January/February 2022 Issue

The award-winning newspaper of Anne Arundel Community College TheCampusCurrent.com

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Jan/Feb 2022

News

Sports

Arts

New building opens for students studying trades.

First season begins for Athletic Department's new esports team.

2 campus theaters undergo renovations for spring.

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AACC to offer 50% of classes face-to-face Sydney Klabnik Contributor

AACC will offer up to 50% of its course sections on campus for the spring semester.

Faculty and deans built the spring course schedule to reach that benchmark,

according to Melissa Beardmore, AACC’s vice president for learning resources management.

Beardmore cited student preferences and ongoing safety concerns during the pandemic for the schedule.

“We know that students need in-person,

want in-person and prefer in-person classes, so we are trying to balance safety with what’s important and needed for student success," Beardmore said.

AACC will offer hybrid classes, which meet both Continued on page 3

Newspaper prints for 1st time since COVID D’Angelo Williams Co-Editor

Campus Current revives its print edition after almost two years.

Photo by Laniya Harris

Communications students Zack Buster and Maggie Brown meet in person during a winter class.

Photo by Dan Elson

The staff of AACC’s student newspaper revived the print edition of the awardwinning paper on Jan. 24.

Campus Current stopped publishing the monthly print edition in March 2020 when the college closed because of the pandemic.

Since then, the student editors have published a daily

Jenna Baker, a second-year dance student, said masking up and wiping down surfaces makes her feel a bit safer.

“In the classroom ... if we use a yoga mat or [are] on the floor, we wipe it down or just keep up with hand sanitizer," Baker said.

Others said they worry their classmates are not safe to be around.

“I feel there’s still people out there who choose not to wear a mask and be vaccinated,” Messiah Rogers, a first-year psychology student, said. “So I don’t think it’s very safe to go back to school now.”

“I feel, you know, after COVID happened it kind of was a reality snap almost,” Mariah Bethea, a second-year visual arts stu-

Financial Aid Presentation

Budgeting

Virus causes stress, anxiety Laniya Harris Co-Editor

AACC students said they feel stressed by another COVID variant that is spreading so quickly as school starts back up again.

In interviews with Campus Current, students said they have become more careful and worried about their safety as the Omicron variant

Feb 7

Brunch with Arts & Crafts

has become dominant.

“I’m more paranoid than ever,” Mobolaji Ogunlaja, a first-year computer science student, said. “I just feel I can’t really live my life as I did before. ... It’s just overwhelming for my mental health.”

The new variant started spiking COVID rates in November.

Some students said they wear masks everywhere now.

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Stuff-A-Buddy

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digital edition of the paper and a weekly newsletter.

“There was no point in publishing a printed newspaper on campus Continued on page 3

Students say COVID causes stress.

Photo courtesy of Jenna Baker dent, said. “It just made me more motivated and I’ve been really trying to build my portfolio up.”

Feb 11

Self-Care Day

2 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

Editorial

Meet the Staff

Mandate for vaccine? Yes! Editorial Board

Co-Editors Maggie Brown Zack Buster Dan Elson Laniya Harris D'Angelo Williams Contributors Sydney Klabnik Kaylah Rashid Christian Richey Lilly Roser Dominic Salacki Graphic Designers Mackenzie Airey Tamiya Phillips Faculty Adviser Sharon O’Malley

Photographers on Page 1, top D'Angelo Williams Dominic Salacki Laniya Harris

Twitter @campus_current Facebook Facebook.com/ CampusCurrentPaper Instagram @campuscurrentaacc

Contact

410-777-2296 CampusCurrent @gmail.com

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410-777-2803 CampusCurrentAdverts @gmail.com

101 College Parkway Arnold, MD 21012

The COVID-19 virus has affected all of us in one way or another, which is why AACC should require that all students have the COVID vaccine in order to attend classes in person.

With school starting back up for the spring semester and students coming back to in-person classes, now more than ever it’s imperative that we all do what we need to do to keep each other safe.

That means every one of us needs to be vaccinated. That means the college needs to require that every one of us is vaccinated before we set foot on campus.

We deserve to be in a safe and healthy environment.

Students should be able to come on campus if they need to without worrying about being in close contact with unvaccinated classmates.

From having to be conscious of how we interact with others when we go out, to changing the way we go about our day-to-day activities, to having to spend time attending classes online when we’d rather be in person, these last two years have not been easy.

The total confirmed cases of COVID in Anne Arundel county is 78,490 as of Jan. 14, according to the county. One in six people who get COVID will experience severe COVID symptoms, which include trouble breathing and chest pains, health officials have said.

The fear surrounding COVID has not gone away.

Students are concerned about whether their classmates have been vaccinated, if they are wearing masks outside of school, or just how careful they have been.

We’re not saying that the college shouldn’t accommo-

Letter from an editor

Student-mom: 5 tips for life Maggie Brown Co-Editor

I am a mom and a student who is involved in campus life. My schedule can sometimes become hectic.

Even if you’re not a mom, your schedule as a student may be hectic, too.

I have found some ways to organize my daily life to bring balance into my world since 2008 when I first became a mom.

I would like to share some of the things I have learned with you. I think this might help you navigate student life as we start a new semester.

My top five tips are: Make a schedule, accept help from others, prioritize your mental and emotional health, do not overdo it and be patient.

First, making a schedule will be a lifesaver most days because it will help organize your daily tasks.

My schedule has helped me manage multiple meetings, my work to-do list, and my kids’ school activities all in one day.

