VOL. 96, NO. 3
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016
RANDOLPH, N.J.
The Youngtown Edition COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER
In This Issue
Honor Killings Documentary Opinions, page 4
Oscar Controversy
College Schedule
Opinions, page 5 Advice, page 7
Final four vie for CCM presidency Candidates meet with students, faculty
BY DEREK ALLEN Editor-in-Chief
For the third time in 47 years The County College of Morris is actively searching for a new president to take the reins from Edward Yaw, who is departing this summer after three decades at the helm of the institution. “Each of the candidates are so uniquely different from one another,” said Janique Caffie, the dean of student development and enrollment management. “Ultimately one of them will be invited to take over the leadership of the college. I believe that there is a candidate that is being vested that can be the next president of CCM.” The CCM Board of Trustees has appointed 11 people to the Presidential Search Committee. The committee is comprised of five trustee members (Stanley T. Omland, Jeffrey Advokat, Joseph Ricca, Joseph Weisberg, Barbara Hadzima), three union representatives (Stephan Kaifa, Shelley Kurland, Richard Burchfield), Director of Human Resources & Labor Relations Thomas Burk, CCM Foundation Chair William McElroy and CCM student Michael Masino. The committee has narrowed down the list of candidates to four: Mark McCormick, Margaret A. Hamilton, David Podell, and Anthony J. Iacono. All candidates have a doctorate except for McCormick, who is completing his Ph.D. this year. As a current student himself, McCormick said he believes smaller class sizes are a great benefit to students. “Even in a college this size, the same people tend to be in the same classes and the same clubs,” McCormick
PHOTO CREDIT: RICH BURCHFIELD
said. “It feels like a smaller college. Community colleges have that. Here, you guys have classes with 20 or 30 students. You don’t get that at Rutgers or Montclair, you get classes with 300 students where professors don’t know who you are. I think students benefit from that high touch two years, then you move on to Rutgers and succeed.” McCormick said it’s important for a president to be a “chief cheerleader” of the college, advocating outside of the college for grants and trying to find internships for students. “The other part of the job is being here and being visible,” McCormick said. “Coming to performances, club meetings, showing up at events. Letting you know: the president is here, he knows what you’re doing and he cares about what you’re doing.” McCormick said he would sit in on meetings to connect students and faculty to each other. “If I hear two people are working on a similar idea, and they’re not already working together, I can connect the two and maybe bring in some outside funding,” McCormick said. “Great things can happen this way.” Money at CCM has been an issue. Last year, facing a $1.9 million budget shortfall, the college administration was forced to cut positions and programs to close the gap. If chosen, McCormick said he would work with the next governor of New Jersey to get the budget especially for community colleges - back up. “A lot more of the money available goes to four year schools and not to us,” McCormick said. “They get a bigger piece of the pie than we do, yet we do more of the work. It seems like there are more students in community colleges in the state rather than four year schools … The money should be reversed. We should get more of the money. We don’t. I would certainly advocate the state legislatures for more money for the college.” Candidate Margaret A. Hamilton, said there are other ways for the college to increase revenue. “Colleges seem to think the only way to increase revenue is to increase enrollment,” said Hamilton. “Yes, indeed, but there are other ways. You can lease (CONTINUED IN ‘PRESIDENT’ ON PAGE 2)
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Glenn Martin, at this semester’s Legacy Project, spoke about his time in prison and his organization JLUSA.
Speaker advocates cutting prison population by half BY BETH PETER Managing Editor
Enraptured students clung to every word as criminal justice reform advocate Glenn Martin spoke on Thursday, Feb. 11, at the latest installment of the Legacy Project lecture series at the County College of Morris. Martin outlined a bold plan to cut the amount of people in prison in half by 2030. “Whether you did something wrong or not,” said Martin, president of JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), “The fact that you get sent to a jail where your safety is in jeopardy every moment while you’re there, and your human dignity is taken away as you cross the bridge to Rikers [Island], felt problematic to me. Even at the age of 16.” If Martin sounds like he is speaking from experience, it is because he is, having spent the balance of six years incarcerated. Martin founded JLUSA with the goal of halving the (CONTINUED IN ‘LEGACY’ ON PAGE 3)
Cyber Centurions on guard at CCM BY AMANDA ALLER Contributor
Gaming systems, banks, government offices and campus communities large and small have fallen victim to hack attacks over the last few months and here at the County College of Morris, there is a group looking to do something about it. A special body of students at CCM are well aware of the fatal outcome that cyber crime can have on the global economy and they are known as the Cyber Centurions. The goal of the Cyber Security Club is to reduce vulnerability in our national information framework by producing professionals with cyber defense expertise. First chartered as a club only one year ago, they’ve managed to make a difference through rigorous research, awareness and participation in competitions like the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC). Last year was the first time CCM participated in the MACCDC, not to mention they were the first New Jersey college to do so. Not only did they break that record, they also became the first team to ever proceed to finals upon their first appearance. Mihir Kansagra, the public relations officer for Cyber
Security, said that many opportunities would open up if his team won the MACCDC. “There have been cases before where students were offered job with federal agencies that people only dream of,” Kansagra said. “It was without interview or application process. If we win the competition, we would definitely get hired by any company in the United States.” The Cyber Security Club started out with only ten members and has accumulated over 60 members since its humble beginnings. Oct is Cyber Safety awareness month which is easily the most important month of the year for the Cyber Security club. This year they ran various seminars on topics like cyber safety and Identity Theft prevention. On Data Privacy Day, Thursday, Jan. 28, the club held a seminar during college hour which was overflowing with faculty and students, not to mention John Tugman, the head of Information Technology (IT) for Morris County. After the presentation on Data Privacy Day, Tugman asked the Cyber Security Club to hold two more seminars in March, at Morris County Public Safety Academy in Morris Plains where staff of John Tugman, students of Public Safety Academy and other members of Morris County, as well as general public will be attending
the seminar. They plan to spread awareness by going to various high schools, middle schools, libraries and more events in Morris County. The Cyber Centurions will be competing alongside 290 other students for an opportunity to be one of ten teams to move up to the regional finals and compete in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. This is one of very few competitions that give insight into how Corporate Information Security works, while being backed by major corporations and institutions like Homeland Security, the NSA, and Microsoft. Andrea Doucette, a freshman at CCM, said that although she is new to the team, she is learning quickly. “Preparing for the upcoming qualifiers has expanded my knowledge tremendously,” Doucette said. “With very little Cyber Security skills, the past two months have opened my eyes to the precautions that must be taken. I’m confident that we’re ready to take on any challenges that the competition will bring.” The regional finals are open for the public to attend and will be held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland, in March. The winner of the MACCDC will represent the region at Nationals in San Antonio, Texas, in April.
