December

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

CampusCurrentPaper

CampusCurrentAACC

@Campus_Current December 2023

News

Clubs

Sports

The ‘Empty Bowls’ event returns for the first time since 2019.

Students visit the National Zoo to say ‘bye’ to the pandas.

The Facilities Dept. closes the stadium for the semester.

Page 5

Page 11

Page 12

Part-time instructors decide to join union Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

AACC’s part-time faculty voted on Oct. 30 to join the Service Employees International Union Local 500.

After Maryland’s Public Employee Relations Board approved the move in November, the adjuncts could begin negotiating a contract

with AACC administrators.

“It’s something that has been a long time in the making,” Linda Neuman, an adjunct professor, said. “It’s going to mean improved working conditions on a lot of different fronts.”

In September 2021, the Maryland Legislature voted to allow community college faculty and staff to union-

ize. Some full-time faculty members are collecting signatures in an effort to start their own union as well.

The adjuncts’ union plans to negotiate for increased wages, more paid time off and compensation for their work on classes the college cancels last-minute, Continued on Page 3

Students cite ‘life’ as reason to drop class Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

Students who drop classes point to “life circumstances” and mental health issues in an October survey. Shown, political science professor Dan Nataf, who directs the poll.

Photo by Mason Hood

Lack of motivation leads more students to drop classes than any other reason, according to an October survey by the college’s Center for the Study of Local issues.

Some profs discard conventional grading Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

Professors in a handful of classes have discarded the traditional system of grades in favor of “ungrading,” in which they don’t assign scores to individual tests and assignments.

In those classes, professors allow students to assess their own performance at the end of the semester, and then ask them for input on their final grades.

“It makes them feel a lot less stressed about what they’re trying to do in the class,” KT Perkins, an English professor who uses the ungrading system, said.

Professors apply ungrading in a variety of ways.

For example, English professor Margaret Boas uses a system called labor-based grading, or contract grading, for her English 101 classes.

That means students choose a letter grade they want to get, and then fulfill a certain

AACC’s adjunct professors have voted to join the Service Employees International Union.

Photo courtesy of SEIU Local 500

set of criteria, like completing assignments and papers, to earn it.

On the other hand, sociology professor Gina Finelli uses a different type of ungrading, letting students assess their own learning and choose their final grades, with their professor’s approval, at the end of the semester.

English professor Garrett Brown uses a similar system in his creative writing classes.

“You want your students

In fact, the 223 AACC students who took the poll named mental health and “life circumstances” like money issues or family emergencies as main barriers to student success.

Political science professor Dan Nataf, the center’s

director, added a student success-focused section to the countywide survey he conducts every semester.

“This [survey] grew out of a certain frustration, trying to understand the contriContinued on Page 3

A handful of professors, including English professor Shelley DeBlasis, are using a grading system called “ungrading,” which they say makes learning more equitable for students.

Photo by Tope Ayokunle to focus on the feedback that they’re getting, and not … just look at the grade,” Brown said. “So I think it

works particularly well for, like, writing classes.”

Continued on Page 3

2 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

Opinion

Meet the Staff Editor-in-Chief Tomi Brunton Associate Editor Izzy Chase Multimedia Editor Mason Hood Graphic Designer Jennifer Chisari Social Media Jamie Goldinger Olivia Kelley Faith McKisson Senior Reporter Payton Thompson Reporters Zack Buckingham Michael Dang Mischa Green Jason Kalshoven Divine Mesumbe Dulcie Metro Éva Parry Julissa Mendoza Robles Jack Sarnese Photographers Tope Ayokunle Jamie Goldinger Everett Luoma Divine Mesumbe Web Master Ivan Sabio Contributor Rachel Gwin Faculty Adviser Sharon O'Malley Photographers on Page 1, top Divine Mesumbe Everett Luoma Mason Hood

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

Contact

CampusCurrent @gmail.com Advertising CampusCurrentAdverts @gmail.com 101 College Parkway Arnold, MD 21012

Giving back means be kind Editorial Board

We’ve often heard that the holidays are all about giving back. But it seems as if we’ve gotten too caught up with grandiose gestures and materialism to really understand what that means.

Giving doesn’t have to mean spending lots of money on an expensive gift or going out of your way to make your holidays look like something straight out of a Hallmark movie.

What’s the point of buying a $1,000 watch for someone who won’t even wear it? As well-meaning as this may be, the gesture becomes empty. That’s because giving comes down to your intentions and what you’re able to do, even if you have limited resources.

If your mindset about giving is that you’ll gain brownie points or elevate your status somehow, then you’re giving for the wrong reason.

I was always taught to hold the door open for people, and I do it every time I

have the opportunity. Not everyone has thanked me and that’s OK because I don't do it to be thanked. I do it because it’s kind. I believe it is the right thing to do.

Giving can truly be fulfilling if you let it be. And the best part is there are so many ways to do it.

During the holidays, we get so wrapped up in our plans and obligations that it’s easy to forget about others around us, especially those who are in great need.

The holidays are a crucial time for food pantries and other non-profit organizations, but maybe you work full-time and can’t find the time to volunteer or the money to donate.

If this is the case, why not spread awareness to those who do have time and money? The average student who has social media can easily post a link or give a shoutout to the page of a group that’s doing good. You can use what you do have— social media—to help more people find groups and get involved with them.

Letter from a leader

This holiday season, give back in more meaningful ways than just spending money.

Adobe Stock photo It’s not your responsibility to solve every social issue. It’s not even your responsibility to get along with everyone. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference, even if it’s small.

You still have the potential to make an impact, even if you don’t think you do.

An easy example: Smile

at a stranger. This act of kindness seems small, but it could be a gift for someone who’s having a hard time.

We could all exercise a bit more grace and patience.

After all, it’s the little things that count, sometimes even more than the biggest or most-expensive gift you could purchase at a store.

Give yourself a 2nd chance Rachel Gwin Contributor

Throughout my high school years, I always got Cs and Ds in my classes.

