Monday, October 14, 2019
VOL. 53, NO. 4
Truth Conquers All Since 1969
Star Trek writer shows students the power of a good story Arturo Ramirez
Editor-in-Chief Hugo-Winning TV writer Morgan Gendel broke down the fundamentals of writing a story for students who want to apply a litmus test to their writing. In an Oct. 10 lecture called “The Power of Story,” he stressed the fundamentals of effective storytelling. Stories are given to bosses, teachers, professors, friends and families to get what writers need. The stories can be powerful, funny, heartbreaking, nostalgic, and so on. Gendel became a professional TV writer in 1989 and has been writing since then. “Stories that work well have a helpable structure with a beginning, middle, and end,” Gendel said. Gendel’s story writing for the episode “The Inner Light” in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The award was given at the World Science Fiction Convention in San Francisco.
“The truth is, this episode is a tearjerker,” Gendel said. “It’s like a holocaust story. He has lost everything and everyone that he had learned to love in his journey. “I’ve gone to many conventions to talk about this. I’ve had a guy come up to me, and he says ‘Hey man’ and signals over a pretty young woman who comes over with a baby. He says, ‘You know, I didn’t think my life could ever go in this kind of way until I saw this episode.’ “And he just became a father, husband, and that is one of the most moving
Photo courtesy of Alexa Waheed
things I heard about this.” There are four elements that an effective story should have, and these are known as “Litmus Tests.” Litmus test No. 1 is theme. “The theme begins usually with a human need bound together with a personal flaw,” Gendel said. “As a TV writer, I always start with ‘what does my character need?’” Litmus test No. 2 is a hidden treasure. “I named it the nugget,”
Photo depicts Morgan Gendel presenting the four elements of effective storytelling. Presentation slide reads “Theme, Nugget, 3 Act Structure, Surprise & Inevitability.”
-Photo Courtesy of Arturo Ramirez
Gendel said, “and that’s where you get more personal and relatable. The nugget is a piece of gold. that is hidden in the story. “If ‘Star Wars’ were just about farm-boy saves the universe, we wouldn’t be talking about it today, 40 years later. It’s because of the nugget, that the bad guy is his dad. “Without that nugget you just “Farm-Boy Saves the’ Universe,” and they tried to copy that many times and couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t any success,” Litmus test No. 3 is the “3-Act Structure.” “It has been really big in Hollywood for about 20 years,” Gendel said. “It has gotten too much emphasis because you can just smell it when you’re watching a movie or a TV show. “The 3-Act Structure has three additional components: to establish the hero’s goal and conflict, the hero moves steadily toward the goal, the goal cannot be realized and so the hero has to make a turn and find a different path to success.”
A student of Gendel in his screenwriting class shared an example of what the 3-Act Structure may look like. “Act one, the hero discovers the tree, he/she needs to climb it; act two, the hero climbs the tree with difficulty; act three, someone sets the tree on fire,” Gendel said. “Here is the last and fourth litmus test, it is surprise and inevitably. Surprise and inevitably is contradictory. So what do you have if you have a contradiction? You have tension, conflict, and conflict equals drama.” Ani Gonzalez, indie writer, lawyer, and mother of a CLC student attended “The Power of Story” talk. “I heard of the talk in the College of Lake County website,” she said. “They had featured an event that was open to the public. I was very excited when I saw that Mr. Gendel was the writer of ‘The InnerLight’ which is one of my favorite ‘Star Trek’ episodes.” “As a writer, I am very much interested in the craft of writing and help people
come up with amazing stories like that. I have been writing for four-five years. I write under the pen-name Ani Gonzalez, and I have several cozy mystery stories on Amazon.” “I was interested in how he crafts the stories, and what he called ‘The Litmus Tests,. That’s so vital for editing the story and making sure that it has the impact that you want it to have.” “That’s what you want to do as a writer. You really want to write something that people would love. The emotion is so hard. As a writer, I feel like getting that emotion on paper is so hard for me.” “The fact that he focused on that, and that he was really underlining on what you need to do was important.” Gendel has recently published a new book called “Planet 6: Book One of the SkyRider Chronicles.” “Anybody who likes both ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars,’ would like Planet 6,” Gendel said. “Go to Amazon, search either ‘Planet 6,’ or my name.” Gendel closed.
