april 14, 2011 - issue 10

Volume 73, Issue 10 www.theonlinebeacon.com Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Beacon- Student Newspaper of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Mass. -

Lanzoni reflects on JapanBy Ed Damon

Managing Editor

For Aya Lanzoni, the disaster in Japan hit close to home. The MCLA sophomore has several family members from her mother’s side in Japan.

Her grandmother, aunt, uncle and baby cousin all live about half an hour away from Tokyo, she said. Her grandfather lives in a nursing home about an hour away from To-kyo.

“I heard about the tsunami (from) my step-dad, who called me really early in the morn-ing,” she said.

“That day, I really just went through the mo-tions. I watched the news, and actually got mad the news,” she said. Lanzoni said TV news described images of the tsunami as ‘in-credible’ and ‘fantastic,’ which she thought was poor choice of wording.

To Lanzoni and her mother’s relief, none of her family members were hurt.

“She was shaken up about it,” she said of her mother, who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. at in her early twenties. “For the first few weeks we couldn’t get in contact with anyone. When we finally did, we couldn’t get in contact with my grandfather because the nursing home he was in didn’t have electric-ity.”

Lanzoni said though there’s a language bar-rier between her and her mother’s family – neither speaks the other’s language very well – the family is still close.

“My mother’s fluent in Japanese and speaks to them for me,” she said. “She tells me what they want to know about me, and occasionally we’ll talk over the phone.”

Overall, she said, her mother handled it the best she could. The hardest part was not being able to control anything.

Now, her mother and stepfather are working to help with the Japan relief. Her mother’s best friend since junior high school owns a rice farm, she said.

“For the week, one person gets one small bowl of rice, which isn’t a lot at all,” she said.

Lanzoni said it’s great that different groups on the MCLA campus are helping out with Ja-pan relief, too.

“Not knowing anything is kind of scary,” she said. “Especially when it’s something you don’t have control over.”

Lanzoni, an English major who is seriously considering adding a journalism concentra-tion, dreams of writing for “Alternative Press” magazine.

“It’s a music magazine for alternative genre music, as well as hardcore, metal and punk,” she said.

Lanzoni said she’s been working with her friend Shaniqua Choice to put together a tal-ent show on the MCLA campus, with pro-ceeds going to help the tsunami relief.

“We’re collecting any donations,” Lanzoni said. Money, clothing and non-perishable food will be collected.

The Dance for Japan! talent show for tsuna-mi relief is tonight, Thursday April 13 at 7p.m. in Sullivan Lounge.

Photo by Mark Burridge/Beacon staffAya Lanzoni has relatives in Japan.

Yorick’s ‘Taming’ premiers tonight

By Laura FieldStaff Writer

A battle-of-the-sexes comedy is coming to MCLA tonight, Shakespearean-style. Yorick, MCLA’s Shakespeare club, will be putting on the 500-year-old production “The Taming of the Shrew”. The performance is in Venable Theatre tonight, Friday night and Saturday night at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

“I expect the audience to re-ally enjoy themselves because it’s a farce,” says director and costume designer Mary Marcil. “It’s so funny… You get some comedy, some slapstick and you get all these different things the people will enjoy.”

The plot revolves around a woman named Katharina who is undesirable for marriage be-cause of her headstrong and quick-witted manner. Alterna-tively, three men long to marry her younger and more amiable sister Bianca. Their mother does not allow the latter to marry unless the older daugh-ter has a husband so some of Bianca’s suitors find a man to tame “the shrew,” thus the title of the play. If the story sounds familiar, the movie “Ten Things I Hate About You” was based on “Taming of the Shrew”.

TAMING contin-ued on 0

By Edward McCormickStaff Writer

MCLA officials are in negotia-tions with two major cell phone providers in an attempt to im-prove service on the campus. Mark Berman the Chief Informa-tion Officer for the College has met with representatives from AT&T and Verizon to explore op-tions.

“We’re interested in having them come to the table and tell us how soon,” Vice President of Adminis-tration and Finance Jim Stakenas said. His office oversees the pro-cess. “We would really like to do it as soon as practicable. We hope we have a solution and we hope to get them to the table and finish this up.”

“We recognize that our school population uses cell phones. We also recognize that we’re in a blind spot to AT&T and Verizon cell services,” Stakenas said. He has been working on the issue for ten years trying to find a cost ef-fective solution that is beneficial to students. “We almost feel like it’s a requirement to improve that service because cell phones are used for e-mail, connectivity, text messaging … and you need a sig-nal to do that.”

“The closest tower now is on top of Florida Mountain,” said Ber-man. Cell phone signals around

campus are blocked by a hill ac-cording to Berman. This phe-nomenon is called topographic shading. The next closest tower is in Adams. “What signal we do get here comes from that tower, but the closer you get to [Florida Mountain] the less good the sig-nal is,”

“I remember cell phone re-ception being total hell before I moved off campus,” said senior Niall Quinn, an English major.

“The area along Church Street, from Pleasant St. to Bradley is problematic,” North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright said. Cell phone reception affects the city as well as the campus. Lo-cal businesses on Ashland Street also have poor reception. Mayor Alcombright noted that 911 ser-vices could be affected. “I would complement the college on any at-tempt to improve cell phone ser-vice in the city. City Hall would be more than happy to help.”

It is not known yet if improve-ments at the College would ben-efit the city.

“With Verizon we think they are talking about actually putting external antennae on Berkshire Towers and the Campus Center, and that might have a benefit for the surrounding neighborhood,” said Berman. AT&T is exploring other options. “They are talking primarily about a distributing antennae system, which provides

a signal inside the building; it would bleed out a little bit but not much.”

Placing a tower on top of resi-dence buildings poses a key prob-lem.

“One of the things a cell provid-er would want is 24 hour access and we have to figure out how to safely provide that, which is a greater challenge in a residence hall than in a classroom building,” Stakenas said.

“Residence halls are very secure and the only people in there are students or people with very spe-cific clearance to be in there,” said Berman.

“We’re not excited about it going on the roof of a residence hall for that reason,” said Stakenas.

Besides security, there are other issues involving the placement of

either cell phone towers or the distributing antennae system on campus buildings.

“The classroom buildings are owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the residence halls are owned by the Massa-chusetts State College Building Authority,” said Stakenas. Final approval rests in the two bureau-cracies’ hands. “We have informa-tion out to them to ensure that what we install is within their pa-rameters.”

“I have been working on this for ten years, the solution has to be beneficial to us and the students and it has to be cost effective,” said Stakenas.

Representatives for Verizon and AT&T could not be reached for this article.

College works to fix cell service

Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon staffPeter Prange tries to get cell service in the Townhouse complex.

Inside the Beacon:

Pg. 3 Hiroshima surviror speaks at MCLA

Pg. 10 An inter-view with local Slam poet Phoenix

Pg. MCLA places fourth in golf tour-nament.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 www.theonlinebeacon.com

News

This week in MCLA HistoryApril 14, 1988

The Beacon reported on a bomb scare involving Bowman Hall. Campus police received a call between 11:15 and 11:20 a.m. claiming that a bomb was planted in Bowman that would detonate at 2 p.m. The fire alarm in Bowman was pulled at 1:40 p.m. and the entire building was evacuated. After a thorough

search of the building, officers found nothing suspicious. “Generally, the problem is called in by a student who doesn’t want to take an exam,” said John DiLego, Campus Police Director.

April 15, 1993According to The Beacon’s “Police Beat,” campus police received a report of pledges running naked up

Blackinton Street at 6:45 p.m.

April 18, 1991The NASC Judicial Board found a townhouse resident guilty on two counts related to the possession of a handgun. The student was suspended for the remainder of the semester and for the following

academic year. The weapon was found after an anonymous tip was received by campus police. They, along with the Office of Residential Life, searched the student’s townhouse and discovered the weapon

in a desk drawer.

That’s...interestingStories of the bizarre from

around the globe

BANGKOK (AP) _ Authori-ties in Thailand have seized 1,800 monitor lizards being smuggled on pickup trucks to the capital.

Customs officials say the Bengal monitor lizards were hidden in mesh bags and stashed in open containers behind boxes of fruit in three pickup trucks. They were seized Thursday at a check-point in southern Thailand.

Customs Department chief Prasong Poontaneat said Fri-day he suspects the lizards were destined to be eaten. He said their meat sells for $7.50-$15 per pound ($16-$33 per kilogram) in China, mak-ing them worth more than $60,000.

International trade in the reptiles is banned. In Thai-land, illegal sale of wildlife carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a fine of $1,300.

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) _ A Pennsylvania judge says a dirty windshield was a good enough reason to initi-ate a traffic stop that even-tually led to drug charges against two people.

Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan said Thursday a state trooper acted lawfully in pulling over James Rupp last February. Sullivan said the truck’s grimy windshield was obscuring Rupp’s view of the roadway so the traffic stop was legal.

The Altoona Mirror re-ports Trooper Steven Lucia found Rupp and a passenger acting suspiciously, prompt-ing them to be taken into custody. Subsequent search-es turned up heroin and drug paraphernalia.

Rupp is due in court again May 9.

5 April 8:06 p.m.Public Safety respond-ed to a report of a motor vehicle accident in a townhouse park-ing lot. Services were rendered.

6 April 9:06 a.m.Public Safety respond-ed to a report of a suspicious package in Venable Hall. The re-port was investigated.

6 April 1:33 p.m.Public Safety respond-ed to a report of van-dalism at the Athletic Complex. A report was filed.

26 March 12:53 a.m.Public Safety re-sponded to a report of a fire in the townhouse complexes. A report was filed.

By the numbersDuring week ending April 9 PS responded to:

20 Requests to unlock doors3 Parking issues2 Reports of suspicious activity1 Drug offense

Police Logs

Gorilla Tactics

Photo by Dan Sheehan/Beacon staffSenior Chris Satterlee was the Beacon’s gorilla for our April Fool’s issue. This is on of the outtake photos.

New Beacon Web site launched

Check outTheOnlineBeacon.com for all of the latest news on campus, plus additional stories, pictures and video that you can’t find in the print edition.Also, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Get those updates any way possible!And don’t forget to check out The Beac, MCLA’s Artist E-Zine at TheBeac.Weebly.com and make sure to sub-mit some content and get noticed!

Scan this with a smartphone to go to the Beacon Web site!

Gorilla Tactics

Photo by Dan Sheehan/Beacon staffSenior Chris Satterlee was the Beacon’s gorilla for our April Fool’s issue. This is on of the outtake photos.

New Beacon Web site launched

Check outTheOnlineBeacon.com for all of the latest news on campus, plus additional stories, pictures and video that you can’t find in the print edition.Also, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Get those updates any way possible!And don’t forget to check out The Beac, MCLA’s Artist E-Zine at TheBeac.Weebly.com and make sure to sub-mit some content and get noticed!

Scan this with a smartphone to go to the Beacon Web site!


News

Brown Bag Lecture series concludes

By Skyla SeamansStaff Writer

Interdisciplinary Studies profes-sor William Montgomery spoke on the topic “Did Technology Drive the Nuclear Arms Race?” as the final lecture of the semester in the Brown Bag series.