The play-by-play direction a schedule provides for me also helps me organize my thoughts and improves my time management skills a lot.

Use your phone reminders and Google calendars, or set periodic alarms for yourself to remind you of daily tasks.

My next biggest tip is to ask for help.

The help that others offer me at times plays a huge part in how I can move throughout my days a little better.

While help is not always readily available, any time it is offered I accept it without feeling like I am somehow letting myself or my children down.

Just say yes to the help.

Next, prioritize your mental and emotional health.

If you are not mentally or emotionally stable, then you are no help to anyone. That includes your children. And that includes you.

Being overwhelmed is normal; however, you should manage it as much as possible when it arises.

The editors of Campus Current believe the college should mandate the vaccine for anyone entering campus buildings.

Pexels photo. date people who have a religious or medical reason for not getting the vaccine. The college should.

Some people are apprehensive about getting the vaccine. Maybe they feel a vaccine mandate will infringe on their right to choose what they put in their bodies.

But not having a vaccine mandate infringes on the rights of everyone else to be protected, which is far more important.

People are suffering from this virus more and more and the longer we wait to make vaccinations mandatory, the more at risk we all become.

Campus Current reporter Maggie Brown has tips for students that she learned from being a mom.

Photo courtesy of Brittany Hector To do that, you could talk to your peers, schedule a meeting with your therapist if you have one, make an appointment with school counselors, or even talk to your teachers if you feel comfortable.

I strongly advise against holding things in and trying to deal with everything on your own because what was once a small issue has the potential to manifest into something larger if you do not address it.

Next tip: Don’t overdo it.

Overworking yourself in any capacity is harmful.

I don’t recommend taking on more tasks than you are available for because it can throw you off track and cause you to forget something im-

portant or slack on something you have the potential to achieve if time allows.

Say no and set boundaries for yourself and others to always follow without bending the rules.

Finally: Be patient with yourself and others because nothing happens overnight.

The skills I have learned have taken me quite some time to apply to my everyday life because I was always in a rush and wanted things done that minute.

Having patience can sometimes improve your mental clarity and help you make more positive and informed decisions.

Maggie Brown is a communications student and a reporter for Campus Current.

Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb | 3

News

School to allow 50% of classes in person Continued from page 1

online and on campus; online synchronous classes, which are mostly online but meet virtually once or twice a week; and asynchronous classes, which are online only.

AACC President Dawn Lindsay “has set a goal for us to be the premier online institution in Maryland, so she wants us to have an appropriate balance of both in-person and online,” Beardmore explained.

Conor Curran, a first-

year secondary Spanish education student, said the college’s decision to offer 50% of course sections is “the correct step to take.”

Curran continued, “As an all-virtual student [last] semester, I’m excited to get back on campus.”

Abigail Billovits-Hayes, a second-year marketing and advertising student, expressed support for the college’s decision but hopes the focus will remain on offering online classes.

“For some people, it’s

Printed news returns again Continued from page 1

if no students were around to pick it up,” Sharon O’Malley, Campus Current’s faculty adviser, said. “I’m so glad it’s time to bring it back.”

The first print edition in 22 months has a new editor, first-year communications student Dan Elson (see related story on Page 6). And the newspaper’s staff of student journalists is waiting to move into a new newsroom in the Humanities building.

Elson said many students do not know Campus Current has an online edition, so they

don’t get information about the campus.

“It’s essential that people will read the newspaper because they may not know about the online” edition, Elson said.

Campus Current reporter Laniya Harris agreed.

“When it comes to viewing things, it’s a lot easier for me to view it when it’s physically in my hands, and I’ll be more inclined to read it, too,” Harris, a first-year transfer studies student, said.

AACC graduate Christian Richey was the editor-in-chief of Campus Cur-

their only option, so I feel like we should definitely still focus on online stuff,” Billovits-Hayes said. “But also, providing more in-person classes would be great.”

AACC will continue to require students taking in-person classes to be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing, which is free on campus.

The college will also continue to require everyone who comes to campus to wear a mask indoors.

As in the fall, social dis-

AACC students will have a variety of events to attend this semester.

During the first week of February, the Student Government Association will host a brunch where students can play games and create crafts, make a stuffed animal, and learn about financial aid, budgeting and self-care.

“SGA is looking forward to hosting different events,” KyAnna Peterson, SGA’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, said. “I am excited to build off of last semester and see what events we can

get students to be more involved in.”

In addition, the Office of Student Engagement will partner with the Black History Month Planning Committee to host “Telling Our Stories: An Evening With the Arts,” featuring student and guest performances in February.

Also, that month, the college will bring back the annual Race Card Project, which invites students to write their definitions of race and post them on designated boards around campus for Black History Month.

Another event, virtual Advocacy Day on Feb. 15, will give students a chance to

tancing will not be required on campus, though students are encouraged to stay six feet away from others when possible.

Beardmore encouraged students to regularly check their AACC emails and the college's website for up-todate COVID-19 rules.

Campus Current returns in print for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Shown, Editor-in-Chief Dan Elson.

Photo by Laniya Harris rent in 2020 when the print edition stopped.

“I think there’s something about being able to see the news for it to be tangible, for it to be just right in your face,” Richey, a senior at The New School in New York, said. “When students see that newspaper on the news rack, I think that really interests them. It really makes them

AACC to present new spring school events Maggie Brown Co-Editor

Journalism students take an in-person class during the winter semester.