Features
THE CHRONICLE Page 2 | Monday, October 14 2019
CLC holds career and job placement demonstration Aristidas Tankus Staff Reporter According to a Harvard Business School study, developed hard skills that are specifically required for the desired position account for 15% of employment success. As Harvard Business School’s study says, four pivotal employability skills make up 85% of achievement in finding a certain job. These skills were further discussed during the Essential Employability Skills-Career Talk, an event hosted Oct. 6 by CLC’s Career and Job Placement Center on the Grayslake campus. The Essential Employability Skills Career Talk was moderated by Barbara Billimack, a career services specialist. Nine Lake County employers from eight industries talked in depth about the top four employability skills. Employers included Elliott Hanna, human resource recruiter of the Lake County Health Department & Community
Health Center in Waukegan; Jesus Gerena, territory sales manager of BrightStar Care in Gurnee; Norm Friedman, senior recruiter of HydraForce in Lincolnshire; Matt Voss, general manager of Fastenal in Lake Zurich,; Tim Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Pedestrian Coffee in Lake Forest; Ryan Barnes, general manager of Waterway ® Gas & Wash in Northbrook,; Jeremy Picard, section manager of Maintenance and Instrumentation at AbbVie in North Chicago; Keyur Bhatt, human resource director of Graham Enterprise Inc. in Vernon Hills; and Thomas Rezak, associate director of Engineering Programs and Drawing Management at AbbVie. The following four employability skills are highly necessary when searching for an open spot in the workforce: personal ethic, teamwork, work ethic, and communication. Personal ethics consist of integrity, respect and perseverance as well as a positive attitude. Dependability and
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professionalism are key components of a great work ethic. Teamwork represents critical thinking, effectiveness, and cooperative work. Finally, communication has two aspects: active listening and clear communication. “The job market is very competitive today,” Voss said. “Unemployment is low in the United States this year.” This is because the United States has recently created more job openings than the number of unemployed people, and more Americans are competing with one another while seeking these opportunities. Voss had advice for students who are seeking employment. Voss also gave tips on how students at CLC can boost their resumés when they look for a job they desire. “Keep the resumé simple, use school resources (i.e. the Career and Job Placement Center), write things that you do or did,” Voss said. “Use spell check,”
Friedman added. “If you do, and don’t be afraid.” worked somewhere before, you have to mention the place you worked and spell it correctly. “Be yourself. Look for whatever job you want to
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EXPLORATION | ENGAGEMENT | ENTERTAINMENT FEEL THE ENERGY AT THE JLC!
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CLC Student Tickets are $15! P R O U D PA S T BOLD FUTURE 1969 - 2019
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Features
THE CHRONICLE Page 3 | Monday, October 14, 2019
‘Coffee with a Cop’ connects students, staff with CLC police Zoe Rabin
Features Editor CLC students and staff got something extra with their coffee Oct. 2 on the Grayslake campus. The College of Lake County held “Coffee with a Cop” to connect the CLC police department with the community it serves. Thoseattending could speak to officers on the force, the chief of police, and the CLC police student intern. They had a wide selection of coffee, donuts, and free CLC memorabilia. An officer present at the event was Sharon Joseph, who provided insight into her experience in law enforcement. Officer Joseph started her policing career in her mid -20s. She received her degree in human resource management. After realizing she did not like her current profession, she decided to pursue policing based on the recommendation of a friend. Joseph applied to the
Photo Courtesy of Penn State
Vernon Hills police department and later retired. After retirement, Joseph applied to the CLC police department after hearing glowing reviews of the department from co-workers. Officer Joseph said her favorite part about her job is talking to people. “It sounds cliche and we always say ‘that’s so… lame’ when you say it but it really feels good
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to help people,” she said. “It also feels kinda good to arrest the bad guys.” Joseph’s least favorite part about being a police officer is writing tickets and putting a damper on people’s fun. “I like being the good cop, and doing this type of stuff,” she said in reference to the Coffee with a Cop event. When asked what her craziest story was from her experience in law enforcement, she mentioned she witnessed someone
attempt to steal a lobster by sticking it down their pants in Vernon Hills. “People will do the craziest things and the boldest things to obtain what they want,” she said. “Here at the College of Lake County, things don’t get that crazy. We had one guy walk in wearing a bathrobe one day.” Joseph explains that in times like those, the officer will try to help them out and politely escort
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them off the property. Joseph provided some advice to anyone who would like to become a police officer. “You need to make sure that this is what you really want to do,” she said. “It’s long hours, holidays, weekends, nights, missing all kinds of family gatherings, but to me, the rewards are the best. “It’s worth it, and they should try to find a department that they have a good fit with. If you don’t have a good fit, you’re not going to have a good experience.” Joseph expressed love for the College of Lake County. “We are very lucky here at CLC,” she said. “We have a great chief. The board loves us. They support us. There’s that feeling that they have our back, and it allows us to concentrate on the students, on the people.” If you are interested in learning more about policing and the criminal justice field, the Criminal Justice Club meets Wednesdays from 1-2:30 p.m. in Room B222.