PAGE 2 THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION
NEWS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Music buoys students in times of trouble BY SHILPA AMBADIPUDI Contributor
College has the potential to be exceedingly stressful for some students. Juggling homework, jobs, and a social life is no easy task. For some students at the County College of Morris, one surefire way to de-stress is music. Music takes precedence in the lives of so many people these days, especially youth. Headphones are a semi-permanent fixture in the ears of kids and teens. Math major Anthony Cresco has his headphones in his ears more often than not; when he’s walking from class to class, when he’s helping out around the house, when he’s doing his homework, and even when he’s in bed. “Music helps me relax, so I go to sleep listening to a slow song playlist I made on my iPhone,” Cresco said. Cresco said he listens to different types of music while’s he’s doing different things. “Some types of music aren’t right for certain situations,” Cresco said. “I like to listen to fast songs with a dance beat while doing homework because it helps me get more into whatever I’m doing. I even like to sing along while doing calculus problems. I usually put the song ‘Dancing Out’ by French Horn Rebellion on repeat while working on math these days.” For Cresco, music is a natural part of his life, and he feels strange when music isn’t playing. “The radio is constantly on in my car and I turn the volume all the way up when I’m in a really bad mood, because I always feel better after that.” Cresco said. “I also turn up the volume when I hear my my favorite songs.” Cresco said that there is power in music. He likes songs that relate to his life and cites one song specifically that helps him deal with his problems. “My favorite song is ‘Second Chance’ by Shinedown,” Cresco said. “It’s about a person breaking away from his parents and living his own life, and I can relate to that because my parents didn’t want me to be a math teacher, but it’s what I really wanted. Listening to that
song always helped me feel better after particularly bad fights with my parents about my career path. I still have those fights with my parents. They try to convince me to switch my major to Computer Science or something else that’ll serve me better in the future and I need that song to calm down.” Cresco loves music, but his love is nothing compared to Josh Raymundo. Raymundo, a music major, says that music is his whole life. Raymundo’s love of music stemmed from his mother, who played seven different instruments. Throughout his childhood, he and his siblings tried them all and each took to a couple. Raymundo plays the trumpet, trombone, French horn, and a little guitar. He also enjoys singing and songwriting. “I write about things going on in my life and take inspiration from already existing songs that relate to my situation,” Raymundo said. “In my freshman year, I did some stupid things without thinking. I didn’t think they really mattered, until I found out that the new group of people I started hanging out with weren’t happy with my behavior and didn’t like me anymore. I felt like the song ‘Tangled’ by Maroon 5, my favorite band, fit my situation, and I got inspired to write my own song about it.” Raymundo said most of his friends listened to music while doing homework, but he never could. “I sometimes have the TV on in the background for the noise so everything isn’t eerily quiet, but I feel the need to dissect every song I listen to, so I can’t multitask with music,” Raymundo said. However, he soon found songs he could use to study. “My Music Theory professor last year told me about a YouTube channel called Brainwave Hub, and all the videos there are just instrumental and are supposed to boost different parts of your mind,” Raymundo said. “I listen to one called ‘Study Aid 12’ whenever I have a test. It helps me focus so much better than anything else.” Raymundo spends his spare time listening to and making music, which is not that much different than what he does during class. “I like to sing mash-ups with my friends,” Raymundo said. “I got the idea from the mash-ups The Cab and The
Summer Set do with each other. I always liked both those bands, and the friendship that the lead singers share, so my friends and I mash-up songs from our favorite artists too. I think sometimes, there’s more than one song that sums up your feelings, and no song can sum it up perfectly. That’s why I write songs, and that’s why mash-ups can help. Combining the best lyrics in all the songs that you identify it makes music an even more powerful force than it was before. Making mash-ups is what helps me when I deal with the blow of a rejection or let down.” Digital Media student Callie Scott said she thinks music makes everything more fun. “I listen to it [music] all the time, while doing the dishes, while doing homework, while driving,” Scott said. “I listen to it in the mornings while I get ready and at night when I do my nightly cleansing ritual. It makes all those menial tasks more of an event.” Scott listens to music whenever she needs to calm herself down or cheer herself up. She said she’s never happier than when she’s dancing around her room with Pandora blasting. “I like Marina and the Diamonds because Marina’s songs always have a meaningful message, so I mainly listen to her and artists like her,” Scott said. “I adore the song ‘Play House’ by Colette Carr. Whenever I’m having a problem, I always hear a song on the radio that helps me.” When asked for an example, she cited her current favorite song. “I love that song ‘Stressed Out’ by Twenty One Pilots,” Scott said. “It’s my last semester at school, and all my friends are talking about where they are going to transfer, but I’m only going as far as an associate’s degree. I’m going to have to get a job by the fall, and I’m really worried about how different life is going to be when I’m thrust out into the world and have to make money, and ‘Stressed Out’ expresses those exact sentiments. And the song ‘7 Years’ by Lukas Graham always calms me down because that song talks about the way life will be at different ages, and I know it’s going to be hard, but eventually I’ll get a stable job and get married and have kids just like the speaker in ‘7 Years.’”
Kids in the hall: CCM students President dish favorite campus corners (CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE)
BY MARIA SERGHIOU Contributor
The County College of Morris is a small campus with few halls for classes to be held. Many students can name all the halls, but are only comfortable navigating a few due to their major and where they study most. Here are a few students that put their knowledge to the test on if they really know their college campus. Josh Quinones, an engineering science major at CCM, said that his favorite hall on campus is Henderson Hall. “Its beautiful and the classes are math oriented.” Quinones said. Quinones said he wouldn’t mind CCM’s campus to increase in size. “I would actually much rather have more halls,” said Quinones. “It would be nice to have more halls that are more major oriented.” CCM has a select few number of halls that usually specify with certain majors, but additions of new halls would allow for more diverse education. Nicole McGrogan, a liberal arts major at CCM, said she can easily list all of the halls that CCM has to offer. “Emeriti, Cohen, Sheffield, Demare and Henderson Hall,” said McGrogan. “There are so few on campus it’s hard not to know each one.” McGrogan stresses that most students can list all halls available due to small size. “I like the few halls at CCM,” said McGrogan. “I wouldn’t want a larger campus.” McGrogan praises the size of campus for its convenience and easy access to school offices and facilities through short walking distances. Chris Woodbury, a business major at CCM, said Cohen Hall is his favorite hall that the school has to offer.