On Friday, April 8, students, faculty, staff, and community members joined Montgomery in the Smith House to take a look at the history of nuclear power and where it is headed.

“The topic struck me this past winter when I read an article on the history of technology by Alex Roland,” Montgomery said: “Was the nuclear arms race determin-istic? No, it was not. There were other causes, not just technology.”

Montgomery’s lecture explored the history of nuclear weapons and how the topic of an arms race has preoccupied historians over time.

“The argument about the arms race is an old one,” he said. “It was raised about nuclear weapons even before they existed.”

Montgomery touched upon nuclear power in World War II, saying the U.S. did not have enough armaments and were unprepared in this aspect even though we were thought to have too many.

He talked about the Franck Re-port, a document signed in 1945 by prominent nuclear physicists recommending the U.S. not use the atomic bomb as a weapon to force Japan to surrender during World War II.

“The rationale was that we did not want an arms race,” Mont-gomery said. “We should do all we can not to have one.”

He then talked about Sputnik and the need for missiles in the 1950s. This led to the develop-ment of the Nike Zeus missile, along with the Sprint missile. He said new technology led to im-proved radar systems and more advanced missiles.

His lecture also tackled the topics of multiple warheads, or MIRVs, and anti-ballistic mis-siles, or ABMs.

“So here we were, it was not cost-effective to build defensive missiles and it could lead to an arms race,” he said. “MIRVs pro-vides a picture of an arms race where technology drives the sys-tem.”

He said arms races were both involved in the Cold War, during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Able Archer Crisis of 1983.

“It is true that arms race issues were involved in these two crises,” he said. “But some of the defense experts had argued all along that arms races are not technologically driven.”

Junior Cameron Eisen, who is currently enrolled in Montgom-ery’s Nuclear Age class, attended the lecture and said he has al-ways been fascinated with nuclear power.

BROWN BAG continued on page 13

By Chris GoodellSenior News Editor

History professor Petra He-jnova has been immersed in politics almost her entire life.

Growing up in a town just outside of Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia, Hejno-va got a first-hand look at the communist uprisings.

“Growing up, when I was 13 or 14, I was fascinated by the uprisings,” Hejnova said. This fascination led to her eventual career in political science and public policy.

Hejnova moved perma-nently to the United States in 2002, although she had vis-ited several times previously as an exchange student. She earned her undergraduate de-gree from Charles University in Prague in Sociology and Social Policy, and went on to earn a master’s degree from Charles in Political Science and Social Policy, as well as a master’s from Syracuse Uni-versity in New York in Politi-cal Science.

Hejnova pointed out that going to school in Prague was very different than school in the United States.

“We were expected to listen and memorize,” Hejnova said, adding that most classes were lecture-based and students rarely asked questions or ana-

lyzed. “In some ways it was easier, but also more frustrat-ing.”

Now in her second year at the College and planning to finish her doctoral disserta-tion this year, Hejnova feels fortunate to have the oppor-tunity to teach.

“When I was looking for a job I knew I wanted to be at a small teaching school,” He-jnova said, which is how she arrived at MCLA.

“It was very clear that there was a sense of community,” Hejnova said of the College. “I fell in love with the people. I love the students and the faculty.”

Hejnova also sits on the Women’s Center board and believes that her background in sociology is closely related to her knowledge of political science and public policy.

“I always worked on the bor-der of sociology and politi-cal science,” Hejnova said. “I continue to do interdisciplin-ary studies here at MCLA.”

Outside of the classroom Hejnova is also an advocate for animal rights and volun-teers with the New England Border Collie Rescue. She has two dogs of her own, one Bor-der Collie and one Lab, and is usually fostering a rescue dog as well.

From Prague to N. Adams

Tyson Luneau/Beacon staff

Professor Hejnova is working on her doctoral dissertation.

Hiroshima survivor speaks at MCLA

By Edward DamonManaging Editor

The audience in a Bowman lec-ture hall Tuesday received a rare opportunity.

“We usually must learn from secondary sources,” history pro-fessor Kailai Huang said. “Today, we have a rare opportunity to learn from a primary source.”

Takaaki “James” Morikawa, sur-vivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, spoke Tues-day about his experience follow-ing the disaster.

Morikawa described how the city has since rebuilt after the bombing.

“With 1.2 million people, it’s the tenth largest city in Japan,” Mori-kawa said. “It receives more than 10 million visitors a year, with over 300 thousand of them for-eigners.”

The bombing of the city is still embedded in the consciousness of Hiroshima’s citizens. One of the top tourist attractions is Peace Memorial Park, which Morikawa said expresses the people of Hi-roshima’s sincere desire for world peace.

When Hiroshima was bombed, Morikawa was hospitalized at Kubo hospital for a major illness with his mother and sister, about five miles away from the hypocen-ter.

“All of a sudden, the eastern sky became dazzling white,” he said. “We had no idea what was happening. All we could do was pray to God and wait for it to

pass.” Shortly after the blast, Morikawa

described a sticky rain, not easily removed from skin and clothing.

“Soot and other debris was car-ried by hot air into the sky,” he said. “This became mixed with water vapor and fell back to earth, in what came to be called as black rain. Though it was summer, the temperature dropped sharply. Children shivered in the rain.”

The hospital wasn’t well equipped, Morikawa said, but was soon flooded with horribly injured victims of the bombing, begging for treatment.

Morikawa described how his father was relatively close to the blast, but still survived.

His father, Hiroshi, worked at the Hiroshima Central Broadcast-ing Station. At the exact moment the bomb dropped he was climb-ing stairs to the second floor, but he survived because the staircase was well protected.

Morikawa also described the social effects of the bomb. Many victims faced discrimination, not only for physical deformities caused by the blast. Long-term ef-fects from radiation are an invis-ible threat.

Apart from looks, they consider the next generation,” he said, re-ferring to children who may in-herit diseases caused by radiation.

H I R O S H I M A continued on page 13.

By Andrew RoiterEditor-in-Chief

The UN Security Council ad-opted resolution 1973 just under a month ago. The resolution cre-ated an internationally supported no-fly zone over Libya to protect opposition forces from aerial strikes by Col. Muammar Gad-dafi’s loyalists.

Within days, French fighter jets began patrolling the airspace over Libya and US warships launched tomahawk missiles at Libya loyal-ist airbases. The US turned over control of “Operation Odyssey” to NATO forces shortly thereaf-ter, but nevertheless the operation stirred up controversy both in the US and abroad.

“It is simply the latest in a seem-ingly endless string of immoral, unconstitutional, and counter-productive interventions in oil-rich Muslim countries designed to secure corporate access to nat-ural resources and to create new markets for war-related products and services,” said philosophy professor David Johnson, who maintains the politically con-scious philosophy blog www.cri-tojazz.blogspot.com.

But Johnson’s opinion is just one of many on campus about the Western involvement in the Libyan theatre.

“Bottom line: we’re helping peo-ple who asked for help, whether oil is a motivation or not is irrel-evant” junior Todd Foy said. Foy is a political science and public policy major who is interning for John Kerry’s office this summer. “If the oppressed world can’t help the oppressed world, then I don’t know what kind of world we live in.”

Professor of political science Bob Bence agrees that oil was not a motivation, but did not feel strongly one way or another about the subject of NATO involvement in Libya.

“I’m ambivalent, for the main reason that we don’t know who all the players are and we have very little control over what will even-tually happen [there],” Bence said. “I don’t think it’s going to play out well, but it could.”

Political science professor Don-ald Pecor echoes similar concerns. He feels that the conflict is a civil war and that we do not know who the rebels actually are.

“As much as you say, ‘oh if we could just get rid of [Gadaffi]… Unfortunately, we’re very lim-ited in what we can do.” Pecor said. Pecor has personal reasons for wanting to see Gadaffi out of power. He had a close former stu-dent who died on Pan Am Flight 103, a terrorist attack in the 1980s

widely believed to have been or-dered by Gadaffi.

But Foy believes that NATO should increase its presence in Libya.

“I think there should have been more ground involvement,” Foy said. “[And] I think it’s key, even after Gadaffi is deposed, that there should be an international task force to make sure that democ-racy is enforced.”

However, Pecor is concerned about how more action would af-fect the US.

“It’s not in our interest to have a military presence in the Arab world,” he said. “Where do you draw the line [for intervention]…At what point does it become a full scale war with that part of the world?”

But some voices on campus were able to find something they approved of about Western in-volvement in Libya.

“If a leader is oppressing and/or killing their own people then they don’t deserve sovereignty any-more,” sophomore Korinna Den-nehey said.

“I’m pleased that the President showed care for international humanitarian issues,” Bence said. “[But] it’s a possibility that Obama will lose support in the US for this. He may have made a mistake, but he showed courage.”

NATO actions sparks debate


Op-Ed

Campus CommentWhat do you think about the recent changes to the RPS housing guidelines?

Compiled by Cara Sheedy/Beacon staff

Matter of opinionInstead of claiming an

opinion about the state of media this week I am going to dedicate my column to reiterating the Beacon’s poli-cies.

In this issue we are run-ning a letter to the editor by Walter Bouchard regarding an article we ran last week about RPS changing its poli-cies.

In his letter, Bouchard criticizes the Beacon for not getting student input on the RPS changes. We accept and appreciate criticism of the Beacon as it helps us im-prove the paper and better serve the MCLA community.

We would like to point out that not every piece in the Beacon is dedicated to ad-vancing a political cause. Re-gardless of how I feel about RPS changing its policies, we ran an announcement. We have followed up on that announcement with a cam-pus comment (see right) to help the students of MCLA express their opinions on the matter in our public forum.

We however do not ap-prove of personal attacks on administration, regardless of our opinions on their poli-cies.

That is why I would like to put special emphasis on the fact that the opinions expressed in the Beacon are not necessarily held by the rest of the staff. Opinions are just that.

No matter what I say in this column there may be people on staff who disagree, which is why we put our photos with each column to help identify what is fact and what is opinion.

In summation, the Beacon as a whole does not take an official stance on the sug-gestions Bouchard provided in his letter. We do however condemn the personal at-tacks made in it.

We do believe that an open dialogue is the best way to fix problems.

I don’t think they’re quite perfect-ed yet, they need some work.