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A&E
THE CHRONICLE Page 4 | Monday, October 14, 2019
‘Joker’ puts a gritty smile on the audience’s face Jason Lee A&E Editor
Based on the most iconic supervillain of all time, “Joker” is a gritty origin story on the titular character. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and murder after society rejects him. All the praise you’ve heard about Joaquin Phoenix is accurate. He absolutely kills it in the lead role. It’s clear that Phoenix did a lot of studying for the role, and his weight loss alone shows how the character starts in a very degraded state. Phoenix’s acting performance is phenomenal, as he brings out the real emotions of disturbed and rejected people. Phoenix’s performance is a human one. He conveys a lot of disturbingly real mental illness tendencies that touch upon the character’s unstable
Photo Courtesty of hindustantimes.com nature. His ambiguous tone, inconsistent body language, and movements all add to a clustered puzzle of this broken character’s sophisticated and realistically unsettling vibes. Phoenix truly does bring a lot of fantastic drama to his performance. He also exemplifies the emotional and sympathetic roots of the character. They expand his humanism and show how
relatable he was at times. He really knew how to make us feel bad for him, and there will be a riot if he doesn’t get an Oscar nomination. It is safe to say that this doesn’t feel like the traditional comic book movie. It is more in the vein of a psychological character study arthouse film. And it succeeds in smooth fashion, as Todd Phillips’ stylish direction pays
homage to classic crime dramas with the beautiful cinematography that expands upon the povertystricken Gotham City. The film also captures some memorable shots of Arthur in his prime time. The musical score is also hauntingly beautiful, building suspense and ambiguity. It correlates to the scenes intentionally, and it usually involves Arthur’s struggles to connect with society. The production values, costumes, and makeup are also top-notch and authentic. This adds to the feeling of a period drama, and it makes the crime sections more realistic. The Joker’s final design also looks great. Thus, the overall tone is effective, and it’s especially helped by the great direction. Phillips knew how to give this a somewhat-retro vibe that serves as a love letter to the crime films of the ‘80s.
He also threw in a genuinely beautiful character study that makes us question how capable society is of crafting a monster, and how capable are we as human beings? The story doesn’t pull its punches on how realistically brutal it can get at times. It also shows how we, as a society can treat each other horribly. The themes of corruption, crime, society, and rejection are handled extremely well, and the connections to the Batman mythos are great. There is a lot of ambiguity in this film, especially regarding certain plot points, even if the film did get a tad bit on-the-nose at times with how artistic it was trying to be. Still, it’s a great character study, and one of the best films of the year, if not the best so far.
Jec Jemc to appear at CLC for writing workshop
Fernando Reynoso
Staff Reporter Readers and writers at the College of Lake County will welcome a guest author for a Writing Workshop & Reading. Author Jac Jemc will visit the Grayslake campus on Thursday, Oct. 17, to host a Writing Workshop at 3 p.m. in Room T347 with audience members that will explore imagery, symbols, and themes that connect with narrative elements. Jemc also will give a reading at 7 p.m. in Room A013. She will read from her new books published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux: “False Bingo” and “Total Work of Art”. Copies of Jemc’s books will be available for purchase and signing. The latest book by Jemc, “False Bingo”, is a collection of 20 short stories, some of which are in the realm of the supernatural. “Strange Loop” is the story of an outcast who attempts to escape a mistake that is not revealed to the reader. In “Delivery,” a family is left to watch their father develop an online shopping
addiction. In “Don’t Let’s,” a woman is freed from an abusive relationship and finds herself in a new form of torment in her vacation home that is inhabited by breath-stealing ghosts. “It’s an eerie assemblage that delves into fears and obsessions,” The Chicago Tribune said. The second book that Jemc will be reading for the event is “Total Work of Art.” It is a sneak peek at a book due to be released in 2021. Jemc lives in Chicago. She writes and teaches English and creative writing. She had received her Master of Fine Arts degree at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and has completed residence at the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhavs,
Hald: The Danish Center for Writers and Translators, Ragdale,
the
Vermont
Studio Center, Thicket, and VCCA.