PHOTO BY DEREK ALLEN
“Cohen Hall is where the majority of my classes have been, so I feel comfortable in those rooms,” said Woodbury. “Getting to and from Cohen Hall is easy and familiar.” Woodbury finds himself studying mostly in Cohen Hall and therefore knows it better than any other hall on CCM’s campus. “I like majority of the halls at CCM,” said Woodbury. “They’re mostly interconnected, so you’re not usually forced to walk outside which comes in handy for poor weather conditions.” The convenience of CCM’s halls makes students’ learning experiences easier, due to one building being interconnected with various halls rather than splitting up into separate buildings scattered around campus. CCM’s campus overall seems likeable from students. Its small size and convenience of getting from one class to the next has been made simple with interconnecting buildings and halls dedicated to specific majors and education areas. Students are able to familiarize themselves with the few halls that they ultimately find themselves studying and learning in most.
property, you can do partnerships, you can provide a service to another organization that they don’t have. All of these provide revenue.” Hamilton said CCM needs to reduce costs, reprioritize, or bring money in through alternate means. “The worst thing you want to do is an across the board cut,” said Hamilton. “Nothing good comes from that. Better to do the fiscal analysis and think ‘What can we do with our slice of the pie?’” Hamilton said she has been more of a consultant in her own organization, moving around a lot trying to fix problems and then moving on to other problem areas. “What I’m really good at is startup, then hand over,” Hamilton said. “I think this college is looking for a transitional president. I don’t know if they’ll stay for 20 years. That’s not what happens anymore, not in corporations, not in colleges. Especially in an administrative position, you don’t stay for the sake of staying. You’ve got to know when to leave the party.” Anthony J. Iacono, another candidate, said in terms of budgets the recession hit educational institutions hard, affecting community colleges and universities. “Everyone had to make choices,” Iacono said. “You have to look at how to best provide for [students.] Sometimes in economic downturns, you realign things. You have to realign your priorities without abandoning them. You need to ask, ‘Are there other ways for us to achieve what we’re trying to achieve?’ Economic downturns are a reality. You plan for it, you stay focused on your priorities.” Besides budgets, Iacono also emphasized the importance of good leadership. “Leadership starts at listening,” Iacono said. “It’s not about doing what you want to do and trying to convince
people to follow you, it’s about listening. It’s about asking ‘Where are they at? Where do they want to go?’ It’s about sharing and collaborating.” Iacono said CCM looks like it is designed to offer a wide range of opportunities. “That’s the kind of college I want to work with,” Iacono said. David Podell, the fourth candidate, has 26 years of experience in an administrative position and has a concrete idea of what a president should strive for. “I think the president’s job is to put together that vision from everyone else’s vision,” Podell said. “It can’t be just one person’s vision.” Podell said he would accumulate a lot of people’s point of view and then unify them into goals to strive for. “The more I learn about CCM, the more I’m impressed by it,” Podell said. “It strikes me that this is a great college. If we can make it better, that’s great. My heart is in public education, that’s where I want to be.” The four finalists have each in turn toured the college and met with faculty and students, getting a feel for CCM’s atmosphere. As the search continues, more one-on-one interviews will continue between candidates and the search committee. According to an article on thedailyrecord.com, a decision will be made in March, when the search committee presents its recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The board will vote on a new CCM President on March 16. For his part, Yaw said he has had limited involvement in the search process and it would not be appropriate for him to indicate a preference for a successor.
NEWS
(CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE) American incarcerated population by 2030. According to the mission statement, JLUSA “empowers people most affected by incarceration to drive policy reform.” In the Student Community Center at CCM, Martin spoke to roughly 300 students and faculty members about his mission. “I don’t think the irony has escaped many people nowadays in 2016 that in the land of the free, that we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world.” Sociology Professor Gerald S. Kloby said in his introductory remarks. “Or, technically, I suppose the second highest incarceration rate. Only one country locks up a higher percentage of its people than the United States and that’s the tiny nation of Seychelles which is a country of less than a hundred thousand people.” Kloby praised the Legacy Project’s efficacy in bringing in an impressive spread of speakers over the last three years, lauding the lectures as “good for all of us, good for students mostly and good for faculty. We found them very inspiring.” Martin’s experience in prison was an enthralling story on its own. “At the age of 16 I got arrested for petty larceny and shoplifting and found myself at a place called Rikers Island,” Martin said. The prison is the second largest jail in the United States. “In New York, we charge 16-year-olds as adults.” According to a 2014 report by the Department of Justice, at Rikers “a deep-seated culture of violence is pervasive throughout the adolescent facilities.” “He focused a lot on the human being and the value of a human being and how our prison system dehumanizes people so much.” said Spyridoula Fotinis, an international studies major. “I thought that was very cool, that from experience he was speaking.” Martin said the experience in prison becomes a series of bad choices. “As soon as you get there, at the age of 16, you quickly have to make a decision.” Martin said. “You either have to be predator, or prey.” This decision is very nearly irreversible, Martin said, and he shared the story of a man who, on Martin’s first day there, attempted to take his leather coat from him. “And if you give up your leather coat in that moment, you will probably not be able to come back from that,” Martin said. “And so I had a fight with him and that
resulted in four stab wounds in my body that I still have today, in my neck and in my back.” Martin said of the 9,800 people at Rikers today, the majority of them, over 80 percent, are there as detainees. “They’re charged with a crime, they’re not convicted of anything, and they’re subject to vast amounts of violence.” Martin said. Further, with what Martin calls collateral consequences, the punishments doled out by imprisonment can be much longer lasting and more pervasive than required by the courts. He referenced the The Four E’s: education, employment, enfranchisement, and equality. “If you have a criminal record, with all the criminal record discrimination that exists in this country, most of it statutory, some of it practical, it takes away all of those things,” Martin said. According to Martin, this leaves the formerly incarcerated with far fewer options than an individual who never entered the criminal justice system. “There are universities, there are colleges, I don’t know what the rules are in this one, that say if you have a criminal record you can’t even apply to go to school here,” Martin said. “There are some higher education institutions where they don’t ever have people show up on campus, it’s all remote, and they still don’t let you apply if you have a felony.” This can seem very dismal, but Martin has a plan with which he hopes to halve the incarcerated population by the year 2030. “If you’ll notice, I’ve been up here for maybe 15 minutes already and I haven’t said convict, I haven’t said exoffender, I haven’t said inmate and I haven’t said prisoner. I haven’t said any of the words given to us by the system to refer to people in the system.” Martin said. “Why? Because if we can’t humanize people who end up in prison in this country, we’ll never end mass incarceration.” Martin said he has a plan. If we can humanize individuals who are incarcerated, he postulates that we will then be able to look incarceration in a different light. “If they’re just inmates, and animals, and thugs, and all of the dog-whistle words we tend to use about people who end up in the system, then who cares,” Martin said. “And if they’re that scary, then I don’t care what it costs to lock them up. But if they’re human beings, and if they’re anything like us, then we stop for a minute.” Martin also touched on the overwhelming majority of people of color in the United States prison system. According to the NAACP, African American and Hispanics make up 58 percent of all those incarcerated, while they’re only about one quarter of the US population. “I think his complete lack of fear to bring up…the things going on that built up our institutions, the way
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Legacy
THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION PAGE 3 he talked about white privilege, the way he talked about America’s history so boldly was so powerful to me,” said Sabrina Alvarado, a liberal arts major. Though spoken eloquently, Martin’s plan did not appease every listener. “I thought he was a little bit simplistic,” said criminal justice Professor John Hurd. “I see that we can do better than we’re doing. I see that we can reduce [the incarcerated population].” Hurd said he thought Martin put too much weight on the racism inherent in the system. “I think the problem is deeper than just race,” Hurd said. “It almost has to be just culture. The culture of criminal justice almost has to be changed” Hurd said the personification of justice, a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales, is supposed to symbolize justice being blind to race, religion, color or sexual orientation. “She’s just looking at: these are the facts, this is the penalty,” Hurd said. “I wonder if we could ever get to a society where that’s the way we dealt with justice.” Hurd did agree with Martin that the problem of crime is tied to areas that are more socioeconomically depressed. Hurd, though, focused also on the “Three Strikes” statutes present in many states. According to the Department of Justice, the “Three Strikes” statutes give mandatory life imprisonment if an individual is convicted in federal court of a serious violent felony and has two or more prior convictions in federal or state courts, at least one of which is a serious violent felony. The other prior offense may be a serious drug offense. Hurd said these “Three Strikes” laws increase the prison population because people tend to age out of crime. “You’re always going to have your career criminals, but there are some people who stopped committing crimes at age 22, 23, 24,” Hurd said. “The inherent unfairness with the ‘Three Strikes’ law is you’re put into jail for 25 to life at a point in their life when they’re just about ready to age out of crime naturally.” Hurd said his goal is to get the young offender out of the system before they even get in the system. “His idea is great,” Hurd said of Martin. “I feel like there can be some reform to the criminal justice system.” Martin said it’s important to not shy away from potentially difficult topics, to share stories about hardships. “If you look historically in this country, that’s how movements are built,” Martin said. “Movements have faces, movements have stories. Movements have narratives, movements have real people. And movements have people who are not directly impacted by an issue standing alongside people who are because they feel connected because of their humanity. But we don’t get there if we don’t tell stories.”