My teachers and classmates would constantly tell me that I would never amount to anything.

Halfway through my 10th-grade year, I dropped out of high school. I couldn’t handle the constant stress of being told I was a disappointment.

For a long time, I thought what those people said to me was true. I really struggled with my self-worth.

Two years later I finally got my GED and I began on the path of rebuilding myself and my confidence.

I began working up the courage to go back to school, but I still struggled with feeling like I would fail.

I thought college wouldn’t be the place for me, so I enrolled in cosmetology school.

I started to slowly regain that sense of self-worth, and I began to realize that grades do not define me.

Life got in the way and I ultimately decided to leave

cosmetology school to pursue higher education at AACC. I realized my passion was helping people, so I decided to pursue a degree in nursing.

I enrolled at AACC in fall of 2022, and began my journey, both excited and anxious.

My first semester here, I took 16 credit hours’ worth of classes—a full load.

I passed every class with As and Bs. I was shocked and proud, but mostly, I was excited. I never thought I could accomplish what I did that semester.

Throughout my time here at AACC, I’ve continued this trend. Each semester, I pass all of my classes.

I’ve also been given the amazing opportunity to sit on the Board of Trustees as the student representative for the campus.

It took me a long time to realize that my self-worth wasn’t tied to my grades or my success.

If there is one thing I hope anyone can take away from my story, it’s that anyone can really do anything.

Nursing student Rachel Gwin dropped out of high school in 10th grade. Now, she passes all of her college classes and serves as the student representative on the AACC Board of Trustees.

Photo by Izzy Chase Some days, I still struggle, thinking back on all the times I was called a disappointment.

I just have to remind myself that I’m not that person, because nobody is that person.

Campus Current | 2023 | December | 3

News

Adjuncts vote ‘yes’ for union

Continued from Page 1

according to adjunct professor Joseph Stanik.

“We will have a seat at the table [when there] are decisions that are made that affect our livelihood, affect our employment and affect our students’ learning environment,” Stanik said.

Adjunct professor Courtney Buiniskis agreed, adding the union will give more “dignity” to adjuncts.

“This isn’t just about, you know, getting a union,” Buiniskis said. “It’s about getting dignity and respect. … I know that when I have pride in my

job, I want to do it the best.”

AACC President Dawn Lindsay acknowledged the union in an email statement on Oct. 30.

“We look forward to working with SEIU Local 500 and negotiating in good faith toward a collective bargaining agreement,” Lindsay said.

The adjunct representative on The Faculty Organization, Mirella Vaglio, said professors should be careful not to let the union create a divide between full-time and part-time instructors.

“I have a vague impression that the presence of the unions might create an op-

A poll of AACC students reveals why an average of 25% of students per class drop or fail every semester.

Adobe Stock photo

AACC adjunct professors tally the votes to learn if their peers want to join a union. The result: More than three-quarters of those who voted said “yes.”

Photo courtesy of Courtney Buiniskis position between full-timers and adjuncts,” Vaglio said. “I really do not want to see the two sides to be at odds.”

Stanik said some students have a misconception

that unionized professors means higher tuition.

“It’s where you put your priorities,” Stanik said. “But if you want to have a good faculty … you’re going to pay

for it and you might have to delay [other] projects.”

Stanik cited Montgomery Community College, whose adjuncts unionized without a “detectable rise in tuition.”

Continued from Page 1

cessful in their classes?’”

According to Nataf, an average of 25% of students in every class either withdraw or get a failing grade.

Mental health issues and lack of motivation are “both psychological factors,” Nataf said. “It’s harder to, kind of, make sense out of what lack of motivation means, but

they did gravitate to that as an answer.”

“This [survey] is pointing to a lot of conflicting obligations,” Nataf said. “Something’s got to give, and then sometimes the class gives, right? So they don’t pass.”

The survey also showed students were unsure what student services AACC offers.

Countywide poll asks for student opinions

bution of different elements to the student’s success or the lack thereof,” Nataf said.

“The question in my mind became, ‘What’s the relative contribution of these various elements to … impact them in a negative way and thus make them unable to be suc-

Several profs change assessment methods Continued from Page 1

Traditional grading systems in English classes, according to Boas, discriminate against Black and immigrant students and require students “to talk like a middle-aged, middle-class white man.”

“I had this epiphany where I realized, ‘Wow, this standard I’ve been trying to apply is white supremacist,’” Boas, who began ungrading last year, said. “I’m going to do [ungrading] because I believe that this is an anti-racist, much more inclusive, diverse pedagogy. It meets students where they are.”

Shelley DeBlasis, an English professor who started using the ungrading system last year, added, “I think it has potential to do what the

theory says, which is to be more equitable for students and to be an anti-racist assessment.”

DeBlasis added that ungrading is significantly more work for the professor.

“I think I actually have to give students, kind of, more feedback on their writing because they’re not getting a grade so you can’t quickly look in Canvas and be like, ‘Oh, I got an A or got a B or got a C,’” DeBlasis said.

“I don’t think it’s for everyone.”

Finelli, who began ungrading last semester, agreed the system has upsides and downsides, and she will need to collect more data before deciding whether to continue.

“There’s more challenges right now than advantages,” Finelli said. “Honestly,

most students are not all that great at doing assessments, and I’m trying to figure out ways to help with that.”

Brown, who began using the ungrading system last year, agreed.

“You’re fighting against a culture of grading,” Brown said. “Even if you say you’re ungrading and that, you know, you’re not officially putting grades on things, the students know that at the end of the day, you have to give them an A, B, C, D, F.” Brown added that some students said ungrading “devalued” the class and made it a lower priority than courses that are graded.

Still, Perkins, who has used ungrading for years, would “absolutely” recommend it as a teaching method.

“There’s a lot of research

Students in courses whose professors use the “ungrading” system typically don’t receive grades on every assignment. Shown, sociology professor Gina Finelli, who uses ungrading in her classes.

Photo by Jamie Goldinger to back up the ungrading methodology and pedagogy,” Perkins said. “It’s shown that [traditional] grades hardly ever correlate to learning.