She has been the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council
professional development grants. Jemc will share more about herself and her writing process. “It’s my hope that students can see bits of themselves in our visiting authors or their process,” English teacher Esley Stahl said Written in eerie and compelling prose, “The Grip of It” is a psychological novel that covers not only how we make a home but also how a home can make us. Entertainment Weekly calls it terrifying. “The suspense builds relentlessly in short, lyrical chapters... as it is evocative,” The Chicago Tribune said. In an interview with The Great Writers Steal, Jemc speaks about her own writing. “I like to look closer at a certain situation and relationship,” Jemc said. “This is the perfect time of the year to cozy up with that book and a pumpkin spice latte,” Stahl said. Jemc’s 2014 collection of stories, “A Different Bed Every Time,”reads more in a poetic style.
“It has dense imagery and focus of language,” Jemc said. “My Own Wife” named Jemc as a finalist for the 2013 Pen/Robert W. Bingham Prize. “My Only Wife” reads as the finest expression of that aesthetic,” said Johnathan Messinger in Time Out Chicago. “I hope that participants will be open to hearing and sharing experiences because that is what reading, writing, and life is all about,” Stahl said. In an interview with phdincreativewriting.
wordpress.com on “How Jac Jemc Became a Writer,”Jemc was asked what she would say to aspiring writers. “Read,” Jemc said. “Write exactly what you want to write, even if it seems like a piece of crap while writing it.”
Opinion
THE CHRONICLE Page 5 | Monday, October 14, 2019
The student loan crisis, rich parents, and legacy admissions
Anastasia Gustafson Managing Editor
The student loan crisis has unfortunately become a household term in America. It pervades media in headlines, essays, articles, and even episodes of popular television shows. Hasan Minhaj featured the student loan crisis on his Netflix television show, “Patriot Act.” The extreme traction gained from this episode is not surprising. His audience bears much student loan debt. You might have heard of them. They are called millennials. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of one year at a four-year university in 1985 was $12,274. Today, the average cost for one year at a four-year university is $26,593. These numbers are adjusted for inflation. Looking at those numbers makes the reality of higher education stark. Education today is more than twice as expensive as the education of the late twentieth century. According to the 2018 US census, the median American household income was $63,179. Sending just one student to a four-year university might cost a family, on average, 42 percent of their annual earnings. To combat these high rates, prospective students often turn to student loans. In “Patriot Act,” a comedic political Netflix show, Hasan Minhaj breaks down why these options aren’t much better. Two major student loan distributors are Navient and Sally Mae. Navient faces lawsuits in several states. The plaintiffs claim Navient mistreats borrowers. Minhaj explains that Navient pushes its students to file for forbearance, which results in students paying more over time rather than file for income-based repayment. Minhaj testified at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. “Two-thirds of all jobs
in America today require at least some college,” Minhaj said. “That wasn’t the case for most members of this committee when they entered adulthood. And you paid far less for your degrees. “We looked up where the 60 members of this community went to college and what your school’s tuition was at that time,” Minhaj said. “Even adjusting for inflation, college costs were way less across the board.” He showed that Chairwoman Maxine Waters had attended California State University in 1971 for
Or, maybe not. The financial elite, more commonly known as the 1 percent, have made headlines recently for what the American public is calling the college admission scandal. Thewealthy parents fraudulently got their children into elite American universities. This case debuted in March and was the largest college admissions prosecution that the Justice Department has ever faced. Honest, hard-working students lost their place at high-ranking universities because they were cheated
the admissions process. The group is appealing a lower-court ruling. “Racial preferences punish better-qualified individuals,” Edward Blum, the leader of theorganization, told CBS This Morning. He called it a “quota-system” and labeled the university’s actions as racial discrimination. However, Blum often uses hand-picked students to dismantle affirmative action in his lawsuits and omits important information about his clients. In his 2008 case, Fisher v. University of Texas,
just about $1,000 a year when adjusted for inflation. Minhaj said the tuition today is $6,000, an increase of more than 500 percent. “People aren’t making more money, and college is objectively way more expensive,” Minhaj said. “Many borrowers are still treated like deadbeats because the government has put their financial future in the hands of predatory, forprofit loan-servicing companies.” Higher education should benefit the masses, educate young professionals, and be a gateway to better financial opportunities. Student loan debt might be the biggest scandal surrounding these educational institutions.