Professor Profile:
Mark Schmidt BY ZAHIR JALALLAR Contributor
Professor Schmidt has been teaching for 11 years. He started teaching in 2004 at Emory University during his Ph. D fellowship. He attended Rutgers University after high school, receiving the generous Samuel and Marcella Geltman scholarship, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major in English and Political Science . Today, he is a Professor at CCM in the English Department. He was born in Toms River, New Jersey.
PHOTO BY BRETT FRIEDENSOHN
Alma mater: Bachelor’s Degree in English and Political Science, Rutgers University. Master’s degree in English Literature from Emory University. Currently, he is the final stage of completing a Ph.D in English Literature from Emory.
How did you get interested in teaching English? “I have always been an avid reader and consumer of music and the arts. I guess I saw a focus in English as a way to tie a lot of disparate interests together and to channel them into something that had a legitimate career waiting at the end of my studies. Pursuing an English degree really did three things for me by giving me something with which I could support myself, something that I can feel satisfied that I am making a social contribution, and something that I actually enjoy doing everyday.” What do you like about teaching? “It keeps me young and allows me to have some positive influence over my students’ lives. I enjoy nothing more than showing my students what intriguing and exciting lines of inquiry can be opened. It always amazes them that we can do things like seriously, academically study popular culture or commercials or something that seems ephemeral and disconnected and from which we can really see the hallmarks of culture staring back at us. I guess no one has ever told them before that, as English scholars, we can do so much more than study dry, dusty books! Don’t get me wrong, I love dry, dusty books too though!” Favorite book, and why? “My favorite book, like my favorite food or movie, is constantly changing. In nonfiction, I really valued the work Empire by Michael Hart and Antonio Negri. It really provides an important line of sight into our current cultural climate. As for fiction, it
probably is too cliché to be an English professor and say that I just love Dickens, but I truly do, his lapses into Eurocentrism and patriarchy aside!” Dream job? “Professional Snowboarder, but teaching is my dream job.” Favorite type of food? “Steamed artichokes with lemon butter is my favorite food. Odd response, I know.” Favorite type of music? “Nirvana,I love Outkast also.” Hobbies? “I am a huge film fanatic. I watch probably six or seven movies every single day. Also, I love to cook, to write, and to make mosaics.” Dream car? “The entire SI Honda Civic Series. I have owned a few, and I like them the best.” If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? “Jay Z and Queen Victoria.”
OPINION
PAGE 4 THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
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PHOTO CREDIT FACEBOOK
Director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
Documentary delves into horror of honor killings
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Chinoy speeks at a screening of her documentary. BY EMILY BETZ Opinion Editor
“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” is a documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy that was recently nominated for an Oscar in Best Documentary Short Film and explores the disturbing practice of honor killings. “A Girl in the River” tells the story of Saba Qaiser, who at 18, was beaten and shot in the face by her father and uncle before being tossed in a river and left for dead. All of this was done in the name of “honor” and “forgiveness.” Acts like this are, unfortunately, not a rare occurrence in Pakistan and other countries where archaic religious practices hold more sway than modern law. This documentary has received a lot of attention turning people’s eyes towards an issue that is often overlooked, and not just on the red carpet. Honor killings happen primarily in countries with Islamic roots. When a girl or woman is seen to have committed a sin that has put a tarnish on the family name, her male family members will take her life in order to cleanse the family of the shame that her sin has caused. In many countries the legislation permits these crimes to be committed without any criminal prosecution. These crimes are even often celebrated. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is hoping to help change that through public awareness. Along with the release of her documentary she started a petition to push forward stricter laws prohibiting honor killings. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in re-
sponse, has pledged to do what he can to eliminate honor killings in Pakistan. Saba Qaiser was 18 years old when her father and uncle lured her into a van with promises of forgiveness. Saba and her boyfriend had recently eloped against her family’s wishes. Her uncle held her down while her father brutally beat her, then shot her in the head. They stuffed her limp body into a sack and tossed her
in the river. She was left for dead. Luckily, Saba had turned her head at the right moment so that the bullet had only injured her. The rush of cold water roused her, she clawed her way out of the sack, swam to shore and flagged down help. In Pakistani law, the victim’s family is allowed to forgive a killing, exempting the person from prosecution. Saba wanted justice, but pressures from her new family to forgive her father and uncle outweighed her own desires. So she was forced to have her father and uncle released from prison, uncharged. In a statement to NBC, Sharmeen said that many people they interviewed for the documentary did not feel honor killings were wrong. “They felt it was acceptable to punish a wife, a daughter or a mother who transgresses from the honor code, even if the ultimate punishment is death,” Sharmeen said. That is one of the biggest problems activists face in eradicating honor killings. How do you eradicate something people do not believe is wrong? Her father, after his short time in prison, was unremorseful and willing to do time if it meant bringing honor back to his family name. “She took away our honor” he said, “If you put one drop of
A still shot from Chinoy’s documentary.
piss in a gallon of milk, the whole thing gets destroyed. That’s what she has done...So I said ‘No, I will kill you myself.’” Saba is just a lucky one of many. For every case that gets publicity there are an estimated 5,000 others that don’t. Women advocacy groups, like Humanity Healing, estimate the unreported numbers to be as high as 20,000 women yearly. Another example is the case of Zahra al Azzo. At just 15 years old, she was kidnapped from outside her home and raped repeatedly until authorities found her and placed her in a women’s prison for protection. Not protection from the rapist, protection from her family. Her cousin married her to get her out of prison, and hopefully appease her family. But one morning in January, while her husband was at work, Zahra’s brother Fayyez snuck into her room and stabbed her to death in her sleep. He immediately turned himself into authorities, without concern of going to jail. Her family celebrated in the streets with their friends and neighbors. At the time Syrian law, specifically Article 548, said that if a family member witnessed a woman in an immoral act he may kill her without fear of repercussion. It is because of Zahra’s case that Article 548 was repealed in 2009.