So, if a student is trying very

hard, and they’re coming in, they’re asking questions, they’re turning in something that they’ve really worked hard on, why not give them an A?”

4 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

News

SGA VP steps down, citing mental health Izzy Chase Associate Editor

The Student Government Association’s vice president of campus activities resigned from the position on Nov. 20.

Vanessa Cardozo, a third-year nursing student, said she is dropping all of her classes as well.

Cardozo, who served on SGA’s Executive Board, said her decision to leave was motivated by mental health reasons.

“I just recently got diagnosed with severe anxiety and severe depression,” Car-

dozo said. “And I felt like as a person in leadership, it was sort of my responsibility to be an example to students that even if you’re dealing with something, it doesn’t matter if you’re in a position of leadership. It doesn’t matter if you’re just a student just trying to learn, trying to get a degree. It is so important for you to prioritize your mental health and to learn how to listen to yourself and to your needs.”

SGA’s Executive Board was fully staffed with six vice presidents and a president for the first time since

2019 until Cardozo resigned, according to SGA President Zack Buster.

Cardozo said she plans to use her new free time to take care of herself and figure out what the next step of her career will be.

“I kind of need to take a space, take a break and take a step back and kind of just really be sure of what I want to do as a career once I come back to AACC and pursue that,” Cardozo said. “So I guess right now I’m just trying to immerse myself into more job opportunities in the field that I think suits me

An AACC personal counselor said students who suffer from test anxiety should prepare as much as possible for their exams to build confidence.

Melissa Boling also recommended that students keep self-care in mind amid excessive studying, and build in “periodic breaks.”

“We all have our limit, and after a certain amount of time, we just kind of need to take a little bit of a break,” Boling said. “Go outside, get some fresh air, get something to eat, you know, walk around, and then, you know, come back to it after kind of

Registration requires student location info Payton Thompson Senior Reporter

AACC this semester began requiring students to reveal during registration where they will be physically located while taking courses.

The U.S. Department of Education instructed AACC’s Federal Compliance Office to record the location for all students.

“We award federal financial aid to our students who qualify and if we fail to be

compliant with federal regulations, they can withdraw our authority to award that,” John Grabowski, the dean of enrollment services, said.

Anne Arundel County residents who reveal that they will be taking online classes in a location outside of the county will still pay in-county tuition, Grabowski said.

“If you’re still a resident of Anne Arundel County it doesn’t impact your residency or your tuition rate,”

a lot better” than nursing.

Cardozo noted she had a positive experience working with SGA. “My experience with SGA has been absolutely incredible,” Cardozo said. “I will stand by that now and many, many years to come. I love

SGA. SGA has quite literally become my family.”

Buster said Cardozo’s resignation initially came as a disappointment but he supports the decision.

Buster said SGA will try to fill the vacancy next semester.

taking that short break.”

Students will take final exams between Dec. 11 and 17.

Boling said test anxiety can manifest both physically and mentally.

“Some of the physical signs of testing anxiety … could be things like your heart racing, kind of having, like, some stomach upset, dealing with really tense muscles,” Boling said. “Or like, sometimes for some people, like, sweaty palms.”

Boling said students with test anxiety feel “extremely distressed” during tests, and may freeze up and forget information they studied.

Boling recommends using relaxation strategies

during the test as well, such as taking deep breaths, visualizing success and keeping negative thoughts away.

AACC students offered their tips for coping with test anxiety.

Cheyenne Elliott, a second-year psychology student, agreed that studying helps with anxiety, and suggested that students try to take their minds off of the test beforehand.

“I usually just kind of talk to the people around me to relieve some of my nervousness,” Elliott said.

Andrew Littin, a second-year film studies student, said he keeps in mind that doing poorly on a test is “not the end of the world.”

Counselor offers tips to fight exam anxiety Jack Sarnese Reporter

Anxious about finals? Try deep breathing, visualizing success, taking study breaks and staying positive about the outcome.

Adobe Stock photo

Former Student Government Association Vice President Vanessa Cardozo resigns from her role on the Executive Board.

Photo by Mason Hood

Grabowski said.

When a student registers for classes, a message appears in the upper righthand corner of the screen asking for the state where the student will be located.

Alyssa May, a second-year hospitality and tourism student who takes classes online while living in Florida, said the new requirement did not make registration challenging.

“It was super easy,” May said. “It just asked me to fill

Students like online transfer student Josh Weiss will have to reveal the physical location where they will be located during the term when they register.

Photo by Mason Hood in my location … It only took a second.”

Matilda Marinello, a first-year undecided stu-

dent, said she “wasn’t aware that we could take classes in different locations. ... So that’s good.”

Campus Current | 2023 | December | 5

News

Students share their big ideas for awards Izzy Chase Associate Editor

AACC’s Entrepreneurial Studies Institute in November awarded $2,500 to a student who sells jump ropes to people with mobility problems.

Entrepreneurship student Patti Kuhlman won first place in ESI’s Big Idea competition for her business, Kuhlwhip Speed Ropes.

Second-place winner Ty-

ler Loh, a noncredit student, won $1,000 for his business, Wvndr Studios, a workspace for content creators, and student Judi Peveto’s Chronically Creative—a space for artists with disabilities—took home the $500 third prize.

Stephanie Goldenberg, ESI’s academic chair, said the competition is “an opportunity for [students] to talk about their idea in a way that would be persuasive, that could inform, that could really just

make a change even in the world or their community.”

During the annual event, contestants showed short videos about their business ideas. This year’s winner got $2,500 instead of the usual $1,000 to recognize the 20th anniversary of the sponsor, the Ratcliffe Foundation.

During the event, ESI announced six new Ratcliffe Scholars, who could receive up to $12,000 in scholarships.

‘Empty Bowls’ charity raises $ for HelpLink Mischa Green Reporter

Second-year culinary student Brandi Benton prepares soup to serve to at the Empty Bowls charity event.