Photo courtesy of World Atlas
Abigail Fisher didn’t get in to the University of Texas. Blum argued it was because of minority students who were admitted on the basis of affirmative action. Blum omitted information. Texas had a policy whereby students in the top 10 percent of their class could get into the UT school system. Fisher happened to be in the top 12 percent, placing her in the group that was evaluated via holistic review in the admissions process. Students with lower grades and scores than Fisher did get into the UT system. However, according to ProPublica, only five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two of them were white.
out of their spot. The actions surrounding these events asks a question. Are elite universities, as well as higher education in general, becoming a feat exclusive to the wealthy? Arguably, it seems to be leaning toward yes. Some argue that there are strongholds in place to prevent financial discrimination in college, including affirmative action. However, many reactionary groups are leading the charge to dismember this system. Students for Fair Admissions has sued Harvard University, alleging it discriminated against Asian-American and white students in
“Edward Blum is using the civil rights playbook to dismantle civil rights policies,” Hasan Minhaj said. Getting rid of policies like affirmative action, which seems to be the goal of many plaintiffs and activists, will not make the admissions process any fairer. Arguably, it could make it more exclusive to the financial elite. Another debacle within the list of scandalous events encompassing the collegiate arena needs to be examined: alumni preference in the admissions process. “They give preference to alumni children who also make up a lot of elite schools, about 10-20% of the population,” said Daniel Golden, author of the book “The Price of Admission,” on Greater Boston. “It’s affirmative action for the wealthy.” Legacy admissions should be the first thing attacked when dissecting the discriminatory actions universities take when admitting prospective students. Students with alumni parents are more likely to be part of the financial elite. First-generation students and students applying to a more competitive school than their parents attended are all more likely to be minorities and less likely to be ablle to bribe their way into the university system. These realities show the connection between access to higherlevel education and one’s socioeconomic background. Education has a long way to go before the playing field is leveled for students of all backgrounds. For now, middle class and poor students face high-interest student loans and a lower chance of qualifying to get into elite universities, while the students of the 1 percent. might be able to lie their way in. Those 1 percent students also are without the worry of how to pay, or even how to keep up in the classroom.