Changing the laws protecting people that commit these atrocious and barbaric crimes is not an answer to the problem, but merely a step towards a solution. Many of these countries can not enforce their laws unless people comply with them willingly, and so it is the mindset that needs to change most of all. The United States has spent billions of dollars since 2001 trying to reshape the middle east with military force. However, we are finding, it is not so easy to solve violence with more violence. There is a cultural difference that needs to be accepted, and an acknowledgement that religion is not the sole problem. There have been extremists in every religion, and that should not tarnish the religion as a whole. However a separation between religion and government needs to be established. Rather that increasing armed forces, our money might be better spent on education and women empowerment. It is easy to justify a disregard for another country’s problems in favor of focusing on problems at home, but there comes a time when it stops being a cultural difference and starts being an issue of basic human rights. And human rights issues, should be the whole world’s issue.
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FEBRUARY 24, 2016
OPINION
THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION PAGE 5
Courting Controversy: 2016 Oscar awards BY VICTORIA PIGNATELLI Entertainment Editor
The 88th annual Academy Awards ceremony is set for Sunday, Feb. 28 and this year the ramp up for the ceremony has featured more than a look at the past year in film. In addition to the celebration of supposed best in film and art in Hollywood, this year’s ceremony is laced with controversy as some of Hollywood’s most luminous stars have taken to social media with race complaints. Leading the charge was Jada Pinkett-Smith, whose husband Will Smith was left off the ballot for his performance in “Concussion.” Her remarks about the lack of diversity in the nominations ignited a firestorm of controversy with some calling for boycotts and others calling the situation overblown. The Academy Awards ceremony is generally a topic of conversation in most circles. The movie industry itself makes billions of dollars which feeds into the global economy. Most movie-goers are either avid movie buffs or simply those that use it as a means to a longer conversation, but either will watch the oscars. In more recent years, the Academy has come under pressure for not being as diverse an institution as it could be. This year’s reaction has probably been boiling under the surface for some time, as evidence from the instantaneous negative reaction to this year’s nominees. The host, Chris Rock, has the responsibility of balancing the event as a tradition, and the current situation throughout the evening’s festivities. Although Rock’s publicist has denied his directly changing parts of the monologue to reflect the current situation, according to the Hollywood Reporter, there is still some talk of the material reflecting the current, “#OscarsSoWhite” movement on the Internet, primarily on Twitter. Despite the controversy that is surrounding the annual event, the films up for awards each have their value as pieces of award worthy cinema. “I’m only watching the Oscars this year to see what the celebrities will say and do about the obvious racism,” said County College of Morris student Natalie Cortez. “It’s time the Oscars change, I follow the hashtag on Twitter, and I never realized how bad they were in representation of other races.” This year’s ceremony has a lot to prove, as many more people may be viewing it than in prior years. Although celebrities like Pinkett Smith have called for a boycott of the ceremony, the negative press may just draw a larger audience out of curiosity. Controversy aside, the nominees this year are decent films. Some are standouts among others that do not necessarily prove themselves to be in the same caliber. From “The Revenant,” which looks like the frontrunner after the Screen Actor’s Guild awards, to a true shocker for Best Picture, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” 2016 will prove to be a very dynamic year in Oscar nominated films. Each of the films for Best Picture is different in their own right. Of course, the academy snubbed films like critics’ favorite, “Carol” and “Steve Jobs,” which many groups have cited a bias with-
in the academy for. “When I read the list for Best Picture, I was upset,” said CCM communication student, Hannah Thomas. “I loved ‘Carol’ and thought it really had a chance. I think the awards are going to be fun and elegant as always, but this year I feel like they’re going to be a little uncomfortable, given the situation.” No matter how great this year’s nominees are, and the hope for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally get his award, there are tense feelings surrounding the ceremony. The controversy and racist accusations against the Academy have truly had an impact on public opinion of the awards. “I don’t know if I really want to watch the Oscars this year,” film enthusiast and English student at CCM, Will Francik said. “I don’t want to give them views so maybe they’ll finally listen and award those who deserve it. I’ve seen every nominated film, and I just don’t get it. They weren’t great films. All had their flaws. The academy is stuffy and old; it definitely needs to change.” Perhaps it is time for the Academy Awards to change. The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Issacs, has put several new rules in play for next year’s nominations. She, as president has been changing elements about the Academy since she became president in 2013, and now three years later, bigger changes have come. Her Academy has been facing negative press since the nominations were released. No matter how much damage control and press junkets the Academy does in preparation for this year’s ceremony, the controversy will reign supreme in the thoughts of those watching and paying attention. No matter how many predictions or thoughts the public has on the subject, they will be watching carefully for the reaction to the current situation with racism and diversity in Hollywood. It could prove to be one of the most interesting ceremonies of the last 88 years, possibly since Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to accept his award in 1973.