Photo by Divine Mesumbe

The Ceramics and Culinary Departments teamed up for a charity fundraiser in November to raise $3,340 for AACC’s HelpLink, which offers emergency financial aid to students.

Students, staff and faculty donated $10 each for a serving of soup or chili prepared by culinary students and served in bowls made by ceramics students.

The Empty Bowls fundraiser in the Student Union dining hall was back on cam-

Celsius energy drink popular on campus Mischa Green Reporter

The popularity of the energy drink Celsius has surged on campus and at colleges around the country.

Hawk’s Nest Grill & Deli, Subway and vending machines around campus sell Celsius, which contains twice as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and is branded as a “fitness drink.”

First-year communications student Haley Pogue said Celsius helps keep her awake during classes.

“I found, like, [other energy drinks] don’t last,” Pogue said. “Like, it’s not, like, sustainable. It’s kind of just like I’ll have energy for, like, an hour. … [Celsius]

helps [keep me awake], I think, for a few hours.”

Sales by the company that makes Celsius rose by 111.58% between 2022 and 2023, according to investment research site Macrotrends. But the drink, which comes in 12 flavors, has come under fire for the 200 milligrams of caffeine per can, which some health officials say can cause heart and liver problems in regular drinkers.

In fact, the National Collegiate Athletic Association forbids college athletes from drinking Celsius because it contains stimulants that could be considered as performance enhancing.

“Celsius gets me, it gets me shaken a little bit,” Hailey McDonald, first-year bi-

Entrepreneurship student Patti Kuhlman (center), hugs Entrepreneurial Studies Institute Chair Stephanie Goldenberg after winning $2,500 for a “big idea.”

Photo by Izzy Chase

ology student, said.

Nutrition professor Karen Israel said students who are sensitive to caffeine could have a bad reaction to Celsius and other highly caffeinated drinks.

“Some people are sensitive and they feel rapid heartbeat, or they can’t sleep,” said Israel, who added she does not consume energy drinks. “And so, you know, to me, those are effects that make this not worth taking. … I don’t recommend people consume them.”

First-year teacher education student Laici O’Neal said her parents took those warnings seriously.

“My parents are like … you got to stop, but I have an 8 a.m. class, so I can’t,” O’Ne-

pus for the first time since before the pandemic.

“In our own community and our own county, there’s lots of food insecurity issues,” Sara Prigodich, a ceramics professor whose students made the bowls, said.

“So we’re sort of digging into why those things happen, and what we can do to give back. So for them to make those bowls, it was a great opportunity.”

Organizations all over the country have hosted similar events since 1990.

Culinary service-learning students made and

served soup, chili and bread rolls for the event.

Trésa Ballard, AACC’s service-learning coordinator, said the campus showed a lot of support for the event.

“The campus really gets behind events like this,” Ballard said. “We have a very generous, civic-minded college community and they always turn out in support of events like this.”

First-year American Sign Language student Haille Treadaway said the soup “was so good, I would leave [home] and come to campus just to have that soup.”

Celsius is a favorite energy drink among AACC students.

Photo by Divine Mesumbe al said. “[I’m drinking] Red Bull, Green Edition. … I get a headache if I don’t have caffeine.”

Other students agree that it would be hard to give up their energy drinks.

According to the public relations publication Platform, Celsius started targeting 18- to 24-year-olds during the pandemic, saying it increases metabolism, muscle mass and cardio health.

“I like that they’re zero

sugar and have a good amount of caffeine,” McDonald said. “It’s nice to have a low-sugar option, especially because most energy drinks have a ton of added sugar.”

Some students said they drink Celsius because it’s convenient to buy it on campus.

“It’s the only [energy drink] in the vending machines,” second-year communications student Simone Francis said. “And it’s like $6 cheaper than coffee.”

6 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

Campus Life

Trustee, mom share classes

Students skate on campus Éva Parry Reporter

Payton Thompson Senior Reporter

Students are riding skateboards, bicycles and longboards to get around campus while the footbridge is closed.

Even when the bridge— which is closed this semester for repairs—is open, students are more often choosing to skate or bike around campus.

“I’m waiting for the footbridge to reopen so I’m like, ‘You know what? Might as well, since it’s mostly downhill on the way here,’” Mason Swink, a first-year cybersecurity student who longboards on campus, said. “I can go completely across campus in, like, two minutes.”

A longboard is larger than a skateboard, has softer wheels and is better for cruising and going long distances, according to Swink.

Students who skateboard said it’s quicker than walking and better for the environment than driving.

Second-year production design student Gabby Bly, left, and first-year student Joseph Beard both use longboards to get around campus.

Photo courtesy of Gabby Bly “I feel like when I use [my longboard] to get places, I’m ... not using emissions to get places, which I like,” Gabby Bly, a second-year production design student, said.

Another student said skating on campus is fun.

“It’s faster. It’s fun. I like it,” third-year entrepreneurship student Thomas Cosgrove, who rides a skateboard on campus, said. “It gives me

something to do instead of just walking.”

For some students, alternative modes of transportation are a necessity.

“It is ... my only form of transportation,” Mitchell Freeman, a second-year chemical engineering student who bikes to campus, said.

Freeman said a bike doesn’t need gas or insurance, which saves him money.

Fun and Games

Did you know?

The Truxal Library has extended its Friday hours to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., four hours longer than before.

Campus Current archives

Two second-year nursing students are more than classmates. They’re mother and daughter.

AACC’s student trustee, Rachel Gwin, and her mother, Carrie Rodevick, started taking classes together last fall.

“I think from both sides, we just support each other and you need that,” Rodevick said. “Especially in nursing, to have somebody that is, like, your best friend going through this with you, pushing you on and … telling you, ‘You can do this.’”

Gwin, 21, said she found her passion for nursing after caring for her grandmother, who had breast cancer, and later convinced her mom, whose lifelong dream was to become a nurse, to enroll in classes with her.

“I told my mom, ‘Hey, I’m going. Like, go with me. We’ll

just do it together,’” Gwin said. “She’s always wanted to [become a nurse].”