-Michael Feloni ‘13

Media Mogul

By Andrew RoiterEditor-in-Chief

Editorial Board The BeaconEditor-in-Chief Andrew Roiter

Managing Editor Edward Damon

Senior News Editor Chris Goodell

Sports Editor Christopher Fries

A&E EditorMary Redstone

Features EditorJohn Durkan

Design EditorSiobhan Tripp

Photo Editor Dan Sheehan

Copy Chief Melissa DeGenova

Ad Manager Tatyana Gorski

Business Manager Melissa Notarangelo

Web Editor Jeffrey Shapiro

Writers

News Andrea WhitneySkyla SeamansNicole KnappEd McCormickLaura Field

SportsBrendan FoleyPhil MabeyKaitland Hager Costia Karolinski A&ERobert MangiameleSteve O’ConnorSiobhan Tripp

Contributors

Cartoonist Kaleigh McKinley

CrosswordJacob Wheeler Design Team Kristy McCluskey

Photographers Tyson LuneauCara SheedyMark BurridgeDennise Carranza

Videographers Kim PincusGena Conlon

ColumnistsMark BurridgeJack DemingShataya Pride

HoroscopesAngelena Rouse-McCarthy Copy Editors Shataya PrideJack DemingMelissa DeGenovaLiz WearJessica WrightCharles Baker

Business

Ad Representatives Andrew ElliotCorinne BeaucheminJennifer KesewaJacob McCallTano Holmes

AdvisersJenifer AugurPaul LeSageGillian Jones

Policies The Beacon is published Thursdays during the academic year and is distributed free to the College community. The Beacon is funded by the Student Government Association, the English

Communications department and from ad revenues. The Beacon is located in room 111 of Mark Hopkins Hall at

MCLA. The news desk phone number is 413-662-5535. The business office phone number 413-662-5404. To contact us via the web, the e-mail address is [email protected]. The Beacon website

address is www.theonlinebeacon.comMission Statement

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Editorials Policy Unsigned editorials that appear on these pages reflect the views of The Beacon’s editorial board. Signed columns and

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Letters Policy The Beacon welcomes Letters to the Editor. Deadline is noon

on Mondays for that week’s newspaper. Letters should be kept to 500 words or fewer and are subject to editing for grammar and content. The Beacon will not

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I think that being able to make a coed townhouse regardless of age makes it easier on the students, but it is defiantly something that can be abused.-Lizzy Mullen ‘13

I don’t have an opinion on the new policy because I will be liv-ing off campus.

-Tim Fish ‘12

My first thought is finally and my second thought is this might ruin friendships.

-Patricia Deoliveira ‘12

I feel like RPS should stop being so strict. Let us do what we want.

-Israel Diaz ‘11

I think its “suite” if you can do a coed house your junior year you should be able to do it your sophomore year. It’s not like you grow up in a year.

-Faith McCarthy ‘13


Op-Ed

He’s Back! A familiar face just busted back on the scene like Kramer sliding into Jerry Sein-feld’s apartment for a bowl of ce-real; bearing the usual big ideas. Mitt Romney has officially de-clared himself as Obama’s rival for the coming 19 months. And why

not; not since Warren Harding was described as a guy who “looks like a president” has a guy that…well, looked like a president.

Those of us from Massachusetts know Mitt Romney as that out-sider who swept in from Salt Lake City off the coattails of impressive Olympic face saving to shake up Massachusetts, and “clean up the mess on Beacon Hill.’’ And you know what – he did. When Rom-ney came into office in 2002, Mas-sachusetts was facing a ballooning $3 Billion deficit, job loss, and of course, the Big Dig.

Romney came in as what the Boston Globe called “a Self-styled CEO governor” and embarked on a mission he referred to as “the most significant restructuring of state government in half a cen-tury.’’

Stirring his cauldron of fiscal wizardry, Romney turned the state deficit into a $700 million surplus

by the end of 2004; by raising tax-es on property, businesses, and gas delivery, implementing new fees and internet sales tax, and cutting spending on state programs.

Romney is a businessman, and using the power vested in him, he made the tough decisions that Massachusetts residents may not have liked. Think of it this way: Romney had to do what he had to do to balance the books, while still allowing Mass. to keep its favorite nickname “Taxachusetts.”

Romney made big strides in health care for the people of Mas-sachusetts; even winning support from Health-care champion and revered life-term senate democrat Edward Kennedy with his man-date of health insurance for all Massachusett-ians. This mandate required all state residents to have health insurance, provided a plan is available and determined to be affordable by the Commonwealth

Health Insurance Connector Au-thority.

This plan was not perfect, after all folks like me are turned down for free health insurance by the state every year because of our status as students, forced instead to foot the bill and take the school health coverage.

Either way, Romney came out looking like a slick winner. “It’s liberal in the sense that we’re get-ting our citizens health insurance. It’s conservative in that we’re not getting a government takeover.”

Is Romney right for America? Is he better than Obama? Will he even win the nomination? These questions will be answered in time, but as long as the Republi-can Party considers businessmen and CEO’s as possible leaders, Romney has proven his worth. Us Massachusetts folks might have a collective déjà vu by the time 2013 rolls around.

Mr. Manager

By Ed DamonManaging Editor

Whose Oppression is This Anyway?

Just A Thought

By Shataya PrideColumnist

Last week, I mentioned that schools should not be given the “right” to determine how a child should or should not wear his or her hair and on Monday, a ban on burqas went into effect in France. So now I’m really wondering

where the freedom went. According to an Associated Press

article on the CBC News Web site, “The measure would outlaw face-covering veils in streets, including those worn by tourists from the Middle East and elsewhere. It is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women’s dignity and security, as well as upholding France’s secular values and way of life.”

Women found wearing the burqa or other full-face veil will be fined approximately $216 and/or a forced to take a citizenship course, and anyone found forcing a woman to wear a full-face veil will be fined $43,383 and face a year in prison.

This seems extreme, ethnocen-tric and unbelievable. This isn’t on the same level as telling an urban child that he can’t wear his hair in braids, but the end result would be the same: conformity.

This idea of creating “equal-ity” is understandable, but at the same time, banning an aspect of one’s religious and/or cultural be-liefs is the same as saying that this group’s belief is not equal to that of the country’s leaders; this doesn’t create equality, but instead sepa-ratism.

In an article written about the ban on burqas by Kerri Pieri, a writer for StyleCaster, she wrote “I feel torn on this issue because I do believe that burqas are an antiquated, oppressive practice that only women are subjected to, which I don’t think has a place in free societies. However, it also seems pompous of a country to force its beliefs about a religion and its practices on 6 million peo-ple.” I thoroughly agree with this point, because although people might have outside views about the burqa’s purpose, it is not their

right to dictate what Muslims should change about their reli-gion.

It can be said that the burqa’s purpose is to help Muslim women maintain their modesty, but to many the burqa is associated with oppression and subservience. In some ways, it seems that these Muslim women’s views aren’t tak-en into consideration, especially considering the fact that women have protested this ban since it was put into effect. If Muslim women were in strong agreement with this ban, there would be none trying to protest it. Instead of try-ing to veer people in the direction that is “desirable,” a country’s lead-ers should consider its people’s preferences.

Isn’t banning something that is sometimes a woman’s choice also oppressive because it gives her no choice? Just food for thought.

Welcome back Rom-nerJungle Work

By John DemingColumnist

Letter to the Editor

Don’t Party Too Hard

Recently, I turned 21. I had a pretty good night.

But I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how many stories I hear where people have pretty rough twenty-first birthdays, either from drinking too much or having trouble with the law.

Also, when faced with some sta-tistics, it’s easy to see that people aren’t partying safetly. In 2009, 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 were unintentionally injured under the influence of al-cohol, and 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 died from alcohol-related unintention-al injuries, including motor vehi-cle crashes. (Hingson et al., 2009)

I thought it would be appropri-ate, then, to use this column to give out some safety tips for peo-ple who choose to drink. Here are some general suggestions:

-Eat something before you go out. A full stomach slows absorp-tion of alcohol.

-Pay attention to how many drinks, or servings of alcohol, you’ve had. One bottle of beer = 1 small glass of wine = 1 shot of hard liquor.

-Drink in moderation. Don’t let others top off your drinks. Finish one first so you can keep track of how many drinks you’ve had.

-Alternate between drinking al-cohol and a non-alcoholic drink. When you’re out, it’s easy to keep chugging a drink and lose track of how much you’ve had. Drink some soda, or even better some water, until the last drink hits you.

Also, it’s important to plan your night:

-Don’t go out alone and don’t leave drinks unattended.

-Have an idea of where you’re going, how you’re getting there, and how you’re getting home. Be-ing stranded at 2 a.m. is no fun.

-If you’re driving to a bar, choose a designated driver! Or, take a taxi.!

-If one of your friends is sick from alcohol, don’t leave them. Get help for them.

The most important thing I want to stress is to not drink and drive. Luckily for us, there’s a bunch of places which serve alcohol near us that we can walk to – Pitchers Mound, Elf Parlor, Freight Yard Pub and Desperados.

Also, check out the Sushi House on Main Street, a new restaurant that opened this year. I highly recommend the scorpion bowl. Along with being close to campus, the sushi is priced decently.

In the Thursday, April 7, 2011 issue, The Beacon ran an article below the fold on the first page with the headline “RPS relaxes housing restric-tions.” While I do think that issues of residency restric-tion are of great concern to the student body and deserve page one discussion, I believe wholeheartedly that the ar-ticle that was run completely mischaracterizes the situation between RPS and students.

Yes, it is factually true that RPS has “relaxed” one re-striction that it had formerly imposed on students. But it remains that RPS still has un-due power and influence over students in the living spaces they pay for, and exercises it without check or balance.

If RPS truly were to relax housing restrictions it would reduce the residency and meal plan requirement from three years to two. They would cease incursions into the pri-vate lives of their students in their private spaces. They would put into place a “Good Samarian” policy, regarding seeking help for intoxicated students requiring medical at-tention. They would do away with arbitrary and restrictive standards on acceptable light-ing sources, or use of tape on floors, how you decorate in your house, etc. They would abolish, or at the very least reform seriously, the system of fines and general probation that puts students on egg-shells. They would certainly

not be contributing stresses to the already stressful and com-petitive educational environ-ment.

However, this has not been the history of RPS. In the article The Beacon quotes Dianne Manning five times, but uses no other sources; student opinion is not repre-sented. If The Beacon wishes to be the “Student Newspaper of MCLA” that it claims to be, it should represent student opinion and student interest.

It is NOT in the interests of the student populace to give Diane Manning a soap box to stand on, to celebrate the tiny instance where RPS has done its job and served a student interest. We, the students, are adults, and if we are expected

to act as such, we expect to be so treated. The fact that RPS is only now allowing second-year’s co-ed living spaces speaks to the ineptitude of the system to reflect student needs, rather than its good works.

I was happy to see Todd Foy’s letters to The Beacon an-nouncing his intent to run for the Presidency of SGA, and to take on the restrictive policies of RPS. I will be voting for Todd. Amongst the students I have seen and heard with my eyes and ears that this repre-sents the student voice.

I just wish the student news paper would as well.

Sincerely,Walter Bouchard, ‘12


Fun&Games

The Beacon’s CrosswordBy Jacob Wheeler

Aries (March 20-April 20) Be sure to act with care. You want to continue to climb the social lad-der but don’t want to step on toes or alienate yourself from loyal friends. Your ambitious nature has led to an overloaded schedule. Al-though it boosts your confidence, it’s leading you to deny your over-all health. If you want to grow dur-ing this cycle, remember looking for assistance or guidance doesn’t make you less self-sufficient.