Photo by Dan Elson

meet some elected state representatives and to advocate for the college.

In March and April, OSE will offer a four-event Diversity Series, featuring a book club, a speaker on ethnography; an ethnic art activity and a student panel.

“I’m always happy about all of the events that we have because we are wholly invested in them,” Amberdawn Cheatham, OSE’s director, said. “I’m particularly excited about our Diversity Series.”

Cheatham said OSE chooses events based on student surveys and feedback about past events.

The Performing Arts Department is planning a few

want to go … get it.”

O’Malley pointed to another benefit of having a printed version of the student newspaper.

“There are so many skills that you can learn working on a print newspaper that you don’t learn working on a digital newspaper,” O’Malley said.

“In a digital newspaper, you might do your reporting and

your writing, but you don’t necessarily do production.

You don’t get the teamwork.

You don’t get the experience in leadership and persistence that you do during late nights putting the paper to bed.”

Richey agreed.

“It kind of brought us all together,” Richey said. “It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun at the same time.”

SGA will hold events featuring brunch and crafts.

Pexels photo events as well. (See related story on Page 11.)

Dance Coordinator Robert Kleinendorst said he hopes to have a spring dance concert in the Kauffman Theater at the beginning of May. And music coordinator Doug Byerly said he’s planning a Black History Month performance for the opera company, which he said he hopes will be in person. Theater director Sean Urbantke said he’s hoping to get his

students back in front of an audience this semester with a live performance on campus.

COVID-19 may force the college to cancel some events or move them online, Cheatham said.

“OSE is trying to navigate [the COVID outbreak] and find the safest course of action for students while allowing them to connect with others,” Marlea Brisbane, an OSE leadership and involvement specialist, said.

4 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

News

2 adjunct professors run for state delegate Maggie Brown Co-Editor

Two AACC adjunct professors are running for state delegate from Anne Arundel County.

Democrat Courtney Buiniskis, who has taught communications part-time at AACC for five years, has filed to run for election in District 30B, which includes Shady Side where she lives.

Republican LaToya Nkongolo, who has taught human service courses at AACC for seven years, said she intends to enter the race in District 31B, which includes Severna Park, where her home is.

“I am proud to say that I will be the first African American woman to ever run for this position in [southern Anne Arundel County],” Buiniskis said.

If they win their elections later this year, Buiniskis and Nkongolo will represent the people who live

in their districts in the Maryland House of Delegates.

Delegates vote on statewide laws, share the concerns of their communities, introduce legislation and determine how the state spends taxpayer dollars.

The deadline for candidates to file to run for delegate is Feb. 22. So far, Buiniskis and Del. Seth Howard, a Republican who has held the seat since 2015, filed. Nkongolo said she intends to file before the deadline.

Three delegates represent each of Maryland’s 47 voting districts. Candidates will compete in a primary election on June 28 and in a general election on Nov. 8.

“Helping people and putting resources together is nothing new to me,” Buiniskis said.

Buiniskis said she decided to run during a fundraiser for Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman when someone told her she

would be a good candidate.

“I like to get stuff done,” Buiniskis said. “I like talking, but after that, I want action to follow up.”

Buiniskis said she is the best candidate for her community because “I am open, caring, kind and boisterous for my community. I am multi-cultured with a view that is different from others as a woman of mixed race. I understand our citizens and our community. I understand education and what it can do for individuals in changing their lives.”

Similarly, Nkongolo, a therapist, said her helping nature is one of the reasons she decided to run for state delegate.

“After hearing stories and talking to clients from different backgrounds about the distress they were facing as a result of politics, society and the economy, plus how it was fueling depression or anxiety, I just felt like people

didn’t feel heard,” she said.

“They needed someone to represent them and I felt like I was in the best position to do that.”

Nkongolo said she plans to win her election by doing a lot of research and knowing the data so she can understand the needs of the

voters in her community.

“Once I start talking, I know how to [make] a persuasive argument to really be the voice of my community,” Nkongolo said.

Both state delgate candidates said they plan to continue teaching at AACC after the election.

Trade students taking classes like welding and plumbing will meet in a new building on campus starting on the first day of the spring semester.

The college built the $5 million Clauson Center for Innovation and Skilled Trades with donations from the community, including a $1 million gift from longtime AACC supporters Janet and James Clauson.

Typically, the state and county chip in for the construction of new college buildings.

The first classes in the Clauson Center will be

non-credit courses.

The building contains four laboratories where students will take welding, apartment maintenance tech, forklift, HVAC-R, plumbing, sprinkler fitter, electrical, low voltage tech, and finish and framing carpentry classes.

“We found that there is a significant shortage of employees for professions or companies who seek to hire skilled trades employees,” said Vollie Melson, the executive director of the AACC Foundation, which raises money for college needs.

“And the Clauson Center was developed to be able to address this need.”

Students who take pre-apprenticeship pro-

grams will learn entry-level skills they need for jobs in the trades, Melson said.

The college will help those students find jobs, MaryLou McQuaide, AACC’s director of apprenticeship and applied learning, said.

“And then those industry partners will then turn around and sponsor the students through their next apprenticeship training, which is where they would get a state credential to be able to perform work on-site,” McQuaide said.

First-year electrical student Gabriel Scobey said the building "gives the opportunity for many people like me to ... get onto a path of life that I am happier doing."

tically non-existent,” Kapfhammer said. “As we open up more, some crimes would be expected to increase.”