Gwin added, “Just being able to have that support system … it’s, like, a weight off your shoulders.”

Rigby Taylor, who takes a class with the duo, said the two of them are an inspiration for people who are hesitant to go back to school as adults.

“It really just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how old you are or how young you are to make a life decision to go back to school,” Taylor, a sixth-year nursing student, said.

Gwin said taking classes with her mom has made understanding and completing schoolwork easier.

“We like to teach each other stuff because sometimes she’ll understand a topic more than I will and I could understand a topic more than she does,” Gwin said.

Campus Current | 2023 | December | 7

Campus Life

Grad installs tanks in HLSB Divine Mesumbe Reporter

A 2015 graduate of AACC’s entrepreneurial studies program is back on campus installing fish tanks in the Health and Life Sciences Building.

Dalton Leonard, owner of FantaSEA Aquariums, has installed six tanks in two biology classrooms for fish and other aquatic life.

Leonard also installs tanks in the offices of doctors and lawyers, who rely on FantaSEA Aquariums to feed and care for the fish.

The AACC job, Leonard said, is unique because a team at the college manages the tanks and takes care of the fish.

“They have a whole staff of biologists and team members” to manage the tanks, Leonard said.

Leonard said his favorite AACC tank is home to Puffy, a pufferfish with origins in

the northern parts of North America to the southern parts of South America, who “quickly captured all of our hearts here and quickly became even one of our favorite fish.”

First-year arts and sciences student Saladi Walden agreed that Puffy is a class favorite. “Puffy deserves the spotlight,” Walden said.

Technical Specialist Tera Williamson called Puffy “kind of our lab mascot.”

Leonard designed each tank to mimic a different type of ecosystem, according to biology professor Paul Bushmann, who pointed to habitats featuring fish that live in tropical fresh or salt water or African fresh water, for example.

One tank, Bushmann said, contains fish that “you might see in a coral reef,” and another features “local fish from the [Chesapeake] Bay.” Leonard said a coral reef aquarium is the most im-

An AACC entrepreneurial studies graduate installed half a dozen fish tanks in the Health and Life Sciences Building. Shown, lab mascot Puffy the pufferfish.

Photo by Divine Mesumbe portant kind of tank to put into a classroom.

“The next time that a student ... hears of an oil spill, or the temperature of the ocean rising, or a coral reefing event, or a coral spawning event, or pollution, or an invasive species, now they have this memory of a beautiful reef aquarium and what they’re actually trying to protect out there in the ocean.”

Leonard added: “The majority of people in the country will never venture out into the ocean, and an

even smaller majority of people will ever open their eyes to below sea level.”

Second-year arts and sciences student Owen Ashdown said inside the Chesapeake Bay tank is “pretty much ... all stuff you can find there,” while the fresh-water tanks are “supposed to simulate, like, a river.”

Students taking biology classes sometimes feed the fish. Some students, like Ashdown, help clean the tanks.

Some of the tanks, which serve as a backdrop for the classes, contain animals

Check out TheCampusCurrent.com

Fun and Games

Looking for answers?

like a Chilean rose tarantula, a Madagascar hissing cockroach and a corn snake named March.

Leonard enrolled in AACC at age 18 after installing a 1,600-gallon aquarium at Annapolis Mall.

“And then I realized that I knew everything about fish and nothing about business,” Leonard said. “That is when I enrolled myself in community college’s Entrepreneurial Studies program and became a Ratcliffe Scholar.”

He added: “I was happy to be able to give back.”

8 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

Campus Life

Students on campus run small businesses Michael Dang Reporter

AACC students are running businesses on the side, offering everything from tours of Costa Rica to handmade jewelry and sports attire.

The students are part of AACC’s entrepreneurial program, which trains future business owners and offers them scholarships.

“It’s really awesome, actually,” Matthew Lewis, a third-year business administration student, said. “I’m part of the Ratcliffe Scholarship here, which is an entrepreneurship scholarship. And it’s an awesome community of young entrepreneurs like myself, being able to build off one-on-one with one another [and] learn the problems that they face.”

One student business owner, Lucas Panzer-Valdivia, opened a business, Amanecer Tours, which offers tours to Costa Rica.

Panzer-Valdivia, a second-year entrepreneurial studies student, said he arranges tours to Costa Rica, where travelers can zipline, hike and birdwatch in the rainforest.

“We’ll go to a chocolate tour and they’ll show us a lot of the culture of the chocolate and then we get to swim in a waterfall around there,” Panzer-Valdivia, who was born in Costa Rica, said.

Panzer-Valdivia conducts eight- to 10-day tours for up to 12 people. His first tour was in July for 12 tourists.

“It was amazing,” Panzer-Valdivia said. “Some high schoolers and a coworker of mine went. They had a blast.”

Another student makes and sells her own jewelry.

Cameron Hanley created an online store, Cameron’s Shop, to sell handcrafted accessories.

Hanley, a second-year entrepreneurial studies stu-

dent, has been crafting all her life, so during the pandemic she decided to make it into a business.

“I needed some extra money … and I had been making jewelry recently,” Hanley said. “And I was like, ‘You know what, I could sell this stuff.’”

Hanley said her jewelry is much cheaper than larger businesses’ products.

“I feel like a lot of big businesses overcharge,” Hanley said. “I know a lot of people can’t afford that.

I can’t afford that. So sometimes I see something cool and I’m like, ‘I could make that better.’”

Hanley has sold 106 pieces of jewelry this year, for $20 apiece.

Another student entrepreneur, Zachary Lawrence, created a line of streetwear, LawVille Clothing, which he sells on his website.

Lawrence, a second-year entrepreneurial studies student, said he began his

Cameron Hanley, one of the many students at AACC who runs a small business, sells her handmade jewelry at a student business fair.

Photo by Jamie Goldinger company with a “print on demand” system. With print on demand, he designs the patterns, but a different company produces the apparel.