Taurus (April 20-May 21)Pay attention to details, little things like names, dates and places. These things may not be of extreme im-portance, but taking notice of little details helps us make sense of the bigger mystical picture. You may be tempted to do things that jeop-ardize your integrity and future goals. The universe wants to see how determined you are. Stick to the truth costs, and let others deal

with the consequences.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) If you rely on a single source of income, now is the time to branch out. You’ve become so comfortable with your paycheck that your mo-tivation to get out and grow your OWN money. Get your moving on some innovative cash-making strategies. It’s time to change your attitude when it comes to matters of green.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)Your connections with others are coming into focus. There’s a new group of people that you’d like to get close to, but in order to do this you’re going to have to let go of others. Miscommunication is likely but if you use your head this will be an opportunity to start tak-ing responsibility for your own life.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)

You’d love to please the masses this week but your chart is call-ing you to choose how you spend your time carefully. Scale back the leisure time and focus more on tasks that will propel you to your destiny. Tap into what inspires you. This may take you on a trip down memory lane or even back to the classroom.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 23)Use your past to motivate you; the hard times you’ve experienced could become a song, a play, or even a movie. It’s a good time for creative works. If you experience divine inspiration this week, it needs to be cultivated in solitude. Cancel plans if you have to. Your future is more important than one night of fun.

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 23) This week , spend some time examining the root of your atti-tudes. Why do you think the way you do, act the way you act? You have an advanced spirit, not even you can write off how your child-hood shaped how you see the world. Your relationships with people and money relate to how you were raised. Are you a worka-holic who doesn’t save, or are you not working at all? Take what you need from those experiences and leave the bad habits behind. Don’t point fingers at the people in your past; they were doing the best they could, but now you know better.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Now is the time to investigate the new emotions you’ve been feeling lately. You are tired of superficial relationships, and you long to con-nect with others on a meaningful level. People are tired of you com-plaining about all your problems. They need you to listen. Joining a group where open and honest con-versation is encouraged is benefi-cial to you now. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)You’re chock-full of good ideas, but you have a hard time apply-ing them practically. Consult with those who are in a position you’d like to see yourself in. Think about about honing your skills in a work-shop or classroom-like setting. The universe wants you to accomplish your ideals and prosper from them.

Capricorn (Dec. 21-Jan. 20) If you feel that you’ve been dis-tancing yourself from people, know that this is what the universe wants for you. It is crucial that you be self reliant, people are fickle but you can always count on # 1. Dis-sect your personality. Perhaps in the past you got a lot of flak for be-ing “that guy”, but is there really is anything wrong with being “that guy”. It’s important that you hold onto aspects of your old self. Your old self helped you become your new self so he/she can’t be that bad right?

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)Don’t question yourself or your abilities. You have proven yourself time and time again. Happiness will come from within. You’ve had quite a few profound experiences. The universe is calling you to take time and process all of this data. Your chart is calling you to simpli-fy your life so that you can take it all in and appreciate it. Your shad-ow and your reflection are gearing up for a meeting, leaving you feel-ing whole, happy and powerful.

Pisces (Feb. 18-March 20)Stop comparing yourself to oth-ers, there will always be someone who’s happier than you or makes more money. Focusing on how you square-up with the competi-tion takes away from your true purpose. You want to be carefree and secure. Spiritual clarification is the key. Your sign should see the most growth in all aspects if you abandon the familiar and dabble in uncharted waters.

Last week’s solution can be found at:

The Beacon Online at

www.theonlinebeacon.com

Comic by Kaileigh McKinley


Features

Every once in a while shows come along and leave a lasting impression derived from humor-ous and farfetched characters, memorable quotes and catch-phrases, and ridiculous situations.

Both the Canadian mockumen-tary “Trailer Park Boys” and the short-lived late-90s sock-puppet MTV production “The Sifl & Olly Show” can successfully drag in the viewers for hours on end with off-the-wall humor.

Here’s a closer look at both of these awesome shows.

‘Trailer Park Boys’

Every season typically begins with either Ricky or Julian (or both with a combination of any other characters) leaving jail to return to Sunnyvale Trailer Park set in the Canadian province Nova Scotia.

Entering the first season, Julian picked up a camera crew to docu-ment the trailer park life.

Upon returning, the ex-inmates attempt to accomplish ridiculous get-rich schemes (siphoning gas and selling it, growing massive amounts of marijuana, et cetera).

Usually, Julian – who rarely puts down his glass of rum and coke – brings the brains to the operation while Ricky supplies constant comedy relief with his pronunciations, misquotes and general stupidity.

Meanwhile, Ricky and Julian constantly face the harassment of the alcoholic trailer park super-visor Jim Lahey and his assistant,

the former male prosti-tute Randy. Lahey con-stantly strive to send the boys back to what he calls “Con College.”

This show features a wide array of in-teresting characters. Bubbles, who was or-phaned at a young age, lives in a shed, rides around the park on a go-kart, loves kittens and sports glasses with humongous lenses.

Cory and Trevor act as Julian’s and Ricky’s dogs, often performing dangerous tasks with poor supervi-sion while receiving little to no re-spect for their loyalty. The two boys also act as Ricky’s personal cigarette machine, always rushing to fulfil Ricky’s request: “Let’s go, smokes.”

J-ROC (J-to-the-R-O-C) aspires to succeed in the rap game, despite his trailer park background.

Occasionally the boys get into le-gal trouble, police conflicts and the occasional gun fight.

In 2009, the movie “Countdown to Liquor Day” was released, but the show itself delves deeper into the lives of the characters.

Recently, Netflix has added the entire series to instant streaming. Full episodes, although in a lower quality but still hilarious, can be found on Google video.

‘The Sifl & Olly Show’

You won’t find this show un-less if you look on Google video or Youtube because MTV never revived the cancelled show to a DVD format.

Regardless, this hidden gem that first aired in 1997 for two seasons offers spontaneous rounds of laughter.

In a single episode, the hosts, a black sock-puppet named Sifl and a white sock-puppet named Olly, run through various segments and skits. Every episode features an interview (usually a no-show), a round of phone calls from the public (typically deranged sock puppets), a shopping network knock-off that sells awful prod-ucts and a couple of often funny and psychedelic music videos. The music is done very well by creators Liam Lynch and Matt Crocco.

Perhaps the funniest portions of the show happen when Sifl and Olly attempt to speak with their very incapable friend Chester on incredibly random topics.

“The Sifl & Olly” show also breeds its own catchphrases, such as the super-hip phrase “crescent fresh” and its many forms.

For a low-budget show, “The Sifl & Olly Show” delivers.

rabble! rabble!

By John DurkanFeatures Editor

Life without‘South Park’In less than two weeks, “South

Park” will return for its fifteenth season on Comedy Central.

Unfortunately, this might be the last. Currently, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are only under contract to produce just one more season with Comedy Central.

After last season’s episodes 200 and 201, a debacle ensued when Comedy Central censored the im-age and use of Muhammad and Kyle’s speech at the end of the 201st episode. Stone and Parker weren’t happy.

Following the airing of that epi-sode, Stone and Parker released a statemnent that read: “In the 14 years we’ve been doing ‘South Park’ we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We de-livered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary fi-nal speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muham-mad at all but it got bleeped too.”

Prior to that debacle, the creators wanted to insert a picture of Mu-hammad during the Kurt Wester-gard crisis and Comedy Central refused to cooperate. (Westergard is a 75-year-old Danish cartoonist who drew unflattering illustrations of Muhammad and received many death threats and a failed assassi-nation as a result.)

In an interview with the Huffing-ton Post, Stone said that Comedy Central wimped out, like every other media outlet.

“But I think it would’ve been an important statement for one me-dia outlet in America to stand up,” Stone said. “That was one of my most disappointing moments as an American – the American press’s reaction to the Muhammad car-toons. It was completely wimpy.”

Stone continued: “Cartoonists, people who do satire – we’re not in the army, we’re never going to be (explitive) drafted and this is our time to stand up and do the right thing. And to watch the New York Times, Comedy Central, every-body just go ‘No, we’re not going to do it because basically we’re afraid of getting bombed’ sucked.”

Granted, shortly after episode 201 was aired, a car bomb was found in New York City outside of the Viacom building.

If this is the end of “South Park,” at least we witnessed a satirical show that left no group free from well-deserved criticism.

The best shows not on TV

Courtesy Photo/WebRicky, Julian and Bubbles play the lead roles in the Canadian mockumentary “Trailer Park Boys”

“Trailer Park Boys” and

“The Sifl & OllyShow” offer

countless hoursof laughter.

By John DurkanFeatures Editor

Courtesy Photo/WebChester appears regularly on the sockpuppet skit show “ The Sifl & Olly Show.”

Photo by Rui XuCharles Cahoon constructed this model railroad set and is on display at the North Adams Museum of History and Science.

Train display on exhibitBy Rui Xu

Special to The Beacon

Hidden in one of the old build-ings at Western Gateway Heritage State Park, the North Adams Museum of History and Science is a three-floor wooden building painted milky-white.

The museum was once part of a busy railroad yard – a coal store-house for passing trains – but now, it is a charitable, non-profit organization operated by the North Adams Historical Society. The museum is now on display every weekend.

Walking into the door of Build-ing 5A, you can hear the “rat-tat,” of an agile figure nailing wooden boards into the wall. He is Charles Cahoon, the president of history society and a mechanical

engineer here for almost 40 years.Cahoon is now working on

three more displays for the His-tory and Science Museum and will finish them over the winter, including new scenery for the train layout in the second floor.

“I met with a man who made model scenery before,” he says, carefully moving a small derailed train back to the trail, like he was taking care of his own baby. “We will begin making grass, trees and sceneries around the train tracks in our museum.”

The train layout was built by Cahoon two years ago. It took him three months to finish the crisscrossing tracks, a working destination board, round rooms and Hoosac Tunnel, which shows the heyday of North Adams rail-road system in the early 1900s.

“The destination board was assem-bled with the help of my son-in-law,” Ca-hoon says, turning on the board and model trains. “We are all volunteers.”

To read the rest of this article,

visit The Beacon Online at:

www.theonline-beacon.com


A&E

Chautauqua at MASS MoCA

Photos by

Cara Sheedy


A&E

Chautauqua ‘educates and uplifts the common man’By Siobhan Tripp

A&E Writer

The lights dim. The sound of crickets fills the air. The curtain rises and a man dressed rather snappily enters the stage. This is the opening of Chautaqua.

It’s difficult to describe what ex-actly Chautauqua is without using the phrase “you had to be there.” It’s an extremely visual form of “edutainment,” with eccentric dances, a duel, a talk by Mayor Alcombright, a history of North Adams, a History of Maps, a pup-pet show about the food chain, and a naked man playing guitar. As I said, you had to be there.

The MASS MoCA website de-scribes it as “Channeling the form and style of the original Chautau-qua Lectures, cultural happenings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that brought together speakers, teachers, musicians,

entertainers, preachers and spe-cialists of the day. The National Theater of the United States of America combines lecture, de-bate, scientific demonstration and tales of explorers with more tra-ditional forms of entertainment dance, dramatic recital, feats of strength, and joke telling.

The show began with the Master of Ceremonies, a man called Dick Pricey, directly addressing the au-dience and breaking the fourth wall. He goes on about the history of Chautaqua and what they did for the people of their day.

“They brought lecturers, schol-ars, explorers, scientists, elo-cutionists, magicians, dancers, jugglers, and whistlers from mountain resorts, to camp-ground, to rural community, in an attempt to strengthen the national fiber by educating and uplifting the common man,” he announces passionately. The after pausing

briefly he said, “Which in our case would be you.”