On campus, he said, the most common offenses are crimes of opportunity, such as petty theft of valuables,

like laptops and smartphones, that students leave unattended.

"If you leave a valuable phone, someone might see it, and walk off with it,” Kapfhammer said. He said most thefts are preventable.

AACC builds Clauson Center for all trades Lilly Roser Contributor

The Clauson Center opened in early January for students learning the trades.

Photo By D'Angelo Williams

Adjunct professor Courtney Buiniskis speaks to voters while campaigning for office.

Photo courtesy of Courtney Buiniskis

Police chief gives safety tips Zack Buster Co-Editor

Because more students are going back to in-person classes this spring semester, the crime level on campus could increase slightly,

AACC’s police chief said earlier this month.

However, Sean Kapfhammer explained the levels of crime on campus are consistently low.

"Since we have limited students here, crime is prac-

Students can call AACC police using blue phones.

Photo by Zack Buster

Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb | 5

News

AACC staff members receive MLK awards Maggie Brown Co-Editor

AACC honored four faculty and staff members for their work in equity, diversity and inclusion during the 41st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 17.

The winners of this year’s MLK Zeitgeist Award are: professor Antione Tomlin, the chair of academic literacies; Leslie Parker-Blyther, former interim director of AACC’s Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Institute; Harold Waterman, a professor of computer information systems; and Sharon Barlow-Hughley, an academic adviser.

“When I found out I won, there was definitely excitement,” Tomlin said. “Then there was this feeling of shyness [because] I do this work for the love of it and I believe in my students. I feel humbled to receive it.”

The Zeitgeist Award rec- always student focused, stuognizes faculty and staff who dent centered and student support students of color based. I never make a deciand advance affirmative ac- sion without thinking about tion, diversity, equity and how my students ... are going inclusion, Dean of Student to be impacted.”

Barlow-Hughley said she Development Deneen Danloves this year’s award theme, gerfield said. named afTo m l i n said he helps “I think what I do is ter an MLK students with important because quote: “If I do reading and it’s always student cannot great things, writing in the focused, student I can do small academic litcentered and things in a eracies tutorstudent based. great way.” ing lab.

“I think " W h i l e Professor Antione Tomlin the award is working in the tutoring lab, I found a to honor people who have majority of the students worked to advance students that were in need are Afri- of color,” Barlow-Hughley can American and I wanted said. “And I think I have done to make sure they are get- that pretty much my whole ting the resources needed career.”

Barlow-Hughley, who has to achieve the next level of learning,” Tomlin said. “[We] been with AACC for 25 years, achieved this through work- said her one-on-one interacshops, professional training tions with students may be what earned her a nominaand hiring qualified staff.”

He added: “I think what I tion.

“I kind of see myself in do is important because it’s

Cold weather stops classes Zack Buster Co-Editor

Before the semester even began, the college closed three times in January for snow days.

Each time, the college closed its gates, revved up its snowplows and canceled in-person classes.

“Our one and only goal is to make sure campus is as safe as possible for [students],” Maurice Chaput, the executive director of administrative services, said.

“They’re our customers. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have a job.”

On Jan. 3, a storm dumped more than eight inches of snow on the 260acre Arnold campus, which already was mostly closed for the week as a precaution against COVID-19.

The next day was a snow day as well. Crews continued to clear the parking lots and roads. Three days later, another storm left the campus closed again.

Whenever the college closes because of snow, the college follows the same pro-

cess, according to Chaput.

First, Chaput and his team monitor weather reports for Anne Arundel County. By approximately 4:30 a.m., college officials make the call about whether to cancel face-toface classes and on-campus work for the day.

The officials base their decision on how much snow falls on the Arnold campus’s parking lots and roads, Chaput said.

Once the snow stops, Chaput said, his department prepares the college’s snowplows to start clearing parking lots and roads.

“We won’t bring anyone on campus until we [clear] all the snow,” Chaput said. “We don’t start clearing snow until the snow stops, and with a snowstorm like we just had, eight or nine inches, that’d be done tomorrow. It takes two full days to clear the campus.”

Chaput said the campus is ready by Dec. 1 every year to put its fleet of snowplows into action.

Second-year creative writing and literature student D’Angelo Williams said

AACC honored faculty and staff for their diversity efforts on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in January. Shown, the Arnold campus has the state's only statue of the civil rights leader.

Photo by Maggie Brown [the] students in terms of what they are trying to achieve,” Barlow-Hughley said. “I can really relate [to them].”

Waterman, who has worked at AACC for 19 years, said his work with organizations like the Department of Juvenile Justice, the National Urban League and Technology Works for Good through-

out his career led him to win this award. He also has worked with black students as a computer technologies professor.

“I was floored,‘’ Waterman said. “I don’t get awards like this and especially for helping my people or people of color [in] any economically challenged community.”

AACC closed all of its campuses after the first snowfall of the season.

Photo courtesy of Tim Tumelty the snow days interrupted his winter-session journalism class, which had been scheduled for in-person meetings from Jan. 3 to 14.

The class wound up meeting on Zoom four of the five days of the first week, Williams said, adding, “I do

tend to feel a little bit more unproductive on Zoom rather than I do in person.”

School policy requires online classes to continue on snow days and allows in-person classes to continue virtually.

Williams’face-to-face

class wound up occurring partly on Zoom and partly in the classroom.

"I feel like winter weather makes me feel less motivated," Williams said. "If it were nice outside, I’d be more inclined to get my work done and then go and enjoy it."