PHOTO CREDIT: BERNIE SANDERS FACEBOOK
Does your vote matter? BY SANDRA RIANO Senior Opinion Editor
Senator Bernie Sanders received the most votes ever in the New Hampshire primary with 60 percent of the votes and 15 delegates while Hillary Clinton took 38 percent and technically tied with Sanders in delegates with 9 delegates and 6 superdelegates. With only two states votes accounted for, both candidates should be far from reaching the 2382 of 4763 delegates required to win the Democratic Party’s nomination. In fact Senator Sanders has 44 delegates after New Hampshire, and Clinton has 394. How can Clinton have almost 400 delegates when she lost New Hampshire and barely left Iowa with a victory? The answer is the superdelegates who often pledge before any votes are even cast. So how does this system work and how does it ensure that your vote is accounted for? First we need to understand how the delegate system works, not to be confused with the Electoral College that determines the outcome in the General Election. Each party, the Republican (RNC) and the Democratic (DNC) parties mainly, have delegates that decide the nominee for that party at the respective National Conventions. Each party uses a slightly different system for choosing the candidate who will be the nominee. Democrats use a system of pledged delegates and superdelegates. A superdelegate is a Democratic elected leader like a member of Congress or a former president. There are 712 superdelegates currently and Clinton has more than half of them but Democratic superdelegates have the power to switch over to another candidate regardless of popular vote. This is exactly what happened in 2008 that caused Clinton to lose the nomination when many of her superdelegates began switching their support over to Barack Obama. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, was quoted as having said “Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists“. Superdelegates are con-
sidered the party insiders and would most likely support an establishment candidate like Clinton over an anti-establishment candidate like Sanders. Republican superdelegates are called unpledged delegates, must be a current Republican elected leader and are required to vote for the candidate that won their state’s primary or caucus. There are 3,253 Democratic pledged delegates that are chosen by the party at the state level and they are often bound to a particular candidate but are not required to support them and can switch their loyalties at the convention. According to the DNC, “A delegate goes to the Convention with a signed pledge of support for a particular presidential candidate. At the Convention, while it is assumed that the delegate will cast their vote for the candidate they are publicly pledged to, it is not required”. So what does this mean for you? Recent counts have New Jersey at 146 total Democratic delegates including 16 superdelegates. New Jersey has one of the latest primary elections in the country, falling on Tuesday, June 7. Eligible New Jersey residents must be registered to vote by Tuesday, May 17 in order to vote in the primary election. Many feel that their vote doesn’t count because the primary is so late in the season that the party’s candidate is already picked. Obviously the party’s system of delegates and superdelegates has affected the way citizens see their right to vote. Citizens are not directly voting for their next president, they are voting instead for representative electors who will possibly choose the candidate that the citizens are calling for. This system leaves room for political corruption and makes citizens wary of their role in the political process. So if the system seems rigged why should you vote at all? Not voting means you are forfeiting your say in this country’s future and logically a party would nominate the candidate with the most votes overall in order to insure a win in the general election. Realistically, your vote does matter.
PHOTO CREDIT: FACEBOOK
PHOTO CREDIT: OSCAR FACEBOOK
PHOTO CREDIT: HILLARY CLINTON FACEBOOK
PAGE 6 THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION
FEATURES/SPORTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
NeedAMom offers mom for hire
New coaches, playoffs push winter sports season
BY LAURA CALDERON
Sports Editor
Entertainment Editor
Nina Keneally, a Brooklyn, New York based mother of two, made headlines nationwide last October when she made the decision to offer her mothering skills to young adults throughout the city and the interest hasn’t waned since. Keneally’s booming new business, NeedAMom, caters to 20 to 35 year olds who need a mother without the nagging, guilt tripping and emotional baggage some associate with biological ones. Keneally says that her service is for those who need a Mom, just not their mom. Keneally offers a list of services that are usually done by any mother for her child. Whether giving criticism-free advice over a cup of coffee, patiently waiting with you at the doctor’s office or preparing a home cooked meal, Keneally is open to helping in whatever field she can but hopes to make it clear that she is not to be mistaken for anyone’s maid. Struck with the idea after giving advice to her yoga class of young college students, Keneally began charging her services for $40 an hour with an additional traveling fee for any client residing outside of Brooklyn. Most recently, Keneally has added a texting session where you can send her messages directly for 30 minutes a day. At the County College of Morris the concept of rent-
PHOTO CREDIT: NEEDAMOM FACEBOOK
ing someone else’s mother to momentarily be yours is a foreign and has stirred some debate across campus. Shannon Dean, a hospitality management major at CCM feels the business is an extraordinary idea for young adults who find themselves far from home and in need of a parental figure from time to time. “I’m extremely close with my Mom,” said Dean, “And I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have her by my side everyday. She helps me make decisions and form opinions. So if someone is willing to help those who don’t have a parent physically there that’s amazing. I mean, there’s big brother and big sisters programs - how is this any different?” However, liberal arts major, Catherine Brown feels Keneally’s attempt to be a mother to all is a strange concept. “Hiring someone to pretend to be your mother is just wrong,” said Brown, “ No matter the situation - how much you spend or what you
do together this woman is not your mother. Paying her will only make you miss your real mom. The whole process is kind of a waste of time.” Keneally’s business has brought up numerous questions on the County College of Morris campus. What is considered appropriate and inappropriate along the lines of offering help to someone else’s child feel a sense of comfort? “New York is a one of the biggest cities in the world,” said fashion merchandising major, Crislaura Tatis, “ And it holds a huge youth population. Many individuals are away from home and don’t have a sense of family, so I could see why NeedAMom is such a success business. It’s selfless and helps so many people just genuinely feel better. But I think paying for it is what makes it so creepy. Like if I just need a hug, do I really need to hand over my credit card for that?”
BY BRETT FRIEDENSOHN The winter weather is waning as both basketball teams are closing out their seasons at the County College of Morris. The men’s basketball team made adjustments after the resignation of its head coach and adjustment to an assistant coach taking over, while the women’s basketball team nearly made a run to the playoffs. “They’ve been playing amazing,” said Brenda Denure, head coach of women’s basketball. “If all five of them play their game, we can beat anybody. We can beat Harcum, who’s number one.” That did not happen, however as the team’s chances of making the playoffs ended on Saturday, Feb.13 with a 91-40 loss to Harcum College. DeNure said that due to a concussion and knee injury to two of her players, her team lost the game. “Some of these girls are going to some great schools when they leave here,” said DeNure. “Not just basketball, but education-wise. They do well. Every single one of my girls except two is over a 3.0. I have two 3.7’s, 3.5. These girls are really great. Not just great athletes, but they’re great students.” The players themselves said they were pleased with the season’s progress. “We’re doing pretty well,” said Michaela Piserchia, women’s basketball player and hospitality management major. “Better than we did last year actually.” DeNure said that before this season, she refused to take the head coaching position that Athletic Di-
rector Jack Sullivan offered her, unless Jill Scully, with whom she coached children’s recreational basketball in Roxbury, was also hired to coach. “(Scully) calms me and when she gets frantic; I calm her,” DeNure said. “We just have a nice, rolling relationship. We get it.” Earlier this season, Anthony Obery replaced Eric Powe as head coach of men’s basketball after Powe resigned. “I feel pretty good; I feel confident,” Obery said. “Good group of guys, respectful. They show leadership with their adjustment. They didn’t think no different of Coach Powe on his retirement, but they be moving forward pretty well.” While his team did not make the playoffs this year, Obery said that he hoped his team can make the playoffs next season, and in order to do that, it must improve on defense. “I’m looking to push the pressure and tempo up a little bit,” Obery said. “Nobody wants to play defense; let’s put it that way. But I want those guys to understand that defense in this game means championships.” Basketball player Quentin Pharis had nothing but praise for Obery. “It’s great,” Pharis said. “We had him at the beginning of the season, and he was working for us, and now, we have him solo, so it works out better.” Both teams will try to make a playoff push come the end of the next fall semester, when the winter season begins.
