VOL. 96, NO. 7
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 , 2016
RANDOLPH, N.J.
The Youngtown Edition COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER
In This Issue
Finals Schedule
Letter from the editor // page 5
Episodic games // page 8
Summer session sees hike in tuition BY BRETT FRIEDENSOHN Sports Editor
Effective the summer of 2016, students at County College of Morris will be spending more per credit to attend class thanks to an increase approved by Board of Trustees on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The cost of a three-credit course for students residing in Morris County will rise $6 for the credits and an extra $2 for the
course, totaling a rise of $8. The hike is being attributed to cost of living increases. The hike occurred because neither the state of New Jersey nor Morris County could afford to increase its support to the college, according to Karen VanDerhoof, CCM vice president of business and finance. “I would anticipate as prices go up, utility prices go up, cost of living goes up, salary, and wages go up a little bit; then we’ll have to
do a modest tuition increase down the road as well,” VanDerhoof said. “We don’t see the state or the county in the near future increasing their support, so I think it’s probably going to be a trend that we try to keep the tuition and fee increases as modest as possible.” While CCM has lost money because of a decline in student enrollment, it has not received enough funding from the state of New Jersey and Morris County to pay for all of its expenses for the 2016-17 school year. For this school year, the state, which funds the college based on total credit hour enrollment, and the county both granted the college the same amount of money as it did last year, contributing respectively $6.9 million and $11 million. It needed to gain ap-
CCM professor finds funds for passion on kickstarter BY AMANDA ALLER News Editor
proximately $4.2 million to pay for expenses, including faculty salaries, utilities, and technology costs, so CCM’s president’s cabinet fired 22 people to save approximately $1.9 million. To cover the rest of the money needed, County College of Morris Board of Trustees decided on the tuition and fee change, according to VanDerhoof. Annually, CCM’s Board of Trustees meets and tries to keep the college’s tuition and fees as low as they can, according to Joseph Ricca, the board’s chair. “We’ve worked really, really hard the last several years – at least I can certainly speak for my time – to keep tuition and fees as low as possible,” Ricca said. “I think when you look at the county colleges across the state of New
SGA President Leaves Office BY BETH PETER Managing Editor
After traveling more than 4,000 miles and crowdfunding $8,000, José Beviá, professor of music at County College of Morris, released his second CD of original compositions in 2015. Included on the two-disk CD are “Symphony No. 2: Shapes of the Cities,” which was recorded by the North Czech Philharmonic in the Czech Republic and funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. According to Beviá, of Union City, that composition was inspired by the New York City skyline. Also included on the CD are four other arrangements, “El Puente de las Almas,” “Trio No. 3,” “Cenizas Y Fuego” and “Trio No. 4.” Those compositions were recorded in Connecticut, Prague, New York City and New Jersey. When asked where Beviá got his inspiration from he also mentioned Sydney, Australia; Bisbee, Sweden; Rome, Italy and all of the architectural forms that he’d found there. “Many members of the CCM community helped me to make this project a reality: faculty, administration, staff, alumni and students,” says Beviá. “They helped me create and advertise the Kickstarter campaign and many donated, too.” Another CCM professor, Denise Barbarita, did most of the recording and mixing work for the album. Two former CCM music students, Bethany Damato and Patricia Anselmo, are featured in one of the compositions and another CCM alumnus, Anouska Swaray, co-wrote the CD liner notes. “The most interesting place to record was in Connecticut when we recorded El Puente,” said Beviá. “It was very difficult because we had to take all of our own gear including two Harpsicorts. They go out of tune about every hour and were especially sensi-
PHOTO CREDIT: LIFE IN MOPHOTO
José Beviá, CCM professor and composer, came out with his second CD in 2015.
tive due to the freezing cold weather which makes them go out of tune more quickly. Recording there was a challenge but turned out to be very successful.” A lot of Beviá’s music is directly influenced by his native country of Spain. He grew up with the folk music of Spain known as Flamingo which is especially apparent in his song “Cenizas y Fuego”. The CD is available through CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com/Artist/JoseBevia. Beviá is an award-winning composer and musician, who has earned five top prizes from various music competitions and organizations. The awards came from places all over the world, from New York to Greece. This year, he was included, along with 27 other composers, in the book “Composition in the Digital World: Conversations with 21st Century American Composers” by Robert Raines. “There’s no recipe for success other than hard work,” said Beviá. “Pursue your dreams and push yourself to the next level.”
Jersey, you come to a quick realization that the County College of Morris is very, very competitive comparatively to the other institutions, but nonetheless, you try and keep the costs down.” Ricca said that he did not want to sacrifice CCM’s programs to keep the costs of attendance down. “We recognize the burden, but at the same time, we also know that students come to CCM because of the opportunity, because of the environment and the services that are offered,” Ricca said. “When everything goes away, that reduces the educational program, and it also reduces the capacity of the college to be able to support students.” One CCM student had different views. Continued in ‘Tuition’ on page 5
The race is on to find the next Student Government Association (SGA) president at the County College of Morris as current SGA President Marcelle Caruso is stepping down after two semesters at the helm. “I’ve already had my moment to shine,” Caruso said. “Now it’s going to be an interesting race.” There are three candidates on the ballot: Walter Yurcik, SGA vice president, Andrew Ginsberg, SGA treasurer, and Stanley White, SGA fundraiser chairperson. “From what I have seen during my time as vice president, there are certain things that need to change,” said Yurcik, a computer information systems major at CCM. He cited changing academic advisement and club leadership training as two of his main goals. “I know of at least two students that actually spent a year taking classes that will either not apply to their major or they won’t transfer out,” Yurcik said. “They could’ve been done in two years flat, and now they
have to do another year. And that’s a problem. If it’s happening to one student, how many other students are being affected by this?” Caruso said every president has their own goals. “We sit down to have three goals and each one carries that out how they will,” said Caruso. Yurcik said he is the best available candidate because he has the experience and the knowledge in leadership. “I have strong time management skills, which I didn’t have before, and I’ve also looked at what issues we have now and what can be different and what we can change,” Yurcik said. “We have to evolve as the student government and as clubs.” Ginsberg is a public and nonprofit administration major at CCM, and has balanced the treasurer position of both SGA and the Student Activities Programming Board (SAPB) for the last two semesters. “I’ve received over a half dozen recommendations from students and faculty before agreeing to run,” said Ginsberg. “Which is likely due to the fact Continued in ‘President’ on page 4