6 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

Campus Life

Editor joins in January 2022 D'Angelo Williams Co-Editor

Fun and Games

newspaper is laid out in all the buildings, I think people will just pick it up and read A first-year communica- it.” tions student will become the Elson is the only firsteditor of AACC's award-win- year student to lead the stuning campus newspaper on dent newspaper since faculJan. 24. ty adviser Sharon O’Malley Dan Elson, who lives in joined the AACC staff six Arnold, said his first goal as years ago. editor is to “Dan is a “Dan is a great revive the great writer print edi- writer and reporter, and reporter, tion of Cam- and he’s passionate and he’s paspus Current, about journalism.” sionate about which has Professor Sharon O'Malley journalism,” been entirely O’Malley digital since the beginning of said. “He was the obvious the pandemic in March 2020. choice, even though he’s not “It’s a great opportuni- as experienced as some past ty,” Elson said. “I’m a little editors.” nervous. That’s expected Zack Buster, a first-year communications student with every new job."

Elson replaced former and associate editor of CamEditor-in-Chief Dominic Sa- pus Current, agreed. lacki, a fourth-year media “He seems like he's realproduction student. ly into it,” Buster said, “and “I don’t think a lot of just really wants to get stuff people know there is a dig- done, and is ambitious about ital newspaper as well,” El- it. He has big goals. That's son said. “Since the print what I love about him.”

First-year communications student Dan Elson joins Campus Current as the new editor-in-chief.

Photo by D'Angelo Williams

Did you know?

Sudoku

AACC's Arnold Campus is 260 acres large.

Photo by Tim Tumelty

?

Looking for answers?

Check TheCampusCurrent.com on February 28.

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Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb | 7

Campus Life

Former editor gets WSJ job D'Angelo Williams Co-Editor

A former editor-in-chief of AACC’s student newspaper accepted a 15-week internship at The Wall Street Journal for the spring semester.

Christian Richey, who worked on Campus Current in fall 2019 and spring 2020, will report and write sports articles and pitch story ideas to Wall Street Journal editors.

“I’m really excited to get started,” said Richey, a senior studying journalism and design at The New School in New York. “It’s just such a renowned place, such an amazing publication and personally, it’s genuinely one of my favorite publications. It’s where I go to get daily news. So having an opportunity to work there. … I’m just incredibly shocked, surprised and just happy.”

Before Richey graduated from AACC in 2020 with a degree in transfer studies, he oversaw the transition of Campus Current from a monthly print newspaper to a daily digital edition when the college closed because of the pandemic.

“My experience with the Campus Current was great,” Richey said. “This is where I fell in love with journalism, where I became interested in it and where I learned so many lessons that I take with me still today. It’s where I learned most of the things I’d say that I know and use on a daily basis regarding journalism.”

“I knew he was going to do well,” professor Sharon O’Malley, Campus Current’s faculty adviser, said.

“I just didn't know he was going to be at the top so quickly. But now that he is, I'm really not surprised. … I think he’s going to go places. We’re going to be read-

Christian Richey's Wall Street Journal internship will span 15 weeks.

Photo by D'Angelo Williams ing his byline in the best newspapers.”

Amber Nathan, who was Campus Current’s editor-in-chief the semester before Richey took over, agreed.

“I’m happy for him,” Nathan said of Richey, who was Campus Current’s associate editor when she was

the editor. “He seems to really want to do big things with journalism.”

Nathan described Richey, who was co-managing editor of The New School’s student paper last year, as quiet, reliable and passionate about journalism.

O’Malley agreed.

“He has really good reporting and writing skills,” O’Malley said. “He has good instincts. He is reliable.

He's conscientious. He's nice to be around.”

Richey said he hopes to have a career as a professional journalist after he graduates from The New School in May.

Fun and Games

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8 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

Campus Life

Online student takes classes from Hawaii Sydney Klabnik Contributor

An AACC student has turned virtual learning into a travel adventure.

Lilly Roser, a second-year transfer studies student, spent the spring 2021 semester in Hawaii taking AACC classes online. In the fall, she moved to Costa Rica and took a gap semester.

“I think it’s just really important for me to be able to adventure and see a lot of the world if I can,” Roser said.

To be able to live in Hawaii, Roser worked at a coffee shop five days a week.

She did her school work in the afternoons and reserved her weekends for exploring.

“While it is amazing to live in a wonderful place and be able to travel, there’s a lot of self responsibility,” Roser said. “It was kind of like work hard, play hard.”

Roser lived with her sister and two other roommates in Hawaii. She moved to Ha-

Sports

waii after completing a semester at Elon University in North Carolina in fall 2020.

Being at Elon “was the most amazing experience ever,” Roser explained. “I met a bunch of friends there, and I didn’t want to leave.

But then it was just really expensive.”

Roser added: “I wanted to go to college, but I knew it would be really hard for me because of the financial resources that you need. ... I was like, ‘How can I still get this opportunity while also experiencing other things?’”

Because her classes were virtual during the pandemic, Roser said, she could take them from anywhere.

“If I was able to be all online, I could live somewhere and travel,” Roser said. “If I was going to pay rent somewhere, why not somewhere cool, you know? So [AACC] kind of gave me that opportunity to do that.”

After returning home from her semester in Hawaii,

Roser realized she wanted to live in Costa Rica for fall 2021.

She worked a part-time job to save money for her Costa Rica trip. She took three AACC summer courses so she could take a gap semester.