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
ADVICE
THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION PAGE 7
Advice for sloppy schedule cleanup Get help from other students, advisers
BY SHILPA AMBADIPUDI Contributor
When registering for classes, students often find themselves stressed out, not sure how to make a good schedule. First time students either do not know what to expect or don’t know the ins and outs of creating a manageable schedule, but returning students have succeeded in figuring out what does and does not work for them. It takes some time to make the best possible schedule. As America’s youth grows up, they are pressured to take on more and more in preparation for future points of their lives. By the time someone reaches their junior year of high school, they should already be volunteering and looking for a job. They have to start learning how to use their time effectively to get everything done. However, a high school student has a very set, predictable schedule, at least when it comes to school. College is a completely different story. Students get to choose when they have class and when they don’t, provided the times they are searching for are available. While this flexibility may seem like a good thing, registration time seems to put more pressure on college students than finals week. There is so much stress that comes along with registration. Just because their official title from the age of 5 to around 24 is “student,” that does not mean that is all they are. Several County College of Morris students have commitments at home, as well as jobs they need to show up to and clubs they need to attend, and they need to learn how to schedule those responsibilities around class or learn how to schedule class around those obligations. So how do students manage? Psychology major Melissa Au-
mente had a clear cut idea. “I used to go to Montclair University, and it was a lot harder there,” Aumente said. “When I was there, I used to start by looking at all the days and times the classes I needed were offered, and made lists with their call numbers with my first preference schedule, my second preference, and so on. On registration day, I’d log in 10 minutes before my registration time and look to see if the classes I wanted were filled up, and if they were, I’d cross out the preferred schedules I’d need to cross out so I wouldn’t waste time trying to register for classes that were filled up.” Aumente mentioned that it was different now that she was at the County College of Morris. “There aren’t a lot of class time choices at CCM,” Aumente said. “Most classes are only offered at one time. But there aren’t specific registration times. You can log in and register for classes as soon as it opens as long as you see your advisor first.” When she was at Montclair, Aumente said her availability was as wide open as it could be. “I had no clubs to schedule around and made sure to only work on weekends so I could focus on school over the week and get the best class times,” Aumente said. “I learned pretty early on that even though I may have to take some early morning classes, I should try to avoid 7 a.m. classes, and I definitely wouldn’t take a 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. class in the same semester.” Now that she’s at CCM, Aumente works more hours and in order to make it easier on herself, she took as many morning classes as she could. “I also kept Fridays open, and took one afternoon and one evening class on Monday so that if I work late on Sundays, I don’t have to worry about it interfering
THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION The Student Newspaper of the County College of Morris County College of Morris • Mail Station SCC 226 214 Center Grove Rd., Randolph, NJ 07869-2086 Phone #: (973) 328-5224 Fax #: (973) 361-4031 E-mail: youngtownedition@gmail.com Editor-in-Chief.............................................................. Derek Allen Managing Editor...............................................................Beth Peter Acting News Editor.................................................... Amanda Aller Features Editor.................................................... Samuel Guglielmo Entertainment Editor................Victoria Pignatelli, Laura Calderon Sports Editor....................................................... Brett Friedensohn Senior Opinion Editor................................................ Sandra Riano Opinion Editor................................................................ Emily Betz Copy Editor................................................................ Marisa Goglia Senior Layout Editor............................................ Drew Notarnicola Paginator........................................................................ Frank Eaton Technical Adviser......................................................Wilma Martin Faculty Adviser........................................ Professor Russ Crespolini Circulation...........................Preeti Manekporia, Tanna Holzworth, Jason Robinson
Staff: Gina Fico, Shilpa Ambadipudi, Maria Serghiou, Stephanie Dechert, Zahir Jalallar
All students are welcome to contribute articles to The Youngtown Edition either in person or via e-mail. However, students cannot receive a byline if they belong to the organization on which they are reporting. The deadline for articles is the Monday prior to a production.
with my sleep and class schedule,” Aumente said. “Of course this meant I couldn’t take certain classes I wanted to take this semester, but they are all offered next semester as well, so if I can work as much as I can this semester, I can afford to be more flexible with work next semester.” Aumente said the best advice she had for making a good schedule was to take mid-morning and afternoon classes. “Morning classes are okay, as long as they are not too early, but the last thing you want to do is get stuck with a class that runs until 9:15 at night, I find myself finding it easy to get a good schedule at CCM, and even though there’s still some stress involved thanks to the fear that I won’t get the classes I want, it’s not as bad as when I was at Montclair.” Aumente said. Some students do not find it so easy however. Joel Bockhorn, a business major at CCM, knows that school is more important than a part time job, but did try to schedule himself so he could work more. “I started a job over the summer last year as a valet, and wanted to keep it, so I tried to give myself as many days off as I could,” Bockhorn said. “I couldn’t just work weekends because Towne Hyundai was closed on Sundays, but I ended up having three classes with no breaks on Wednesdays just so I could work.” Bockhorn said he’s doing things differently this semester though. “I quit my job before the semester started, and I knew I was going to do that so I spread my classes around when I registered.” Bockhorn said. Bockhorn said it was important for him to line up different classes on the same days. “I don’t want three on one day again, but I also don’t want
class every day,” Bockhorn said. “If I can get two on two separate days, and one on another, then I’d have two days off. Last semester I got Monday and Tuesday off, and this semester I have Thursday and Fridays off. If I get another job, I’ll have ample time to work, but still not have too stressful a schedule. I also try to schedule myself with my friends who are in my major and need to take the same classes as me.” Bockhorn said his advice for students is to try to pick the most efficient schedule that still allows time for a job and activities. “Oh, and night classes really suck, and night classes on Fridays are even worse, so I’d say try to finish as early as you can on most days,” Bockhorn said. “Especially Fridays.” Night classes seem to be a grievance of many students. Aumente said she wondered if professors hated them as much as students do. CCM professor Jonathan Kalafer did not seem to. “I think it is always a good time to learn. There are no bad times for class,” said Kalafer. Biology major Hannah Martin said this answer is, typical for a professor to say. “They probably don’t have any scheduling issues the way we do,” Martin said. “They probably don’t need to get home at a normal time like we do.” However, Kalafer does not agree. Kalafer, who is teaching a night class this semester, said he knows the importance of having free time and thinks it’s important for students and professors alike to share their schedules so they can have time for friends and family. In this way, professors are similar to students. Martin also had a conflict two semesters ago with one of her classes, and her adviser was able to help her re-
vise her schedule so she could take all the classes she needed and graduate from CCM on time. Martin said that she wasn’t sure if her adviser could do anything to help, but deciding to reach out to her was the best decision she could’ve made. “It helped immeasurably and gave me a new appreciation for the professors here,” Martin said. “They really do want you to succeed, and they understand that we have scheduling conflicts even if they don’t, and do their best to help. Ever since then I’ve always shown my schedule to my adviser and have her give me her thoughts before I declare it permanent.” When getting cleared by a professor for advisement, it helps to ask for a recommendation on scheduling. It’s hard to get the perfect schedule, but by following the advice of other students and teachers, it is possible to make the best schedule for you as an individual, and hopefully reduce the stress that the words ‘registration week’ bring.