“That’s a good way to start if you don’t have that much money because you only pay when somebody buys,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence sells T-shirts, sweaters and hoodies for $30 to $40, and expects to make

Reporters & Photographers Needed

G R APH O T O ER PH

• No experience required • Build your portfolio • Get engaged on campus

• Experience preferred • Build your portfolio • Experience campus fun

S

ORTERS P E R

$10,000 by year’s end.

“I know I have a successful mindset,” Lawrence said, “but others don’t know the potential they have. So I always say I’m on top of the world and I want people to realize it’s their world, too.”

Lawrence said he wants his company to make people feel more confident.

“I need ... to get them to believe in themselves,” Lawrence said. “I believe in them.”

Contact our Editor-in-Chief Tomi Brunton for more information at: tbrunton@mymail.aacc.edu 410-274-8256

Weekly meetings every Monday@ 3:30 in HUM 117

The award-winning newspaper of Anne Arundel Community College

Faculty Adviser: Sharon O’Malley sromalley1@aacc.edu

Campus Current | 2023 | December | 9

Campus Life

Students play in rock bands Izzy Chase Associate Editor

The classmate sitting next to you in math class could be the next rock ‘n’ roll superstar.

AACC students who have their own bands off campus said a lot of time and effort goes into being in a band besides rehearsal. The first step, they said, is finding bandmates.

Haley Pogue, a first-year communications student, found two recruits, identical twins, to join a band she was starting.

They came up with the perfect band name: “Lying to Strangers” while attending a meet-and-greet at American University.

“All these girls came up to them,” Pogue said of the meet-and-greet. “And they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re twins.’ … They just started, like, lying just to be funny. …

And they were like, ‘What’s your band name?’ And then we all looked at each other.

And I was like, ‘It’s Lying to Strangers.’”

Each of the band members has different musical tastes but the team has combined them and has adopted a mix of rock, indie and funk as their sound.

Pogue isn’t the only AACC student who performs in a rock band.

Kain Lakis, a first-year creative writing student, started playing music at the tender age of 8 months old.

“My parents put me on a drum kit and I just bounced around,” Lakis said. “Both my parents play guitar. My dad still plays music. He’s in a band, too.”

Lakis’ band “Fire Escape” started as three friends playing music in a basement but they have since released an EP called “Radiator” and a single called “Dugout.” The band plays alternative rock music inspired by ’90s grunge.

“Fire Escape” has played multiple live shows at venues like 49 West Coffeehouse, Winebar and Gallery in downtown Annapolis.

When they’re not performing live, band members rehearse in the basement of Lakis’ grandparents’ house whenever the musicians can.

“The actual playing live is pretty fun,” Lakis said.

“Despite the nature of most of the venues not really being, like, fitting for our kind of music, we still get a good crowd.”

Bryant Pepe, known as Bryant Furey on stage, is a

Kain Lakis, who plays drums for an alternative grunge-inspired group called “Fire Escape,” is one of several students on campus to play in bands.

Photo courtesy of Sophie Reed third-year earth sciences student who has played music for more than 20 years.

Pepe plays in “Mirrors and Wires,” an instrumental surf rock band, but is also heavily involved with the punk rock and alternative community. Pepe has played shows all along the East Coast.

Pepe noted the importance of playing live shows

when it comes to building a sense of community.

“Punk itself is a movement of nonconformity, right?” Pepe said. “But the avenue for that is through the performance. That’s where you have the gathering of people and that’s where you impart your ideas. That’s where you share ideas.

That’s where you share your art.”

Ian Wardenski, the Performing Arts Department chair and director of the AACC jazz ensemble, said members in smaller groups rely on each other more.

“It’s one person per part,” Wardenski said. “And so it’s very dependent on everybody knowing their part, right? ... So making sure that you’re playing in a way that you can really support them.”

campus current find us online! www.thecampuscurrent.com new articles monday-friday

10 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

Holidays

Police say crime rises during winter season Divine Mesumbe Reporter

AACC students should be aware of rising crime off campus in the winter season, AACC police officers said.

Two notable crimes that can occur during the holidays are car break-ins and petty theft, according to Officer Kimberly Starr.

“During Christmastime … a lot of time [there’s] more potential for robbery because people are carrying more money on them because they’re shopping for gifts,” Starr said.

Starr added: “Don’t leave packages in your car. Peo-

ple will come by and look in your car and [if] they see a package, they may break in.”

According to Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer, crime rates historically rise during the holidays. “Oftentimes crime is on the rise [during the holidays] because … people might be out of work or don’t have money,” Kapfhammer said.

Kapfhammer said students can avoid becoming victims of crime this holiday season by being “aware of your surroundings.”

For example, Kapfkammer said, students should avoid carrying valuables in their hands because “that

might make you an easy target.”

Starr added: “During the holidays you need to be vigilant, especially [during] Christmastime.”

Starr said to watch out for holiday scams.

“They [scammers] may use that as a part of a scam to try to get money out of you, you know, saying that [they need] more money for their kids for Christmas,” Starr said.

Kapfhammer added students should be aware of stalkers and pay attention to people who may follow them to their cars.

Kapfhammer said stu-

AACC students are at a higher risk of cyberattacks during the holiday season, according to a college cybersecurity expert.

During the holidays, students and others are more susceptible to credit card scams, money laundering and identity theft, Director of Information Security John Williams said.

Homemade presents are most meaningful Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief Julissa Mendoza Robles Reporter

The best gifts second-year creative writing student Lui Rogers ever gave to his family members were hand-carved figurines that he made with his grandfather.

“It wasn’t something that I spent money [on, but] it took time to make them,” Rogers said. “I feel like now every time I do Christmas, I don’t want to spend money. … I want to actually do something, to make something.”

In interviews with Campus Current, students re-

called their best and worst holiday gifts from over the years.

While Rogers said the best presents are handmade and meaningful, another said the worst gift he ever got was a can of Spam.

Keegan Jarrell, a firstyear dental hygienist student, said his father gave him a stocking for Christmas with nothing but a can of Spam in it.