“I knew that if I wanted to go to Costa Rica, I didn’t want to be doing AACC online classes while I was there,” Roser noted. “I really wanted to try and learn Spanish, so it would have been confusing.”

While in Costa Rica, Roser lived with a host family and went to a local school during the week to learn Spanish.

Roser arrived back in the U.S. in late November. “I’m just kind of taking a breather,” she explained. “And during these few months of the holiday season, I need to get together all of my transfer applications to figure out where I’m going for junior and senior year of college.”

Roser is still figuring

Second-year transfer studies student Lilly Roser spent the fall semester studying, learning Spanish and touring Costa Rica.

Photo courtesy of Lilly Roser out where she will live this spring—her final semester at AACC before she graduates.

“I am hoping to travel somewhere when I can,” Roser said. “I’m taking all online classes again at AACC, which allows me to be flexible with traveling. I’ll probably go to Europe or something.”

Roser noted her mom has “been really supportive, and I’m super grateful for

that. I wouldn’t be able to do any of the travel that I’ve done without her.”

Roser explained the challenges she experienced while traveling as a student.

“It’s great, but it’s also really hard,” she noted. “I go to all these places, and then I leave, and then I go somewhere new and I settle, and then I leave. So the constant back and forth is difficult, but it’s really worth it.”

Esports team starts in Feb. Dan Elson Co-Editor

AACC’s new athletic esports team will kick off its first season on Feb. 7 with a tournament featuring the video game Rocket League.

Players will tackle the video game Overwatch during a Feb. 11 tournament, and after that, they will play League of Legends, esports coach Conway Johnson said.

“I’m feeling pretty good about [the team],” Johnson said.“I think we’re going to have a great first season.

We’re just going to be focusing on building out the program, getting ourselves

off to a good start. We’ve got everything going in the right direction, because you know, getting that foundation built is the most important part.”

The players will compete in two leagues: National Junior College Athletic Association Esports and the Mid-Atlantic Esports Conference.

Johnson said the team will practice in the esports lab in CALT once a week for three hours for each of the three games. “[We want] to go out there and do the best that we can,” Athletic Director Duane Herr said.

The esports lab includes 12 gaming stations for prac-

Esports coach Conway Johnson checks out the new team's lab in CALT during an open house last semester.

Photo by Dominic Salacki tice and for participating in competitions against other colleges. Still, Herr said, the plan is to expand the team’s roster beyond 12 players.

In fact, Johnson said, 13 players are already on the roster and recruiting stays open until Jan. 25.

Separate from the athletic team, AACC has an eightyear-old ESports Club.

“I have been a part of this club for a very long time,” said club President Daniel Mason, a game art design and development student who plans to graduate this spring. “I work very closely with very good friends … so it means a lot to me knowing

that I am keeping this club alive and making sure that I can move on in the future.”

Mason said he did not join the athletic esports team because he is a part-time student and college athletes must enroll full time.

Mason described the student club as “a place to ... get together and improve your skills to try to get better at what games you want to improve upon while connecting [with] other players with like-minded goals.”

Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb | 9

Clubs

Science clubs merge into 1 Sydney Klabnik Contributor

Four AACC science clubs have merged into one student organization.

The Super Science Club includes once stand-alone groups that focus on earth science, biology and environmental science, astronomy and chemistry, according to Elise Porcelli, an electrical engineering student and the club's co-president.

“We’re sort of the black hole for all science clubs,” co-president Grace Bourne, a second-year communications student, said. “Everyone eventually gets sucked in.”

Even before the pan-

demic, some of the science clubs struggled to maintain membership and started merging, according to Bourne.

“When COVID did hit, it kind of became a bid for survival as clubs,” Bourne said.

“Individually, the membership just wasn’t there to keep up.”

Bourne noted that consolidating the STEM clubs resulted in higher attendance at weekly meetings.

“Combining disciplines typically means we can have up to around 30 people in a meeting,” she explained. “In that way, I feel like we probably work far better together as a combined club than

Electrical engineering student Elise Porcelli, the co-president of the Super Science Club, poses with a colony of penguins while on a trip to Antarctica.

Photo courtesy of Elise Porcelli we ever did as individual clubs.”

Meetings consist of faculty- and student-led presentations on STEM topics, such as research, history or news.

“I enjoy the variety of just fun geeky stuff that we can cram in 45 minutes,” Porcelli said. “It’s one of my favorite things because ev-

Students bond, pray together on campus Dan Elson Co-Editor

Fifteen to 20 students gather in the cafeteria, on the Quad or in the library every Wednesday for about two hours to discuss God, spread love and pray together.

They are members of a club called Experience Apostolic Campus Ministries.

First-year computer software engineering student Jaron Carroll, one of the students in charge, said

he wants the lives of club members to improve because of their participation.

“Especially during COVID-19, there’s so many people who are dealing with and struggling with stuff and everybody in this world [is] looking for something real and we’re going to give that to [them]," Carroll said.

Former student Mike McGurk created this 20-yearold club, which Carroll and first-year business administration student Matthew Lewis run together.

The leaders said students of all religions are welcome to join.

“I feel like it’s more special when there’s more people around,” first-year computer science student Ian Middleton said. “Trying to learn more about the Bible, or more about God [for] myself, it’s pretty cool to be praying for more people, definitely.”

Middleton said he made new friends when he joined the club.

“It’s a great thing to do,”

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erybody’s willing to share.”

Bourne added that anyone who has an interest in science is welcome to join the club, regardless of major.