Things to avoid: · Night classes · Early morning classes · Having too many classes on the same day · Issuing more importance to jobs or clubs than to class · Having class every day
Things to strive for: · Days off · Classes with friends · Moderate class times · Adviser approved schedule · Allow time for clubs and a job · Allow time to spend with friends and family
PAGE 8 THE YOUNGTOWN EDITION
FEATURES
PHOTO CREDIT FACEBOOK
Rivals not worth road rage BY SAMUEL GUGLIELMO Features Editor
In 2002 Sony released a PlayStation 2 vehicular combat game called Hardware: Online Arena. There wasn’t really much to the game and, outside of showing what the PlayStation 2’s online capabilities could be, it was mostly forgotten. Fourteen years later, Sony has brought back the IP as a multiplayer-only PlayStation 4 game. Yet was this car combat game worth bringing back? The first thing I can’t help but notice right away is just the lack of anything in this game. The game only features four different vehicles: two jeeps, that play the
same, and two tanks, that play the same. There’s only four game modes and they’re basically the exact ones everyone has seen in every other multiplayer game. There’s only four maps and they’re all completely forgettable. Even the menus just scream “we’re still adding content,” feeling empty and unused. Hardware: Rivals feels like it needed another solid six or so months of development before it was ready to be released, especially for a $20 asking price. To the game’s credit the developers have at least said that all new content for the game would be added for free. We’ll just have to see if the playerbase sticks around to get it. Once you actually get in-
game things improve slightly. Supporting up to ten players, Hardware: Rivals can get rather entertaining during a match. Jeeps and tanks play completely differently and are well balanced. Jeeps are fast and handle well, but their main weapon does very little damage and they’re easy to kill. Tanks are slow and awkward, but they do tons of damage and can take it too. The controls for both vehicles do take some getting used to. You have to hold down R2 to move forward, and your primary weapon is set to R1. It makes moving, aiming, and shooting at the same time a little difficult, though I was able to get used to it after a few matches. As you drive around you
FEBRUARY 24, 2016 can collect various secondary weapons. Ranging from missiles, to bouncing bombs, to railguns, there’s nothing particularly unique in Hardware: Rival’s arsenal, but what’s there works and feels good. The feeling of scoring a direct hit with a railgun is hard to replicate. Each stage also has a unique “level weapon” that spawns occasionally. Each one is basically some form of “kill everyone who doesn’t get to a certain location in a certain time period,” so don’t expect anything huge or creative here. Some of the visual effects for the weapons can be interesting though. The way the plasma weapon launches into the air to track the opponents was fun to watch, and the deep freeze slowly turning everything to ice while the map goes silent is particularly impressive. Yet interesting visuals are few and far in between, as everything else is basically just as average as it can get. It works, but it’s not noteworthy in anyway. Most of the soundtrack is the same way: lazy
techno that’s there and little else. Every kill I made and every match I won earned me some XP, which would level me up. Sadly, the rewards for leveling up never actually felt worth it. I would only really get one of two things: perks or paint jobs for my cars. The paint jobs were just that: just ways to make my vehicle look slightly different. The perks weren’t really anything of note. I could lock on a little faster or make better turns, but it never really felt noticeable enough to me. At least it kept the game from feeling unbalanced against newer players. Hardware: Rivals is there. That’s really the most I can say about it. It’s lacking content and what it does have falls squarely into the “just enough” category. It’s not nearly worth the $20 asking price, at least not unless they keep good on the promise of adding more to the game. If you need your competitive car fix then stick to Rocket League.
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Amplitude reloaded: Sony revives rhythm classic
BY SAMUEL GUGLIELMO Features Editor
The 2003 PlayStation 2 classic Amplitude is fondly remembered by fans of music games and after a successful Kickstarter campaign it seems we’re seeing an encore for the rhythm great. Yet is this remake worth jamming out to or should you just dig up the original? While Amplitude doesn’t have much of a story, as the campaign mode is 15 songs from a soundtrack made by Harmonix, the songs do follow a vague plot outline of someone using a robot to go into a girl’s brain and help jump-start it to bring her out of a coma. Otherwise there’s not really much to it outside of a few pre-song arguments between two doctors over if this will actually work or not. Gameplay is simple in Amplitude, but extremely addictive. You travel down a lane of notes that correspond to a specific instrument or vocal track in the song. You hit the notes with L1, R1, and R2, and once you clear enough notes off of that lane you’ll get a batch of points and jump to a
different lane. This requires you to be paying attention to all parts of a song, as one minute you could be playing along with a drum before jumping over to the vocal track before heading over to the synthesizer. Helping with these are power-ups that you can earn for playing specific sections of the songs correctly. These power-ups let the player do things like slow songs down, destroy parts of note highways, or bump up a multiplier. The game can also be played local multiplayer with up to four others. You can either cooperate with your friends to get the highest score possible, or you can throw power-downs at each other to confuse them. It’s a fun, if unessential, mode that I was mildly disappointed was only local and not online as well. While the system is unique and addictive, it does have its drawbacks. The major one is that it’s tough to see note lanes far away from the one you’re on. Often I would lose a combo because I would switch to a lane and be unable to react to a sudden note that I was unable to see. There is a bit of a fix in Freq mode, which
turns the game into a tunnel instead of a highway, but it requires beating the campaign once which means it’s not available from the start. Speaking of having to beat the campaign, the vast majority of Amplitude’s 30 song playlist starts off locked. A few are unlocked by scoring well enough in the campaign, which is annoying because if you miss one you can’t just replay a section of the campaign to get it: you need to replay the whole thing which can take about two hours. The rest are just grinding: requiring me to play a large amount of songs so I can unlock a few more. There’s no good reason for this to be in the game, it’s just a waste of time to get to songs I actually want. Of course a rhythm game lives or dies on its songs. All music is subjective, but I found the soundtrack to be mostly PHOTO CREDIT FACEBOOK fantastic with a few stink-
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ers. Harmonix’s 15 song campaign is all pretty similar sounding, as it achieves a consistent style for its story. I actually thought these were the best songs of the game. It’s the 15 other songs that really vary in quality. Some of the freeplay songs are taken from other games, tracks from Skullgirls, Transistor, and A City Sleeps show up here and they were fine. A couple donated by Kickstarter backers were easily the worst two of the bunch: both felt like a weird amateur hour that didn’t seem to belong. A song detailing the history of Insomniac Games, besides not fitting at all, is difficult to pay attention to because I’m busy hitting notes. By the end my biggest problem is that it’s only 30 songs, so it feels like this track list is a bit small. Most of what is there is great at least, so I didn’t mind replaying some of it. Amplitude is an interesting remake. The gameplay is fantastic and the song list is mostly great despite its smaller size. There are some extremely questionable decisions, the locked songs being one of the biggest, but overall fans of rhythm games should find a lot to love here.