Opinion
THE CHRONICLE Page 6 | Monday, October 14, 2019
Endless war turns a good profit Kris Laffredi Staff Reporter To have imperialism abroad there needs to be an empire at home. Support for war has to appear organic. It has been impossible for the United States to obtain popular support for any war since World War II. The U.S. has instead adopted the most “civilized” form of warfare. It uses jets ladened with explosives, cluster bombs, and uranium tipped bullets along with remote- controlled drones. This method of warfare circumnavigates the need for accountability. There is not a single Democrat or Republican, besides Bernie Sanders on a good day, to question the president’s authority to drop high explosives on any country he wishes. The public has little care if the war isn’t affecting them. Whether it be in BosniaHerzegovina, Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iraq or any other sovereign nation the United States bombs, the public remains apathetic to war occurring on foreign
soil. Though fighting wars with violent explosives kill more civilians as shown by numerous UNHCR reports, it is not mentioned in the media because politicians would rather discuss other objectives. “We cannot allow bureaucrats in The Hague to dictate our foreign policy or that of our trusted allies,” John Bolton said. We see such sentiment in the war in Yemen where the combined death toll between bombings and disease is estimated to be 233,000, or 0.8 percent of Yemen’s 30 million-strong population, according to UNHCR reports. Politicians would rather discuss their goals than the lives lost for the cause. Further, Saudi Arabia engaged in an $8.1 billion arms deal with the U.S. in May 2019 alone. That’s a lot of fire power used in foreign countries by foreign countries. The U.S. doesn’t seem to care as long as the profit margins are in their benefit and the loss of life is far from view. As of 2019, massive cholera outbreaks have been reported. Millions are without a place to live,
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along with the food and water they need to survive. The U.S. could have stepped in to aid them, but there was nothing financially or politically to gain. Further, the U.S. bombing in Somalia was said to have killed alShabab fighters and left about 450,000 Somalis displaced. “Across the country, more than 2 million people have been displaced by violence that has lasted more than two decades,” the UNHCR said. They explain that the U.S. maintains the claim that no civilians have been killed, but eye witness statements disagree. The U.S. would certainly not want to let human rights get in the way of public relations or profit margin. As is always the case, no consideration is given for the civilians who are affected most by bombing campaigns. It is the promise of capital that has forged a brand-new agreement of endless war between the U.S. and other nations. We are always protecting future and existing capital while leaving nothing but ruins and death in our
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wake. It is a time-honored tradition in the United States to value profit margins over human life. It goes back as far as President Eisenhower in 1953. “A serious explicit purpose of our foreign policy is the encouragement of a hospitable climate for investment in foreign nations,” Eisenhower said in his state of the union
address in 1953. The U.S. leadership deduced early that there were positives to having an ongoing and seemingly endless war, along with a constant rotating group that could be substituted for the cultural “other.”
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Editorial Policy The Chronicle staff is responsible for all material printed within its pages every issue. The views expressed in the Chronicle are not necessarily that of the Chronicle Staff or the administration at the College of Lake County.
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Jason Lee
A&E Editor
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Andrea Morales News Editor
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Adviser
Features Editor
Arturo Ramirez
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Editor-in-Chief
Business Manager
Anastasia Gustafson
Carolyn Dudkowski
Managing Editor
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Health & Science
THE CHRONICLE Page 7 | Monday, October 14, 2019
Vaping breathes a lie Minha Khan
Staff Reporter
Four years ago if a group of high schoolers were asked if they knew what vaping was, it may have been a challenge to find more than a couple who did. In 2019, however, not only would most teenagers know what vaping is, but a good portion of them would probably be in possession of a vape pen. While electronic cigarettes have been around for decades, in 2015, the company Juul released its now infamous vaping pods. “Improving the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by eliminating cigarettes is our mission,” the Juul company webpage said. However, before finding success, they seemed to be aiming their marketing efforts toward the youth. They aired advertisements with young adults using their products, propagated the reviews comparing their products to iphones and other smart
technology, and created such widely appealing flavors for their product like mango and creme brulee, to attract younger consumers to their product. And it worked. Juul wants to claim it never wanted teens to use its product. But the product was marketed to reach the widespread usage to which it has now involved them, hooking a new generation of non-smokers onto nicotine. Many of those youths using Juuls have no idea what the effect of them could be on their body. Since vaping is a relatively new technology, no long term studies on its effects have been conducted. Juuls have become widespread among high school students. There have even been court cases in recent months. School boards have sued the company for purposefully marketing to children and causing the vape addiction to become a costly burden on the school districts themselves. The question does arise, even with a great marketing campaign, how did Juul
-Photo courtesy of Cody Dufrense
become so popular? The truth is simple misinformation. A great number of teenage consumers of the product do not even realize it has nicotine in it or that it is astronomically more potent in its nicotine levels than regular cigarettes. There is also a matter of accessibility and ease of use. The Juul is sleek like a USB key and can be simply hidden in plain sight while in school or class. On top of that, the effects of vaping are not a noticeable high, and the vape leaves no stinky tobacco smell behind. Add that in to a powerful
-Photo depicts an electronic cigarette, Juul.