“People like to get me, like, cans of Spam,” Jarrell said. “People think it’s funny.”

Second-year business student Aidan Graham said the funniest gift he ever got was a photograph from his best friend.

dents who feel uneasy on campus can call the Department of Public Safety and Police to request an escort to the parking lot.

“If you need an escort to

your car late at night, you don’t feel safe, you can give us a call,” Kapfhammer said.

The Department of Public Safety and Police can be reached at 410-777-1818.

According to Williams, cybercriminals will use the pretense of gift-giving to scam their victims.

“A lot of times [during the holiday season], you’ll get an email that says, ‘You have just won a gift if you sign into this website. Give us all of your information, then we’ll give you the gift,’” Williams said.

According to Williams, cybercriminals go after higher amounts of money from

their targets during the holiday season.

Williams called scammers “predatory.”

“What they’re trying to do is trick you into getting money out of you in some way or another,” Williams said. “You just have to be careful. They’re all tricks.”

Williams advised students to guard passwords and private information and to monitor their social media interactions.

Risk for cyberthreats increases at holidays Divine Mesumbe Reporter

Shoppers are at greater risk of credit card fraud and identity theft during the holidays.

Adobe Stock photo

Crime historically rises around the holidays, according to AACC Officer Kimberly Starr.

Photo by Divine Mesumbe

“After my parents’ divorce, my friend … gave me a picture of my dad,” Graham said. “And on the back, he wrote a message, which was, ‘Should ask Santa for a better dad, bucko.’ We laughed and then I gave him a Lego set.”

First-year journalism student Remy Browne said her favorite gift, a T-shirt for a band her father played in 30 years ago, was actually given to her brother, but she swiped it from him.

“It was a good gift,” Browne said. “I actually have it now because I stole it.”

Seyja Lactaoen, a second-year elementary education student, said the best gift she ever got is a necklace

First-year dental hygienist student Keegan Jarrell says the worst holiday gift he ever got was a stocking with nothing but a can of Spam in it.

Photo illustration by Jennifer Chisari she wears every day.

“It has my grandmother’s name inscribed on the pendant,” Lactaoen said. “‘Asoa’ is my middle name and that’s my grandma’s

real name. [It] means ‘to adorn yourself in jewelry.’”

Associate Editor Izzy Chase and reporter Jason Kalshoven contributed to this story.

Campus Current | 2023 | December | 11

Clubs

Students to take on Polar Plunge in Feb. Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

Members of a new AACC student club will take the Polar Bear Plunge together for charity in February.

The club will not request funding from the Office of Student Engagement to pay the required $50-per-plunger fee to take the Plunge, according to club President Gavin Kesselring. Instead, club members will fundraise and donate themselves.

Kesselring took the Plunge last year by jumping into the frigid waters of the Chesapeake Bay with more than 10,000 other locals and called the event “a blast.”

“Free hot chocolate and there’s free food and there’s games and dancing and everyone’s having a great time, and they go into the water, and it’s not so great, but it’s still a lot of fun,” Kesselring said. “It’s definitely a worthwhile experience.”

The Maryland State Police organize the annual Polar Bear Plunge and donate the entry fees to Special Olympics Maryland.

“Anyone can sign up for it,” Kesselring, a first-year business student, said. “We want to get students and teachers and faculty and family. We want to get everyone involved and … bring everyone together to have a

really special day.”

Kesselring said he formed an official campus club to get outreach support from the Office of Student Engagement and the Student Government Association.

Being an official club “makes it a lot easier for people to get information about it,” Kesselring said. “I have all those resources from the Nest, I have the Office of Student Engagement to help me, I have SGA [to] help me.”

English professor KT Perkins, the club’s faculty adviser, said the members’ participation in the Plunge will be good for the college.

“It’ll be good for students because they will have this

An AACC student is starting a club to discuss banned books.

Second-year film studies student Daira Rodriguez was inspired to start the Burned Book Society after learning about Banned Books Week in her communications class.

Unlike a typical book club, whose members all read the same book and then discuss it, Burned Book So-

Super Sci. Club visits zoo to see pandas off Mischa Green Reporter

A group of students visited the National Zoo in Washington on Nov. 4 to say goodbye to the giant pandas before they returned to China a few days later.

Six students, mostly members of AACC’s Super Science Club, had the chance to observe two adult pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, as they rolled around their cage and ate treats.

“It was cool,” Effie Gentry, a third-year landscape architecture student, said. “It was

a little crowded for me but it was a really amazing day because [of] the panda bears.”

The giant black-andwhite pandas had been in the U.S. for a half-century and were on loan from China, which announced the National Zoo recall in August and set a December exit date.

However, the pandas left the National Zoo on Nov. 8.

Giant pandas left the zoo in San Diego in 2019 and in Memphis earlier this year.

Four giant pandas at the Atlanta Zoo are scheduled to return to China next year.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people

opportunity to do something crazy to help a really good cause,” Perkins said.

First-year business student Noah Watson, the club’s vice president, has never

taken the Plunge, but said he looks forward to trying it.

“I’m a little nervous because it’s going to be really cold,” Watson said. “But other than that, I’m pretty excited.”

ciety members may read any book they choose and bring it in to discuss.

“I didn’t want to feel like I’m constricting everyone,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t like the idea of just reading one simple book and then making everyone read it. … I want everyone to explore these interesting topics within the club.”

Banned Books Week started in 1982 as a way to recognize freedom of expression and show the dam-

ages of censorship.

“I found it really fascinating how a lot of these books have really interesting topics, but they’re all banned,” Rodriguez said. “It would be a really cool idea of just having a main focus on banned books … and talking about all these topics whether they’re explicit or not.”

Typically, a school will ban books that feature issues involving sex, race, violence, religion, witchcraft or LGBTQ characters.

Banned books focus of new campus group Dulcie Metro Reporter

Second-year film studies student Daira Rodriguez is starting a student book club on campus.