Mayor Alcombright was one of the elocutionists featured at Saturday night’s show. He spoke of his childhood and how he re-membered North Adams in the 1950s. He also talked of the fac-tories and mills shutting down and how MASS MoCA coming in really breathed new life into the economy. He even commented on MCLA’s helping out the economy, especially with it’s plans for a new science center.

The next man to come on stage was very enthusiastic about his love of maps. He went through the history of maps while making grand gestures and moving franti-cally around the stage yelling.

Next was a puppet show about the food chain. It started with a microorganism and went up all the way to humans. It was pretty violent since everything was eaten

by something else, but also quite funny.

This is the part where I’m not en-tirely sure what happened. Things began eating each other more and more rapidly and then the pup-pet show ended and a group of people wearing masks and eccen-tric dress proceeded to do some sort of courtship dance on stage. While it was highly entertaining, words do it little justice. It really needs to have been seen.

The historical duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Ham-ilton was then reenacted with the actors giving historical commen-tary. They did an excellent job making what could be perceived as a boring historical event into something amusing.

Then came the end of the show where my notes literally read, “I don’t know how to describe this?” Four people, wearing nylons, black high heels and what looked

like black lampshades came on stage and proceeded to do a kind of burlesque-type dance while music played in the background. Pricey, then came out and began doing a strip tease of sorts. By the end of the number he was fully naked and on stage by himself. The show concluded with him playing guitar and singing with one of the girls in the show while all the other actors stood around them.

Chautaqua was weird, visual, educational, funny and excit-ing all at the same time. It relies so heavily on the audience’s sight and hearing that describing it in words does it little justice. I highly recommend seeing it for your-selves, should you ever get the chance. It will definitely be an ex-perience you’ll remember.

SAC President Sean Snead holds a busy schedule

Sean Snead wears a black bowtie with jeans as he casually presides over the SAC office.

As this year’s President of SAC, Snead has been working hard to improve relations with other schools, as well as plan a plethora of trips, concerts and activities for MCLA students. He has helped transform the organization from what he describes as what was “a cult” his freshman year, to being far more open and democratic, with a dedicated student mem-bership of about 30 students.

“Sean and I have become close friends very quickly, and over the short amount of time that I have known him he is a very loyal, em-pathetic and determined person who likes to have fun, no mat-ter if he is working on things for SAC or in his personal life,” said Sara Katz, a member of SAC. “He has been there on my bad days to help cheer me up and listen to my problems, of which I am very much appreciative.”

“I love the haters,” Snead said, when talking about the respon-sibilities and controversies that come with being president of SAC. “There are a lot of people who know how much the SAC budget is, but we give a lot of money to clubs that ask for it, whether it’s a couple hundred dol-lars or a couple thousand.”

MCLA has played a major role in Snead’s development. “If it wasn’t for MCLA, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and if it wasn’t for my friends like Jameek Clovie, Keifer Gammell, Jamal Ahamad, Israel Diaz or Justin Vanderpoole, I would have crashed and burned. They have had such a positive in-fluence on me,” said Snead.

“Sean and I go way back, since freshman year; Snead and I have

had a lot of fun living together and getting involved on the MCLA campus and around the commu-nity,” Keifer Gammell said. “We both strive to better ourselves and help those around us, which is probably why we were able to live together and not kill one another.”

Snead is an English/Commu-nications Major, with concen-trations in public relations and corporate communication. He is minoring in sports coaching.

On top of his work as the presi-dent of SAC, Snead has been coaching multiple different sports over the few years. He worked as an intern for the Williams Col-lege Football team, when they went 8-0 in their season. He then worked as an assistant coach for the Williamstown Youth Basket-ball Association. He is currently working as an assistant coach for the Drury high school baseball team.

“He is determined, in a profes-sional way and as a friend,” Junior and SAC member Nora Weiss said. “He won’t let you fail, which says a lot about his leadership”

“I’ve gotten some bad rep on campus: some warranted, some not,” Snead said. “I think people often judge before they know somebody. We have such a di-verse student body so I have learned that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Not everybody

is going to like me; my goal is that everybody respects me.”

When asked about his plans af-ter college, Snead replied, “After I talk to you, I have to call a com-pany back, about a job in recruit-ing. After College, I just want to be happy and successful.”

By Tano HolmesA&E Writer

Dan Sheehan/Beracon StaffSAC President and senior Sean Snead is keeping himself busy while making plans for his imminent graduation.


A&E

Slam Poet Phoenix has true talentBy Robert Mangiamele

A&E Writer

A Poetry Slam is defined as a competition at which poets read or recite original work (or more rarely, that of others). These performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience.

Jake Snow, aka Phoenix, is a notorious slam poet around the North Adams scene. At 19, as a student at MCLA, he won a talent contest. Later on at age 20, Phoenix took home fourth place at a SLAM contest in Worcester.

“Everybody deserves a chance to attempt their pieces on stage,” Phoenix said.

His style can be described as raw and gritty with a clear, distinct delivery and tight flow. He delivers line after line of knowledge, poise and confi-dence thrown at his audience. His poems have an expanded language that is backed by use-ful and ear-catching allitera-tion and diction. After seeing him perform at the Elf Parlor, it’s easy to relate his presence and style to that of a preacher or a philosopher, spreading wisdom and getting the crowd hyped up.

“That rush on stage becomes

addictive after a while,” he said.Phoenix first got serious

about slam poetry when he was growing up in William-stown before moving to North Adams. He did his senior proj-ect on one of his favorite slam poets, Chris Phiffer, who re-mains a close friend and goes by Ill Knowledge.

“I purposely chose a street performer over a published author at the time,” Phoenix said. “I used to be one of those shy kids that hides in the back of the room and through this man, I learned this art form.”

Some of Phoenix’s other in-spirations include Big L, Ice Cube, N.W.A, and Taylor Mali.

“One of my biggest thrills was opening for Taylor Mali,” he said. Mali is an infamous SLAM Poet who has won six competitions worldwide.

On his name, Phoenix said, “I used to burn my poems when I was younger so no one would read them,” he said half-heartedly. According to Greek mythology, his favorite class in school, when a phoenix died it bursts into flames and an off-spring would arise, implying that it is immortal. “I know I can never be a God but I want to earn their respect,” he said.

At 16, he joined the Main Street North Adams Commu-

nity Coalition, which provides programs for teens. He is still part of the teen writing work-shop where he helps teens hone and improve their word-play.

“It’s a real friendly environ-ment, doing outreach work,” he said. It’s safe to say his out-reach work has made a differ-ence. At the end of each year, they publish the students’ work.

After seeing notebooks piled on top of one another, it be-comes obvious this young art-ist takes his work seriously; but it’s also a hobby to Phoe-nix. This lyricist has plenty of ammo stacked up, ready for use whenever needed, especially if he finds himself amongst other MCs and poets in a cypher ses-sion. He has numerous poems memorized that can be recited for anyone right on the spot. Any spectator can walk by Montana, Hoosac or Blackin-ton Street and hear him in a circle of other local and stu-dent MC’s in a cypher session.

“My ultimate goal is to con-vince everyone I meet that they’re a poet and get them to read it in front of people,” he revealed. “I always try hard and I know it sounds ridicu-lous but I’m just going to keep on trying.”

Dan Sheehan/Beacon StaffSlam Poet Jake Snow, better known by his stage name Phoenix, frequently entertains as well as educates through his art.Selected Works by Phoenix

“Suicide Calligraphy.”

Cohering with the arithmetic,Gritty beat driven, arcane derivided,

But man, I can’t get this calculus without geometry,

It’s like suicide calligraphy.

“Envying A High School Dropout”

spilling my guts,that’s been soaking in trusts

throughout graphite biting, now nail invitingcrucifying, now defying,

the punchus pilot that is piloting my heart,pirating sentences to enhance my own abilitywhen I’m sure in a few words, he’d more than

willingly give them to me

TAMING con-tinued from Page 1

Identity is the play’s cen-tral theme. Junior Chris-tine Pavao plays the shrew, Katarina, and sophomore Tom Leidenfrost plays Petruchio, the man who “tames” her. The play also includes Elizabeth Carda-ropoli as Lucentio, one of the suitors, and An-nie Hochheiser as Bianca. The entire cast consists of 18 members, plus director Mary Marcil, stage man-ager Kyle Serino, and the two assistant stage manag-ers: Tyler Prendergast and Emily Boshi.

“Everyone has worked very hard and is very dedi-cated. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with,” said Marcil. The cast has steadily put in

at least 15 hours a week for the past few months. This week, every free minute has been spent in the scene shop building and painting the set.

Reservations for the play can be obtained by call-ing 413-662-5123. House opens at 7:30 on all three nights.

Yorick will also be putting on “Bard Bash” on May 8 from 1-5 p.m. It will con-sist of mini-performances of Shakespeare or Shake-speare-related skits and monologues on Taconic Lawn, along with free food and games. Established in 2004, Yorick performs Shakespeare plays in ways that are more available to present day audiences.

“We have a very driven and dedicated e-board and club members to make all these things happen,” said Marcil.


A&EMary and the

Banshees

By Mary RedstoneA&E Editor

Record Store Day: a national holiday

for audiophilesThis Saturday is National Record

Store Day. Independent record stores throughout the country will be participating, with sales, specials, in-store performances and signings, and records on sale only this day.

The day does not affect major-chain stores, such as FYE and Best Buy, only stores such as Newbury Comics and small-business re-cord stores such as Turn It Up! in Northampton and Tune Street in Great Barrington.

RSD is a coveted day for music enthusiasts because many of the special albums sold that day can-not be obtained at any other time.

Last RSD, Blur released their first new song in years specially for record day.

This year, The Decemberists are relaeasing a Record-Store-Day-only live album.

I’m used to spending the whole day in Boston, hopping from one Newbury Comics to anoth-er, hauling bags full of specials and free goodies. I met Amanda Palmer one year in the Newbury Comics in Cambridge.

This year however, I will be heading into Northampton, spe-cifically to Turn It Up, to take advantage of what this year’s RSD has to offer.

There are dozens of singles and albums being released this year, including the Tron soundtrack on vinyl that was pressed to look like the light discs from the film.

For a full list of the albums and singles that are available on Satur-day, because there is a lot of them, head over to recordstoreday.com/specialreleases.

Through the website, you can also search for stores around you and see what they specifically have to offer, such as in-store ap-pearences.

RSD has many sponsors, includ-ing some of the country’s big-gest record labels such as Warner Brothers. WB have an entire page on RSD’s website called “WD Re-cords,” hilighting about a dozen albums and singles they are re-leasing just for the day.

If you’re a music fan, and espe-cially a vinyl fan, find a way to get to a participating RSD store on Saturday. You’re guaranteed to come home with a lot of good loot.

‘Renewal’ brings color to NAACOBy Steve O’Connor

A&E WriterFrom neon trees to porcelain

birdfeeders, “Renewal: The Works of Stephen Fabrico and Franco Pellegrino” provides a new source of color and utility for the North Adams Artists’ Co-op Gallery for all to enjoy.

Composed mostly of stoneware

from Fabrico and acrylics on can-vas from Pellegrino, the exhibit is held at the NAACO Gallery up to April 25 and features a wide vari-ety of pieces from the artists.

