close to the mall, but it lacked the accessibility that comes with living on campus. There was always traffic in the morning and if you wanted to get food you would have to drive back over to the school.” Anelise Carroll had a similar experience to Carter’s. She is a second-year student and was placed at a Hilton DoubleTree. “Having a car made all the difference,” Anelise informed me. “It made it so I didn’t have to ride the bus. I did have to spend a lot on gas, though. I didn’t expect to be using my car so much and the added expense was a nuisance.” (Continued on page 3)
Susan Collins and SCOTUS Let’s Get Involved
By REBECCA DOW
By MATT FLAHERTY
Ah, autumn; it is a time of year when leaves crunch lightly underfoot as you walk. When the breeze whispers chilled foreshadowings of winter, and you can ponder warm thoughts of returning to your cozy dorm-room bed for a movie under five blankets. Holding your hot pumpkin-spice latte you open the door, expecting to be greeted by your comprehensive “Legend of Zelda”-themed collection sitting on the corner of your desk. Upon opening the door, however, you realize that, “OH-MY-GOODNESS! They’re gone!” Your chairs are misplaced, your neighbor asks you if a backpack left in their room is yours (it certainly isn’t his), and the culprits? They’re long gone. Firstly, I’d like to welcome back all of the students who had been staying in hotels this September due to the mold removal in Spring Point. Secondly, I want to sympathize with your current plight; from various sources, I have heard stories regarding the misplacement and absence of belongings in students’ rooms. This was discovered upon their return to campus, after Servpro (the name of the HVAC/disaster-relief company who worked on the removal of mold from Spring Point this month) had left. For many involved, this is a devastating breach of trust - not only for the company hired to do the cleanup, but the school itself, and the integrity of its decisions surrounding the matter. While one cannot predict things like Servpro employees looting students’ belongings, it is still a matter that I hope the school will take better precautions, ensuring that something like this does not happen in the future.
You may not think you have a voice when it comes to government and politics at a national level. You may think your vote doesn’t make much of a difference. 136 million out of the 323 million people in the U.S. voted during the 2016 presidential election. Fifty-eight percent of eligible voters went to the polls during this election, but 42 percent still did not think it would be worth it! Imagine if we all felt this way, though. Imagine if nobody did anything to hold the government accountable. The more the citizens of our country lie back and become exasperated, the less power we actually have in our country. When everyone stands together in the act of public service, regardless of party, race or heritage, the power of the people becomes greater. The citizens of Maine have an opportunity to change the course of history with the upcoming Senate vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. You may have seen the flyers with the hashtag “#SaveSCOTUS” on the telephone pole on your street, or on the community board in your neighborhood. The people who created these flyers are taking a stand and urging our senator, Susan Collins, to vote against confirming Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court this week. You can get involved, too! If you would like to make a call to Susan Collins and urge her to vote against confirming Kavanaugh, call her office and ask to make a statement or call 202-224-2523 to state your concerns. All of these comments are logged for her to read. They do make a difference. The Senate Republicans want to have this confirma-
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ous stay. She was placed at a Hilton Home2 Suites, which is not your run-of-the-mill hotel. Her room more closely resembled an apartment, as it was equipped with a full-sized
tion vote this week, before the start of a new session on Oct. 1, so make sure to call her office before then. The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is a time when the citizens of Maine can come together to make a difference on a national level. Before making the phone call, though, make sure you know what you want to say. Collins is a key vote in Kavanaugh’s confirmation. She has already expressed concerns about Kavanaugh’s stance on the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling. Roe v. Wade was a case from 1973 in which the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to create laws banning abortion. However, since meeting with Kavanaugh to discuss the issue and listening to his confirmation hearings, Collins has since backed off. During his confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh was asked about the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. His response was underwhelming and concerning. His answer was not focused on the healthcare and human rights of women, but on the “precedent” that the court set in upholding this decision. Supreme Court Justices should be defenders of the law and human rights. His stance on the “precedence” of the court’s ruling becomes even more concerning after his emails from 2003 relating to Roe v. Wade were released. The relevant section reads: “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.” Kavanaugh was also asked about the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the
“contraceptive mandate” that required all employers to cover certain contraceptives to their female employees with their employer-provided insurance. In the discourse, Kavanaugh referred to these contraceptives as “abortion-inducing drugs.” This was a concerning statement, to say the least. Contraception is not abortion. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh would now be the fifth justice who would overrule Roe v. Wade. In confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Senator Collins is condemning abortion rights for women. Kavanaugh’s comments and the documents released during his confirmation relating to the historic case are concerning to women’s rights advocates. In addition to his issues with and misunderstanding of abortion and women’s rights, there are other things that have come up about Kavanaugh’s past that should concern the citizens of Maine and the country. A former classmate of Kavanaugh in high school, Christine Blasey Ford, wrote a letter to Dianne Feinstein detailing a night during which Kavanaugh attempted to rape her. The incident occurred at a house party with a handful of people. As the night went on, Kavanaugh, his friend and Ms. Ford were in an upstairs bedroom together. In her words, Kavanaugh “physically pushed me into a bedroom . . . was on top of me while laughing . . . tried to disrobe me . . . With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me.” Finally, “At one point when (the friend) jumped onto the bed . . . The pile toppled . . (Continued on page 7)