Photo by Mason Hood

Former AACC communications student Michael Garvey takes the Polar Bear Plunge with some AACC public safety officers in 2018. A new campus club is gathering current students to do it in February.

Photo by Raquel Hamner

in the region and students at this institution to go see the pandas before they [were] shipped back to China,” Bryant Pepe, a third-year earth science major and president of the Super Science Club, said.

After seeing the pandas, students toured the rest of the zoo.

“It’s such an amazing experience to see these animals we, like, read about in our textbooks and they’re, you know, out right in front of you,” Gentry said. “Like, you never really know how amazing a zebra is until you can actually see it, right? You

Super Science Club members traveled to the National Zoo to say goodbye to the pandas before they left.

Photo by Everett Luoma can look at pictures all day.

So it would be nice if there were more opportunities like that for more students to have access to it.”

One student said she liked seeing the birds at the zoo more than the pandas.

“My favorite part was easily the birdhouse,” Alex Bradford, a second-year plant science major, said. “It

was a lot less crowded and just a lot calmer. It didn’t feel like it was being rushed through and they gave me free coffee. So that was pretty cool.”

Pepe said he had hoped more students would join the Super Science Club for the trip to the zoo, but the club was unable to get funding from the college to rent a bus.

12 | Campus Current | 2023 | December

Sports

Stadium, track close to replace floodlights Jack Sarnese Reporter

AACC’s Facilities Department closed Siegert Stadium and the track around it on Nov. 14 to replace the floodlights.

The field reopened temporarily on Nov. 22 and 23 for the AACC Turkey Trot and will be open for good by the end of the semester.

AACC will replace the light bulbs with LEDs, which are more energy efficient than the existing metal halide lights, according to Fa-

cilities Executive Director James Taylor, who estimated the cost at $240,000. The closure primarily affects the soccer and lacrosse teams, which usually practice and play in the stadium.

“It really doesn’t impact us from the standpoint of team practices because there are none right now,” Jim Griffiths, the head coach for women’s soccer and lacrosse, said. “The [old] lights were good but … LED is going to make a huge improvement in the visibility [and] appearance of the stadium.”

The soccer team ended its season in October, and lacrosse will not start until the spring.

Chet Lawrence, the project’s manager, said he scheduled the work to minimize the disruptions to the sports teams.

“We have to coordinate, make sure that we’re not interfering with any athletic activity out in the field,” Lawrence said.

Soccer and lacrosse player Bailey Healy said she is glad the stadium is getting new lights.

The Riverhawks volleyball team completed its 2023 season with a 10-12 record after losing a play-in game for the playoffs.

Head coach Tanecha Rice said it was a good season despite the outcome.

“I feel like the season did go well and I thought it would in a sense,” Rice said.

“I actually thought that we would make it to the regional tournament, which we fell short in there because we had to play a play-in game,

’Hawks soccer teams finish fall ’23 season Zack Buckingham Reporter

AACC’s soccer teams have finished their 2023 seasons.

Women’s soccer ended with an 8-5-3 record, losing to Community College of Baltimore County Essex by one goal in overtime during the NJCAA Region 20 Division II championship game.

Men’s soccer finished the regular season with a 3-6-4 record.

Women’s soccer head coach Jim Griffiths said although the end of the season was disappointing, “that’s soccer.”

“Very disappointing end of the season to lose in overtime the way we did, but that’s also soccer sometimes,” Griffiths said. “Sometimes, you know, goofy things happen and you just got to take it.”

Second-year transfer studies student Megan Miller, who plays midfielder, said the team played hard but had to adapt to playing on grass rather than on turf and was not able to win the game.

“We battled hard, but I think at the end we just fell a little short and we just weren’t able to finish all the way through.”

Miller also gave credit to

“I can speak … for most lacrosse players where I can say it’s so hard to see the ball at night,” Healy said. “For

soccer it didn’t impact us as much but definitely for lacrosse, like, because it’s a smaller ball. It’s hard to see.”

which was kind of unexpected.”

First-year student Mia Keen, a setter, said the team could have done more.

“I think we could have done better,” Keen said. “I don’t think we did bad necessarily, but we could have done better.”

Rice said the team had some admirable moments throughout the season.

“We did beat some teams and surprised some teams that we didn’t beat last year,” Rice said. “I felt pretty good about that. I also felt pretty good about

the wins that we did get this season.”

Keen said the team was motivated to improve.

“I think the energy was there,” Keen said. “I think everybody wanted to be there and wanted to grow and get better as a team.”

Rice said her team connected and worked well together.

“I learned that when it counted, those girls stuck together,” Rice said. “When we were out battling and winning games and losing games, that the girls do stick together.”

Volleyball gets 10-12 record this semester Zack Buckingham Reporter

The Riverhawks ended the 2023 volleyball season with a 10-12 record. Shown, first-year outside hitter Emily Poole.

Photo courtesy of Frank Mitchell III

AACC’s Facilities Department has temporarily closed the Riverhawks’ track and stadium to replace the floodlights.

Photo by Mason Hood

this season’s coaching staff.

“I would probably just emphasize on how the coaching staff was really just amazing this year,” Miller said. “I don’t know if a lot of people know coach Griff but he’s definitely a coach that everyone should know and all the coaches overall, they’re really great people who supported us no matter what.”

Griffiths said the season was positive although injuries affected the team.

“The injury bug was just constant throughout the beginning and the middle half, middle third of the season,” Griffiths said. “So we were

Midfielder Jose Rodriguez, a first-year player, takes the field during a soccer game. The team finished the regular season 3-6-4.

Photo courtesy of Frank Mitchell III never really fully healthy until the last couple weeks of the season.”

Men’s soccer did not qualify for the playoffs after making it to the national tournament for the past two years.

Men’s soccer head coach Nick Cosentino said the season was tough and that the

team came up short of its goals.

“Well, it was a tough season record-wise, result-wise,” Cosentino said.

“We had a solid team, we had a deep team and we were coming off two years in a row where we qualified for the national tournament.”