“You literally don’t have to know anything about science, and it’s OK,” Bourne said. “You can just come and learn in a stress-free environment.”

“This club, in terms of the number of active students and officers, is the best I’ve ever worked with,” physical science professor Anthony Santorelli, lead adviser of the club, said.

The club meets virtually every Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The first meeting of the spring semester is scheduled for Jan. 25.

First-year student Jaron Carroll is a leader in the Experience Apostolic Campus Ministries Club.

Photo courtesy of Chiara Carroll Middleton said. “Everybody should have a relationship with [God]. Don’t feel nervous or shy if you don’t know anything because nobody [in the club will] judge

[and we] just spread love and more. The more the merrier.”

Lewis said he plans to continue to help grow the club.

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10 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

Clubs

Adventure Club holds off-campus activities Zack Buster Co-Editor

Members of one student club camped at Shenandoah National Park and went indoor skydiving in Baltimore last semester.

This semester, Adventure Society members are planning a skiing and snowboarding trip to Whitetail Resort in February, Hannah Claggett, the club’s president, said. The

club also takes a hiking trip once a month and has weekly meetings to plan events.

“It’s just a great way to meet new people and experience new things that you might not have otherwise tried,” Claggett said.

The club has gone indoor rock climbing, go-karting and touring in Washington and New York City.

“Our goal is really to get a chance to expose our stu-

Adventure Society members clean up a beach.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Claggett

dents to lots of different activities that they might not have ever done … a chance for students to meet others,” professor Jessica Mattingly, the club’s faculty adviser, said.

Mattingly said these friendships have the potential to last for years.

“They have built great friendships that have carried on through the years," Mattingly said. "Two of my former members are now engaged.”

Claggett said although classes were online this fall, the Adventure Society found ways to have events.

The club focuses on events that give the students new, unique experiences, Mattingly said.

“We try to do adventure-based activities,” she said.

She said members can come to events without attending planning meetings.

“Students can absolutely participate without ever attending a meeting,” Mattingly said.

When the weather does not allow for outdoor activities, Adventure Society members do events inside, such as indoor skydiving.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Claggett

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Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb | 11

Arts

New director is pro dancer Dominic Salacki Contributor

A professional dancer with more than two decades of experience became AACC’s new coordinator of dance last semester.

Robert Kleinendorst, an alum of the prestigious Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York, began working at the college in August.

Along with directing the AACC Dance Company, he taught two independent study classes; an online dance history course; and an on-campus section of Beginning Modern Dance 1 in the fall.

Some of his students said they enjoy his teaching style.

Kleinendorst is “really great,” Margot Anthony, a first-year education student, said. “He always encourages us to loosen up, break out of our shells and to not worry about if we’re perfect.”

Anthony called Kleinendorst “adaptable” to the var-

ious levels of experience his students bring to his classes.

Kleinendorst said he enjoys working with AACC students, calling them “super open” when compared with the dancers he taught in the past at four-year colleges.

AACC students, he said, “have to work jobs and they have family responsibilities, so I find the students to be really down to earth and easy to work with.”

AACC’s former dance coordinator, Lynda Fitzgerald, chaired the hiring committee that brought Kleinendorst to the college.

The committee “narrowed it down to four [candidates], and we had them teach virtual classes to the students in my classes, so that was pretty cool,” said Fitzgerald, who retired from AACC in September after 33 years.

Fitzgerald started AACC’s Dance Company in 1989.

Fitzgerald said the com-

AACC's new dance coordinator has more than two decades of dance experience.

Photo by Dominic Salacki mittee chose Kleinendorst, in part, because “his background is incredible.” She described the new coordinator as “incredibly talented [and] a genuinely nice guy.”

She added: “He's a natural teacher.

He's encouraging and he's [teaching at AACC] for the right reasons. He wants [his students] to improve and be their best, and he's [working with them] to help them in that regard.”

Kleinendorst began his career in the arts when he

AACC's new coordinator of dance, Robert Kleinendorst, jumps to demonstrate a move to his students.

Photo by Dominic Salacki

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was cast in a leading role in a production of the musical “Once Upon a Mattress” in his sophomore year of high school, playing Prince Dauntless.

When he enrolled in Luther College in Iowa, Kleinendorst decided to pair his love of singing and acting with an education in dance.

“If I'm going to go into Broadway,” he recalled thinking, “there's always going to be a dance element, so I started taking dance classes in college, and it blew me away.”

Melodie MacKall, a firstyear undecided student, said Kleinendorst is a “fresh and fun” teacher.

“This class is really fun, and we get goofy,” MacKall said. “Towards the end of class, we always get really giggly and laugh a lot at all the mistakes [we made], so it’s a lot more fun to learn when we’re laughing about it.”

Ray Bradley, a first-year plant sciences student, said Kleinendorst is “not too uptight about doing things exactly, which is nice.”

Fitzgerald said she is “thrilled” that Kleinendorst has taken over dance at AACC partly because the “ex-

perience that he had could translate to academia.”

“I feel that with his experience, [he has] a lot of connections, and I think that’s going to be really beneficial to our students as they [are] continuing dance,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t think I could have left the program in better hands.”

Professor Ian Wardenski, chair of AACC’s Performing Arts Department, said he was “incredibly impressed” after learning about Kleinendorst’s professional background.

“I wanted to get a chance to talk with [Kleinendorst] and meet him, and I came out of that meeting feeling very confident about [having] a new person taking over the dance department,” Wardenski said.

Kleinendorst prepared the Dance Company for a December performance at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park.