Fabrico’s contributions to the gallery is primarily comprised of stoneware vessels, bowls, bird feeders and sculptures, such as “Small Round Bird Feeder,” a

sphere-shaped bird feeder in blue stoneware, and “Silo Birdfeeder,” cylindrical with a conical top. The designs on these birdfeeders are simple, but effective, and they hang very nicely within the gal-lery.

Fabrico’s work also includes sev-eral vessels and sculptures, with a variety of green and blue hued

pieces throughout.Pellegrino’s work, composed

mostly of acrylic on canvas piec-es, is more simplistic in execution, but with a much wider variety of colors. “Blue Stone”, for instance, is a simple painting of three trees on grass next to a blue boulder, but the coloration is striking. The trees are a bright blue with green streaks, as they sit upon bright neon green grass and outlined in orange, producing a striking vi-sual effect. “Surviving November,” while more subdued, is equally striking, focusing on bright cop-per-colored trees against bright blue backgrounds. While his gal-lery does include more realistic materials, and he can convey re-alistic animals well, it is the color choices that stuck out as the gal-lery went along.

The simple but elegant function-ality of Fabrico’s stoneware and the colorful acrylic crafting of Pellegrino’s paintings compliment each other very well, and the de-cision to group the two together was well-imagined.

“Renewal: The Work of Stephen Fabrico and Franco Pellegrino” is available for viewing at the NAACO Gallery every day except Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sundays from 12 noon to 4 p.m. More information can be found at the NAACO Gallery website.

Stage temps rise to ‘451’

The New Stage Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield is bring-ing Ray Bradbury’s classic novel “Fahrenheit 451” to the stage this weekend. In collaboration with the city of Pittsfield, the Perform-ing Arts Center is breathing life into the fifty-plus year-old novel with their multi-media produc-tion.

“Fahrenheit 451” tells of a dysto-pian future where one man, Guy Montag, has had the job of burn-ing books for the past ten years. However, he slowly begins to question why it is that he is burn-ing these books and what effect it has on their society.

The show is running Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Adult tickets cost $20; Senior and Student tickets are $18. Tickets can be purchased through the Center’s website, newstageperformingarts.org. Any questions should be directed to their phone number at 413-418-0999 or by emailing [email protected].

Iron and Wine at MoCASinger-songwriter Samuel

Beam, better known to his fans by his stage name Iron and Wine, will be coming to MASS MoCA on Saturday, April 16.

The concert has been on the MASS MoCA calendar for months now and has been offi-cially sold out since March.

“I bought my tickets right after they went on sale,” sophomore Sara Avellar said. “I can’t go now, though, and I’m pretty upset about it. I love Iron and Wine.”

Tickets had also been avail-able through Celia Norcross for a lesser price, but those also sold out quickly. It is apparent that the MCLA campus is eager for the ar-rival of the indie musician.

“I’m pretty excited, because I haven’t been to a concert in a pret-ty long time, and this has been the only show I’ve been interested in that’s been around here,” fresh-man Tess Favini said.

Favini was one of the lucky ones who tried to purchase her tickets as late as March and was able to still get some.

“I’m excited to see how a huge crowd will handle music this mel-low,” junior Stephen Kullas said. “Will we all nap?”

Iron and Wine is known for mellow, often folky music. This is a bit of a contrast from previ-ous musical acts held at MASS MoCA, including blues-rockers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

“I’m excited, but part of me

wishes I had seen [Iron and Wine] before this album came out,” senior Kevin Tappin said. “I just preferred ‘The Shepherd’s Dog’ to the new album, which I expect will take up most of their setlist. It’ll still be a good show, though.”

“I’m hoping he plays older stuff,” Kullas said.

Iron and Wine will be perform-

ing with a full band, according to a representative from MASS MoCA.

The show on Saturday begins at 8 p.m. in the Hunter Center in MASS MoCA. It is standing-room only, guaranteeing an incredibly intimate show from the indie-folk legend.



Courtesy PhotoIron and Wine, will be at MASS MoCA on Saturday.

Mark Burridge/Beacon StaffStoneware on display at NAACO as a part of “Renewal: The Works of Stephen Fabrico and Franco Pellegrino”


News

By Skyla SeamansStaff Writer

MCLA and the Berkshire Com-pact for Education present the fourth annual Berkshire County Goes to College event on April 12, 13, and 15.

Nearly 1,250 sixth grade stu-dents will visit college campuses across the Berkshires in an effort to raise awareness of a higher education at an early age. While 400 students will visit MCLA, the rest will tour Berkshire Com-munity College, Williams Col-lege and Bard College at Simon’s Rick.

“Our overall goal is to increase awareness and aspirations of sixth graders from our county el-ementary schools to want to go to college,” Denise Richardello, vice president of enrollment and external relations, said. “The ear-lier we can expose children to the concept of college, the better.”

The visit is part of the Berk-shire Higher Education Passport, a plan to help improve access to a college education. Students from Reid Middle School in Pittsfield, Hancock Elementary School, Nessacus Regional Mid-dle School in Dalton and Clarks-burg Elementary School will visit MCLA.

“This is our way of sneaking up

on them and getting them here to participate in a number of ses-sions from visiting the TV stu-dio with Peter Gentile to experi-menting in the chemistry lab,” Richardello said. “Then they ac-tually start to think about doing well in school.”

President Mary Grant and May-or Alcombright will welcome the students to MCLA before they branch out into a variety of workshops including a tour of the Campus Center and step les-sons with NEXXUS.

“I’ve been involved with this program since it began four years ago,” Gentile said. “I look for-ward to it each year. The students are so eager and excited to see and actually get to work in the control room and the studio. The teachers have to often beg them to leave and continue their tour.”

Gentile said students realize college is more than just books, studying and traditional classes. He said students realize there is lab work, theater, production and editing and sports: much more to gaining an education. He hopes that, even in sixth grade, students will start to think about a college education.

Katherine Heekin from Admis-sions is coordinating and plan-ning workshops for the event. She said this event is a reminder

that an education does not stop at high school. There is a college for everyone.

“We have the students and teachers who are part of the pro-gram fill out surveys at the end,” she said. “This way, we learn what the strengths and weakness-es are of the program. We want to know if this event has changed the minds of the students and what their favorite part was.”

In addition to Berkshire County Goes to College, the Berkshire Compact for Education along with MCLA are organizing the second “Wee Read Berkshire County” event on April 11, dur-ing National Library Week.

Early childhood providers and libraries of Berkshire County will collaborate to distribute 1,200 free copies of “Shoes” by Elizabeth Winthrop to encourage families to read to their children.

There will also be a number of events taking place at this time such as the “Story Walk,” which is an event that combines a chil-dren’s story with a popular walk-ing route and connects families to their local business community.

“It’s a head-start to read to chil-dren,” Richardello said. “Both of these big events are all about cre-ating awareness in young chil-dren and their families.”

By Ed McCormickStaff Writer

“Everybody loves yoga; they just don’t know it yet,” Devin Kibbe said while she scrambled to get the keys to the MCLA Campus Center Dance Complex from the security desk.

Kibbe is the president of Good Vibes at the College and leads yoga classes that meet every Monday and Wednesday night at 9:30 in the dance complex. Ac-cording to the club’s e-portfolio, Good Vibes promotes holistic wellness on campus. The yoga classes are free and open to all MCLA students.

“It is one of the best clubs,” modern language professor Gra-ziana Ramsden said. Ramsden regularly attends the Monday night yoga session. “It is run very professionally.”

“There are so many benefits of yoga,” said Kibbe, who has been the president of Good Vibes since 2010 and has been with the club since she was a freshman. “It really improves your core strength, as well as your flexibil-ity, but there is a whole other side where you build emotional and

spiritual strength.”“It gives you a chance to get

away, get away from class, get away from schoolwork, and make yourself feel better,” senior Bryan O’Keefe said. Like Ramsden, he rarely misses a Monday night yoga session. During the winter break he attended yoga classes at Frog Lotus Yoga on 189 Beaver Street, North Adams. “You come here for an hour, an hour and 15 minutes, you can put stress away: This is a stress reliever.”

“I think that probably the largest benefit would be the physical and the emotional,” Kibbe said. She began doing yoga while in high school and is still dedicated to it six years later. An English major with a concentration in educa-tion, Kibbe is in her senior year at MCLA but plans on pursuing yoga after she graduates. “It re-ally brings you back to your own body, your own center, away from this technological world that is so overwhelming.”

More than 20 people attended a recent Monday night yoga ses-sion at the Dance Complex. Kibbe led the students through a series of exercises that increased in dif-ficulty and stretched various parts

of the body. During each stretch and position she instructed every-one to pay close attention to their breathing. The session ended with meditation. Kibbe read a passage from, the Tao Te Ching, some-thing she always does.

“It’s kind of a good hour or so where you get to focus on what keeps you alive,” Kibbe said.

“You get to feel your body; you

get to know your body better,” said O’Keefe, a mathematics and physics major at the College. “It’s just a great experience for every-body from beginners to advanced students.”

“Yoga saved my life: I knew about stretching but I didn’t have a regime,” Ramsden said.

The MCLA professor leads an active life and enjoys hiking.

“I think more people should just do it and try it and really get back to themselves,” said Kibbe.

The Good Vibes Club holds yoga classes for beginners on Monday nights. The Wednes-day night sessions are for more advanced students. Information about the classes can be found on the club’s e-portfolio. http://mcla.digication.com/Good_Vibes

Ed. professors prepare for new requirements

By Nicole KnappStaff Writer

MCLA professors and other Berkshire County educators are currently becoming famil-iar with the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which Massachusetts became the 27th state to adopt last July.

The Common Core is a set of curriculum standards that guide teaching and education in English language arts, litera-cy and math. All participating states, which include 42 so far, will have these frameworks in common.

“The whole focus on these frameworks is that every stu-dent who graduates under the Common Core will be college- and career-ready,” Education Professor Ellen Barber said.

Math Professor Chris Thomas said that only the math and English standards have been established so far, most likely because they are the easiest to enumerate.

“Saying exactly what an eighth grader should know about biol-ogy is hard, but saying when a kid should know how to mul-tiply two-digit numbers is rela-tively easy,” Thomas said.

Planning will take place and changes will be made in target-ed grades and subjects in 2012. And by 2012-2013, there will be full implementation of the

frameworks. “It’s more than the ability to

make it just a checklist,” Barber said, explaining that the frame works now have much more depth and that there’s more reference materials. “I think it’s going to make everything much more clear for educators through this college and career ready focus.”

In the meantime, the goal is that everyone will become fa-miliar with the frameworks by the end of June. In a meet-ing held two weeks ago, over 200 educators from Berkshire County gathered at MCLA to learn about the Common Core, including superintendents, principals, college professors and pre-K through grade 12 teachers.

“I like this attempt to get away from the old ‘mile-wide, inch-deep’ standards where a huge amount was covered poorly to a new system where kids should become good at a few new things each year,” Thomas said.

Barber said that the way the content is covered is going to make a difference for students coming into college, and it’s going to help professors that students are coming in more prepared.