marketing campaign and we begin to see the puzzle come together in front of us. The company has made major changes, in part because of the backlash from the public in recent months. They have raised the age limit on their cigarettes, rolled back on the quirky flavors, and even deleted their social media accounts in a ploy to keep the product from teens. However, the damage has been done, and beyond simply introducing juuling to the world as a popular pastime, they also have popularized vaping as a concept. It has snowballed far
beyond what Juul probably originally intentioned. Vaping has become the new trend for both nicotine and marijuana users. Marijuana vapes have recently been the cause of controversy. The CDC has confirmed a multitude of cases of respiratory illness in the past month caused by a marijuana vape or rig. These products are made without regulations and therefore contain chemicals that have not been approved for public consumption. However, many people feel a false sense of security, and they believe vapes are only delivering flavored water vapor to them. The chemicals used to make pods and rigs can become oils that damage the lungs horribly if inhaled. It is important that we know the dangers of these products, which are being used by so many around us, not only so we can become informed consumers but also so we can inform others.
ENJOY a semester abroad in
China Feb 24 – June 22, 2020
Earn 15 or more college credits attending Yunnan University, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in China. Required courses: Explore the world and gain invaluable intercultural experience! Participate in the College of Lake County’s semester abroad program in Kunming, China. Live in the beautiful city of Kunming, called the “City of Eternal Spring” because of its weather. The city has a warmer and much milder climate than most other Chinese cities. Students live in international housing on the beautiful university campus close to many cultural sites and attractions. There are also good and affordable places to eat near the campus. You will be a near quaint old neighborhoods as well as modern shopping areas. Students will be accompanied by a CLC faculty member. All courses, besides the Chinese Language courses, are taught in English. Deadlines: Final application deadline is November 15, 2019 Cost: $6,300 (in-district rate) For details and upcoming information session dates, visit www.clcillinois.edu/semesterabroad
HUM 129 Introduction to East Asian Civilization CHI 121/122 Chinese Language PHI 126 – Exploring Religions *Additional courses are available For more information: • Stop by the Center for International Education, Room B172 • Call (847) 543-2733 • Email: jcushing@clcillinois.edu
Monday, October 14, 2019
Truth Conquers All Since 1969
VOL. 53, NO. 4
Students would cheer for a CLC football team Jack Van Reck Sports Editor With all the hype surrounding the new NFL season, especially with the new additions to the Chicago Bears, it seems as though CLC students want football energy at the school. Five students were asked recently on the Grayslake campus, and all said that they would like to see a football team at CLC. Hector Sanchez Cuevas, 19, a sophomore criminal justice major, said a CLC football team was a great idea. He added he was shocked when he found out that there was not a team already in place. Many benefits could come from the addition of a new sports team at CLC, especially in a sport with so
much national popularity. Johnny Rennolds, 20, a sophomore communications major, said a football team would open opportunities for players around the area. “It would allow for high school students in the local area that don’t get scholarships to universities out of high school to try and play at the JUCO level if they’d like,” Rennolds said. “There are plenty of young athletes looking for a place to play after high school, but there are limited opportunities in the bigger universities.” It would be a great thing for local athletes who do not want their playing career to stop after high school, but it may also prompt more students to get involved with
CLC athletics and increase student attendance. Jordan Lyons, 20, a sophomore business major, said the addition of a football team would give more students around the school a reason to go to games. Lyons discussed how alumni visit their high school football games sometimes long after they have graduated and said perhaps those who have previously attended CLC and are still in the area also would like to come and see the games. Sanchez has a real passion for the game and understands that there are unforeseen complications when one goes on to play any sport at a big university.
“Whether [they play] to go professional or just to get the experience depends on the person, but for those who left to play at university, many end up coming back,” said Cuevas.,“either for financial issues or just because they didn’t like the program at that specific college. “The great thing about CLC is that it’s affordable, and for the guys that want to play the sport but don’t want to pay thousands of dollars to go away to a university, it’s a huge benefit of CLC.” Of course a lot of people enjoy the idea of having football, but it would be important that students show up to games. All five of the students said they would be willing to go, and one of those students
was Daniela Guzman, 19, a sophomore business major. She said a lot of students would be willing to go. Guzman said she noticed how much energy surrounded big college football games. She added that the high level of energy would be exciting to see and translate well to a community college. With that much buildup, she said she is confident that the turnout to the games would be substantial. If students were willing to show up and players around the area were willing to play for the team, it could be to CLC’s benefit to consider what would needed to be done to have a football team.
Photo Courtesy of Pixels