He choreographed and wrote music for the event, Fitzgerald said.

“He does it all,” she said.

“I’m so impressed [because] there were things that I didn’t know about [Kleinendorst] that I’m learning now that make me even more thrilled that he’s here."

From all of the news staff at Campus Current

12 | Campus Current | 2022 | Jan/Feb

Arts

Performers adapt to COVID-19 protocols Laniya Harris Co-Editor

After a year online during the pandemic, some performing arts students were able to come to campus for classes and rehearsals during the fall semester.

In the spring, about 50% of dance, theater and music classes will be on campus, the directors of those programs have said.

And they said they’re hoping to schedule live shows this semester, even if the performers and audience members have to mask up to make them happen.

“One of the things I’ve noticed has just been a general sort of desire from everybody … for getting back into the space, doing it safely,” Sean Urbantke, AACC’s theater coordinator, said.

“And getting their hands-on stuff again, and getting in front of an audience again. …

For a lot of folks, it is a passion, it’s a release.”

Urbantke said he’s hoping to get his students back in front of an audience this semester with a live perfor-

like shows. And many students mance in the theater.

Likewise, AACC’s new are foregoing performing arts dance coordinator Robert electives in favor of courses Kleinendorst said he hopes that fulfill general education to have a spring dance con- requirements, he said.

Still, Byerly said he is cert in the Kauffman Theater at the beginning of May. hopeful that enough stuAnd music coordinator Doug dents and community memByerly said he’s planning a bers will return to campus Black History Month perfor- to put on a show this semesmance for the opera compa- ter.

“There are a really ny, which he said he hopes healthy number of students will be in person.

Still, a greater challenge who want to continue to sing, to play than dancinstruing or sing“Right now, I think we ments in ing while w e a r i n g can only continue what orchestra masks this we have been doing. I and jazz, to study semester feel confident.” the visumight be arts,” recruiting Professor Robert Kleinendorst al B y e r enough ly said. students to “COVID has canceled so populate the shows.

“We’re sort of at a skel- many things in our lives that eton crew,” Urbantke said. people and students in par“The … other effect, I think, ticular are really interested of the pandemic is we’re … in continuing to pursue the arts.” running low.”

The directors said they During the pandemic, “performing arts took a huge are taking precautions so hit,” Kleinendorst agreed. He student and community persaid the pandemic led people formers can safely particito spend their money on ne- pate in classes, rehearsals cessities rather than luxuries and public shows.

“AACC is being very proactive in student safety,” Byerly said.

For example, opera and theater performers last fall wore masks specially designed for singers and actors.

Still, Byerly said, “Anybody who’s done public speaking or singing in church or singing in general knows that it’s almost impossible [for a masked performer] to sing for a long period of time because at a certain point, you just can’t breathe. So, these masks really helped out.”

Theater performers also used special clear masks created by a deaf designer.

“One of the things with live performance is the abil-

ity to see facial expressions,” Urbantke said.

Theater students last semester did an in-person performance for their friends and families, who signed waivers attesting they did not have COVID symptoms, he said.

The directors agreed that climbing back to pre-pandemic enrollments and regular performances will take work and time.

“We’re getting back into [it] slowly,” Urbantke said.

“With every new wave, you know, it throws us new curveballs.”

Kleinendorst agreed.

“Right now, I think we can only continue what we have been doing,” he said. “I feel confident.”

The theater has not been updated since it opened, Urbantke said.

The improvements to the seats and flooring in the Kauffman Theater cost about $274,000, Urbantke said. The renovations backstage cost about $148,000.

The updates to the Humanities Recital Hall cost around $107,000.

The workers put an epoxy floor down, repainted the back wall, and are installing a new handicap ramp in the audience up to the stage, Kaiser said.

“But the construction is supposed to be finished before any of our performances start loading in,” Urbantke said.

The technical theater classes that were in person in the fall had to work alongside the construction.

“Man was it smelly,” Urbantke said. “There was one day we were going to have class and I said, ‘Hey, guys,

let’s do this virtually because today, I’m getting lightheaded.’”

Because of the renovations, concert band, orchestra, and theater and dance companies performed in November and December at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, Ian Wardenski, chair of the performing arts department, said.

“Since we did it at the [Chesapeake Arts Center], we had to [rehearse and perform] all in one day,” Jenna Baker, a second-year dance student, said. “We were there from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.”

These renovations not only help improve the theater but anyone who’s going to be using it, Urbantke said.

“I’m super excited about some of these renovations,” Urbantke said. “We love enabling [students] to be able to come in and do your thing.

And we’re going to have a nicer facility now to be able to continue doing that.”

2 of AACC’s theaters undergo renovations Laniya Harris Co-Editor

The Humanities Recital Hall gets updated with new seats and floors.

Photo by Laniya Harris

The Chamber Singers perform while wearing masks.

Photo courtesy of Tracy Gill

AACC is currently renovating two of its theaters.

The Kauffman Theater located inside the Pascal Center for Performing Arts is in the process of getting new dressing rooms backstage and updated lighting.

Renovations are also happening in the Humanities Recital Hall, which include new seats and flooring.

“If you were sitting in one of the special seats, the back of the chair in front of you would just fall off,” Sean Urbantke, coordinator of the theater program, said. “The person would not be affected but it was jarring to say the least.”

These renovations have been happening for more than eight months.

The Kauffman Theater was opened on campus in 1982, Peter Kaiser, manager of event services, said.