“I’m very excited about it,” she said. “I think that they are going to be a wonderful tool.”

Berkshire County goes to collegeFour hundred sixth graders get a glimpse of college life at MCLA.

Photo by Tyson Luneau/Beacon staffGood Vibes President Devin Kibbe (left) talks with alum Elyssa Baker before Monday’s yoga class.

Bend and feelthose Good Vibes


News

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BROWN BAG continued from page 3 “It’s a very interesting topic, es-pecially Kennedy and the missile crisis,” he said. “I have always been interested in technology. Nuclear technology is an unknown topic, which has a lot of potential and a lot of dangers at the same time.” He said he was pleasantly sur-prised by the amount of knowl-edge Montgomery has brought to his class about nuclear energy. Eisen feels he is becoming more and more well versed in the topic with each class, even though it has such a great amount of history, he said. Did technology drive the nu-clear arms race? Many experts, along with Montgomery, dismiss the idea of technology-driven arms races, but the topic will al-ways be more complicated than a simple yes or no, Montgomery concluded.

HIROSHIMA con-tinued from page 3.

Morikawa himself has also experienced long-term effects from radiation exposure, de-spite regular check-ins with doctors. He described how his anxiety became reality when his doctor found a tumor in his right lung several years ago.

A PowerPoint presentation accompanying Morikawa’s talk

provided powerful visuals. The audience was shown pictures of Hiroshima before and fol-lowing the blast, showing how the once-beautiful, tranquil city was completely razed from the intense heat of the blast, which reached 4000 degrees centi-grade. One of the final images he showed was of a tattered dress of a young girl, of which the wearer was never found.

“In my mind, I saw a girl smile at me,” he said about the first

time he saw the photo. “Then my vision changed, and the girl became my daughter.”

The image of the dress was part of Morikawa’s message of the horrors of nuclear weapons. Morikawa said he’s spoken with other survivors about his trav-els to America and other coun-tries

“They asked me to convey their message,” Morikawa said. “That the atomic bomb should never be used again.”


Sports

By Mark BurridgeSports Columnist

With the playoff seeding es-sentially set in each conference, many matchups don’t look like upsets unless broken down thor-oughly. It is when we look at the teams that are usually lacking any sort of doubt that we see a more real possibility.

The Boston Celtics’ season hangs precariously on Shaquille O’Neal’s gigantic shoulders. Taking on the New York Knicks means the C’s will need to be able to defend big man Amar’e Stoudemire while keeping a con-stant watch on superstar Carme-lo Anthony.

A defensive presence down low would help push Stoudemire away from the hoop and no one is better than Shaq at getting opposing teams’ big men into foul trouble. This would allow the Celtics to let Anthony score away, similar to how they have handled LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in playoff series past, and focus mainly on shutting down the Knicks’ other threats, Stou-demire, Chauncey Billups and Toney Douglas.

Without Shaq, they will need an intense scoring barrage from the big three and Rondo, while hoping Nenad Krstic or Jer-maine O’Neal can put a dent in Stoudemire’s production.

The other real chance at an upset is also dependent on an injury issue. The Lakers enter the playoffs possibly without Andrew Bynum. Missing one of the two Seven foot tall stars on the team will change the way the team has been playing all year without any practice. The other problem is even if he is healthy, how easy it will be for his con-stantly bothered knee to be rein-jured.

The Lakers will likely be tak-ing on the Grizzlies, who have two outstanding big men of their own in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and with the court vision of Mike Conley cannot be taken lightly. The Gasol brothers can probably cancel each other out and Randolph will be free to score at will if Bynum is not there to slow him down.

Do not expect for a boring playoff first round. At least half of the series have the potential of going to seven games, whether it be the Magic and the Hawks, (The Hawks won 3 of 4 in the regular season series), or Celtics, Lakers or Spurs. Look for some great first round action and keep an eye out for the lower seeds.

On the Mark

PlayoffPicture

Senior Profile : Paul Procopio puts team goals firstBy Kaitland Hager

Sports Writer

Ask senior third baseman Paul Procopio what his personal goal for the 2011 Trailblazers base-ball season is, and he’ll say he doesn’t have one.

“I want a playoff berth and to make a good run (as a team),” Procopio admitted. “If I hit .100 but we win the MASCAC cham-pionship, I wouldn’t have any problem with that.”

Luckily for both Procopio and the baseball team, he isn’t batting .100 so far this season. Coming off a hardworking sea-son with the North Adams Stee-pleCats, a New England Col-legiate Baseball League team, Procopio is batting .295 and has only a few errors on the field. If how he’s been playing is any indication, Procopio is in for a good final season.

Procopio first started playing baseball at the age of five and hasn’t lost his desire yet.

“I love the atmosphere of baseball,” Procopio said. “The thought of being outside on a nice sunny day playing a great game: It doesn’t get much bet-ter.”

He comes into his senior year with a team mentality and a new focus on the game, something he picked up from his summer with the SteepleCats. Playing with kids from across the coun-try, as far as Miami, Oklahoma State and Princeton; and being one of five Division 3 position players in the league, Procopio gained more than just baseball skills.

“The SteepleCats was the greatest learning experience for me, as not just a baseball play-er but also an adult,” Procopio said. “I was nervous of course but it drove me to make sure I brought my best every single day.”

One day with the SteepleCats, Coach Bobby Segal acknowl-edged Procopio for showing up early to every single game and practice so he could get more work in – a moment Procopio calls one of his biggest accom-

plishments.This acknowledgment has led

to Procopio’s new attitude: He shows up early to games to take ground balls with Coach Phil Mabey, to work on his throws, and to get right into his hit-ting stations. He does soft tee, tee work and he jumps into the batting cage to round it out. In the classroom, he works with Chemistry professor Rob Harris to maintain a balance between classes and baseball.

He continues to bring his best every day on the field. Whether practicing or playing a game, Procopio has brought a new fo-cus to his overall approach to baseball, and people have no-ticed.

“Paul has always been a very talented athlete. I couldn’t say

he was always a hard worker, but this year I’ve seen a huge difference,” MCLA coach Jeff Puleri said in a recent interview with The Berkshire Eagle. “He really has taken on a much big-ger leadership role.

It’s a leadership role that Pro-copio cherishes. On the field, in the last innings of the game, when the Trailblazers need a big play, Procopio knows his team is looking to him and fellow se-niors like shortstop John Ripepi and outfielder Joe Parillo.

But when Procopio is look-ing for some inspiration on the field, he turns to second base-man Mike Meaney.

“(Meaney) never takes a play off and leaves everything on the field. That kid has more heart

than anyone I’ve ever seen play the game,” said Procopio.

Off the field, one of Procopio’s biggest role models is his fa-ther. When winter snow and ice stopped Procopio from getting onto a field and hitting, his fa-ther would drive him to Albany once a week to hit in some in-door cages. His father’s deter-mination to never quit anything in life and his ability to make the best of any obstacle he faced passed down to Procopio who attacks each day, each game and each inning with a certain level of finesse.

When he does get down on himself, Procopio knows he has Coach Kris McLaughlin, a se-nior working with Coach Puleri this season, in his corner.

“He’s always been there for me, and when things ever get rough he’s always in my ear tell-ing me to never quit and keep fighting,” Procopio said. “I’m grateful to have him on our staff as a Coach to remind me every day, that when I think nobody believes in me, he does.”

Procopio will attend the New England Institute of Art in Boston in the fall with a focus in Audio Engineering. Besides baseball, producing music has always been a hobby of his, and he currently produces for a few local artists like Shardy Ardy, Young Bazz and Big Country.

Still, MCLA baseball will be a big part of his life, as will the in-dividuals he played with.

“I’ll miss all the guys,” said Procopio, “but Joe Parillo and I have had a friendship unlike anyone else. I’ve lived with him for three years and we fight like a married couple, but at the end of the day I’d do anything for him and he’d do anything for me.”

The friendships he has formed with the Trailblazers and the Steeplecats have impacted Pro-copio on and off the field. As a team leader this year, he’ll get to show off his newfound skills and help lead the MCLA Trail-blazers to a winning season.

Photo by Dennise Carranza/Beacon StaffPaul Procopio hit 2-5 with an RBI against Elms on Tuesday.

ning. Also, the ‘Blazers cashed in on some runs with quality situational hitting.

“The pitcher had about the same skill level as the pitcher from game one,” Hobbs said. “We just wanted it a lot more.”

Ainsley MacDonald picked up the win for the ‘Blazers. She was cruising along until Fitchburg’s Jillian Moses hit a three-run bomb, her second of the game. Pirzl came in to collect the save, her second of the season.

‘Blazers ace Hadley Ameen re-mains out with stitches in her

foot. According to Hobbs, the other pitchers have been step-ping up and doing great jobs.

“Kelly and Ainsley have been phenomenal stepping up for the team,” Borsotti said. “They are pretty hard on themselves, but I can tell you that every single member of the team is im-pressed and proud of them”

On Tuesday, the Blazers trav-eled to Sage College for another double header. Just like against Fitchburg they split, losing the first game 7-1 and winning game two 10-8. The ‘Blazers

now sit at 9-9 on the season. In game one, they only man-

aged one run on two hits for the entire game. However, game two they exploded for 10 runs on 13 hits, including eight RBIs. The Blazers scored seven runs in the first inning.

“Mid-week games are just as important as any other game. Winning the mid-week games takes our motivation and mo-mentum into the weekend con-ference games,” Borsotti said. “Wins during the week help with our overall record, which

will help us if the ECAC tour-nament is in our future.”

In game two, Kristen Robillard was 3-4 with two runs scored, while Ouellette added two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Mac-donald pitched well enough to win allowing 12 hits and eight runs, while going the distance. She is now 4-1 on the season.

“We have the team this year to win it all,” Hobbs said. “We have a lot of talent.”

SOFTBALL Continued from page 15


SportsFriesStyle

By Chris FriesSports Editor

In case you weren’t glued to the TV watching golf, instead of be-ing outside enjoying the beautiful weather this past Sunday, I’ m here to say: Shame on you!

There was plenty of great human drama to watch and so many in-teresting story lines. It was almost as captivating as a season finale of “Keeping up with the Kardashi-ans”

First there was Rory McIlroy. Poor, poor, Rory McIlroy. He had a four stroke lead going into Sun-day but managed to completely collapse. Although he was in the lead after the front nine, it was clear even then that it was not his day. He couldn’t seem to hit par on anything in the back nine. I flipped on the TV to see him double-bogey the twelfth hole and minutes later make a mess of his tee shot on 13. His body language said it all. The boy just looked like he wanted to be home, hiding un-der his bed in the fetal position. Fittingly his last putt of the day was a very makeable putt to keep him from breaking 80, and going eight over par for the day. But even that putt wouldn’t go for him.

Then there was the happy story. The charming young South Afri-can, Charl Shwartzel, went on a complete tear down the stretch, getting four birdies in the last four holes – a feat never before achieved at the Masters. Schwartzel climbed right over Adam Scott on the leaderboard and had a one stroke advantage over Scott and Jason Day. But with his final birdie he finished two strokes ahead of the two Australians who were seeking to re-write the history books and become the first from down under to take the green jacket.

Finally, there was Tiger Woods. America’s love/hate relationship with golf ’s biggest name was the biggest reason to turn in of all. Though he didn’t finish as cham-pion, he had a share of the lead after the tenth hole, and looked a bit like his old self. Even at times when he wasn’t putting well, he seemed to have a confidence in himself to stay in the hunt. Woods went into the clubhouse tied with Geoff Ogilvy for second place, just one stroke back. Unfortunately though for Woods and maybe fu-ture golf ratings, Scott, Day, and most of all Schwartzel stepped up and performed very well down the stretch, claiming the top three scores for the tournament.

A Tradition Like No Other

MCLA Golf team finishes fourth at Sage Invitaional; play WNEC today

By Chris FriesSports Editor

The MCLA Golf team shook off the dust from a long New England winter, and placed fourth in the Sage Invitational at Sycamore Country Club last Saturday, behind Shane Ortega’s stellar round.

Ortega, who led going into the final hole, double-bogeyed on 18 to share the top score for the day with Esteban Cervantes of Puchase Colege. They both shot 78, one stroke better than Joey Cooper of Westfield State.

“I played fairly well,” Ortega said. “My ball striking was rath-er good for not playing in about six months or so. I missed a lot of putts that should have and could have even lowered my score. All in all, I was thrilled to just be able to go out and just break 80, which was my goal.”

Head Coach David Bond said that Ortega has a really strong mentality, and played a smart round of golf. Bond also felt that the course was a good fit for the junior.

“The course really suit him, as far as length,” Bond comment-ed. “He just had one bad swing and it cost him the outright vic-tory.”

The team has obviously been limited by the weather, but they have been preparing by work-ing indoors, on the bottom floor of the Campus Center, on their swing, with Coach Bond instilling his philosophies on the young players. The team officially started practice after spring break, but many players went in as early as February to work on their game.

“What Shane was able to do for a first real round of competition is awesome. (Ortega) being able

to do this right after a winter break is something. You will see a lot more special things from him this coming fall,” said se-nior Matt Babeu. “For the most part it was the first time we got out to swing a club. With that in mind we played pretty well.”

The team was only able to play four out of the team’s eight golf-ers because it was scheduled so last minute and two players weren’t fit to play physically and a few others had commitments already scheduled. In most tournaments, all the golfers will play and the five qualifiers with lowest scores will play com-petitively in the tournament to compile the team’s score.

The Trailblazers have two more tournaments this spring. But their next tournament is the WNEC Invitational this morning, starting at 10 a.m. To prepare, the players have been

finally getting some outdoor practice. Coach Bond owns a nearby golf range where the players are working on their swing and trying to stay fresh for competition.

“This event has a little bit stronger field, but I feel ex-tremely capable of being able to keep up,” Ortega said. “Just like any event I enter, the only mindset or expectations I have is to win.”

At the WNEC Invitational, the Trailblazers will face about twelve other teams. Coach Bond expects his team to per-form well against the other schools and finish near the top of the leader board.

“A top four or five finish is re-alistic,” Bond said confidently. “And a top three finish would be great.”

By Phil MabeySports Writer

The softball team remains on top of the conference standings after a split against Fitchburg State.

The Blazers are currently 3-1 in the MASCAC, tied with West-field State for first. Worcester State, Bridgewater State, and

Fitchburg State are tied for third place with a 2-2 record in confer-ence play.

“It could be anyone’s year to win it,” said Kendra Hobbs, the sophomore centerfielder. “There are a lot of teams bunched up at the top, and it’s still early.”

On Saturday, the double header was moved from the Jo-seph Zavattaro Athletic Complex

to Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown.

“It wasn’t the best field,” Hobbs said rhetorically. “We had to be careful not to get hurt, the outfield was choppy.”

According to Hobbs, their field was not playable due to re-cent weather and frost, which made the field muddy. The Blaz-ers were scheduled to open up on

their real home turf on Wednesday when they were set to play a double-dip against Springfield College, but the game has been postponed.

“It would have been nice to open up at our real home field, but there were a lot of fans there to support us,” Hobbs said.

In the first game against Fitchburg, the Blazers were in the midst of a pitch-ers’ duel, where they ended up losing 2-1.

“Pitching is every-thing,” Hobbs said. “She was a decent pitcher, but we just didn’t come to hit the first game.”

Kelly Pirzl pitched well for the Blazers allowing two runs on seven hits. She went the distance, but the two-run single in the second inning was more than enough

for the Falcons. Pirzl’s record dropped to 3-4 on the season.

“Our defense was great,” Hobbs said. “Just that one in-ning it wasn’t, when we let up two runs.”

Megan Boyer knocked in the only run for MCLA in the bot-tom half of the second inning. She drove in Kate Ouellette who led off the inning with a double. The Blazers stranded a total of five base runners.

In game two, they came out ready to play, and their bats woke up. They won 7-5.

“We really wanted the split and we were ready to go,” Hobbs said. “There was no way we were walking away losing both games.”

It was a 2-2 ball game in the bottom of the third inning when Kayla Koumjian led off with a double followed by a single from Ouellette. Both runners would score due to a ground ball from Hobbs and a sac-fly from Boyer.

The Blazers raked up 10 hits in 28 at bats including six RBIs through six innings. Koumjian was 2-3 with a run scored, Hobbs was 2-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Borsotti was 1-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

“I think the difference be-tween the two games, as far as the bats go, was just confidence,” said Amanda Borsotti, senior outfielder.

According to Hobbs, they made Fitchburg throw the ball around a lot with their base run-

Softball team splits doubleheadersMASCAC record improves to 3-1 after Fitchburg games.

Photo by Tyson Luneau/Beacon StaffAmanda Borsotti puts one on the board for the Trailblazers. SOFTBALL cont. on page14

Volume 73, Issue 10 Thursday, April 14, 2011

SportsThe Beacon

BASEBALL4/7 vs. Western New England (L) 12-84/9 vs. Fitchburg State (W) 3-24/9 vs. Fitchburg State (L) 9-14/12 vs. Elms (W) 9-8

SOFTBALL4/7 vs. Bay Path (W) 10-04/7 vs. Bay Path (W) 6-44/9 vs. Fitchburg State (L) 2-14/9 vs. Fitchburg State (W) 7-54/12 @ Sage (L) 7-14/12 @ Sage (W) 10-8

BASEBALL4/16 Worcester State (Away)*4/18 Bridgewater State (Home)*4/19 Daniel Webster (Away)*

SOFTBALL4/14 Skidmore (Away)*4/16 Worcester State (Away)*4/18 Bridgewater State (Home)** = Doubleheader

Last Week’s Scores UpcomingSchedule

IN THIS ISSUE:Trailblazer Golf,

Softball team starts 3-1 in MASCAC play,

&Senior Paul Procopio MCLA Softball (see p.14)

GameDaywith:

Kayla KoumjianJunior Catcher

“On game days I try to eat something light, and drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. I get my hair braided before games because its eas-ier to maintain while I’m catching. On the drive over I talk a little with my teammates, but mostly listen to my ipod. I like to listen to anything that gets me pumped; genre doesn’t matter. The only thing I do consistently listen to is ‘For those about to rock’ by ACDC because its an old tradition my mom and I had before tournaments when I was younger. The drive to Sage is a

little over an hour long, so it’s not too bad. Once we get to the field I put my cleats on then wait until everyone’s ready to start warm-ing up. Our warm up consists of a light jog and stretching. Then

pitchers and catchers hit soft toss first be-cause pitchers need to start throwing as soon as possible. The start-ing pitcher will throw with the starting catch-er, and the warm up takes about 20 minutes to get through. After they’re done warming up, we take a short wa-ter break, then it’s time to do infield-outfield. When we take infield-outfield we practice fielding ground balls or pop flies. Right before the game

starts we have a team huddle with our coach to talk about what needs to get done and to pump each other up. Then our coach will leave the huddle and all the girls will start a slow clap then cheer ‘LETS BLAZE!’ Once it’s game time we are all focused and ready to play.”

Photo by Dan Sheehan/Beacon StaffKayla Koumjian leads her team with 16 hits.

By Brendan FoleySports Writer

In the bottom of the third of Tuesday night’s Trailblazer base-ball game against Elms, the sun broke free of its cloud cover and beamed down on the athletic complex diamond, coinciding with the moment when the Trail-blazers began to take control of the game, fighting back from a 5-2 deficit.

Earlier in the week the Trail-blazers had split a double-header against Fitchburg State. The team won the first game 3-2, complet-ing play in under an hour-and-a-half, something the coaching staff attributed to strong pitching on both sides.

The next game did not go so well, with the Trailblazers being routed in a 9-1 loss. The double-header put their season record 6-12, with a conference record of 1-3.

At first glance the Tuesday glance was going to be another step in the wrong direction, with the team giving up five runs in the first two innings. Although the team managed to stay com-petitive with two runs of their own, things were not looking up.

In the bottom of the third, se-nior Bobby Beauchesne lead off with a single, then stole second to put him in scoring position. Se-nior Osiris Mendez was walked, putting runners on first and sec-ond.

The Trailblazers didn’t leave them stranded, as senior Paul Procopio smashed out a double, bringing Beauchesne in. Zach Theulen would be thrown out knocking in Mendez, putting the score at 5-4, with the Trailblazers in spitting distance of the lead.

Strong pitching by Mike Bullett held Elms at five runs, giving up no hits over the next two innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Men-dez managed to get on base with a

single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice by Procopio. Another single by Theulen put runners on first and second, and with a deep single by Mike Meaney, the game was tied.

The Trailblazers got into trouble in the top of the sixth with run-ners on first and second and one out, but a double play sent Elms back in the dugout empty handed and put MCLA back at bat.

Rick Massey walked to start off the bottom of the sixth, than ad-vanced to second on a single by John Ripepi. Beauchesne bunted out, advancing the runners to second and third, scoring posi-tion. They wouldn’t have to wait long.

Number 20, DH Joe Parillo strode out to home plate. Ear-lier in the game he’d been thrown out at first and it was obvious he was hungry to make up for it. Early pitches were cranked hard foul and it became apparent that Paril-lo was swinging for the fences, and if he could only make solid contact, the ball would be long gone.

He made contact – home run out the left field side. Trail-blazers up 8-5.

The Trailblazers would manage an-other run that in-ning, giving them a solid lead of 9-5 as they headed into the back half. They would need that ex-tra run.

After seven in-nings on the mound, Bullett was pulled out before the eighth, handing

the game over to Cody Weaver. Weaver got off to a rough start, hitting the first batter he faced before getting control and ending the inning with no hits.

The Trailblazers could not get any momentum going, going run less in the eighth and batting into the infield for easy outs.

In the top of the ninth inning, Elms launched a last-ditch assault on the scoreboard. Weaver gave up to singles and a walk to load the bases before being replaced. His replacement walked in a run, then gave up another on a single.

The Trailblazers gave up three runs before finally regaining control of the game. With two outs and a runner on third, the MCLA pitcher finished the game with a swinging strike out.

Baseball team comes from behind

Photo by Tyson Luneau/Beacon StaffJoe Parillo hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to take the lead on Elms.

april 14, 2011 - issue 10

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