January/ February 2023 Issue

Diversity

Campus Life Sports

High school students get free AACC tuition

Public high school students who also take classes at AACC will no longer pay tuition.

In fact, Anne Arundel County public school students enrolled in the Early College Access Program will receive refunds for the tui-

tion they already paid for the fall and summer 2022 terms under a new state law that aims to improve the quality of education in Maryland.

“It’s an opportunity to bring more equity to students who can benefit from post-secondary education,” John Grabowski, AACC’s dean of enrollment services, said.

AACC’s 1,172 dual-enrolled students previously paid tuition at half the regular cost. ECAP students still pay registration, lab and general student fees.

Homeschooled and private school students are eligible for ECAP but do not qualify for the new free tuition.

Continued on page 3

will

to pay tuition

Police report rise in stalking on campus

Tristan Comba Contributor

This story contains mentions of violence and stalking.

of possible stalking on the Arnold campus in the fall. That compares with one incident total for the five prior years.

and Resource Center defines stalking as a behavioral pattern that targets one specific person, causing the victim to feel unsafe.

AACC police records indicate that incidents of stalking rose on campus during the fall 2022 semester.

Police took three reports

Early numbers show enrollment increase

Tomi Brunton Co-Editor

Projected enrollment for this semester suggests the student body will increase by 5.7% from last spring, according to the college.

New student registrations are up 10.7% and returning student registrations are up 5.3%, according to AACC’s Office of Planning, Research and Institutional Assessment. The schools of

Health Sciences and Continuing Education/Workforce Development grew the most from spring 2022 to spring 2023, at 13.9% and 15.3% more students, respectively.

“Increased enrollment may mean that several of our initiatives are connecting with new students,”

Tanya Millner, the vice president for learning, said in an email interview. “It may also mean that we are offer-

ing a great mix of options in scheduling that works well with students’ competing interests and obligations.”

Dan Baum, executive director of Strategic Communications, said students could be returning after taking time off during the pandemic.

“Many people who felt more isolated because of COVID are … feeling more comfortable,” Baum said.

Continued on page 3

“I never knew stalking to be … an issue until I came to AACC,” first-year communications student Olivia Sheridan said.

“[I felt] scared for my safety and the safety of other women around campus,” Student reports of stalking increased in October on the Arnold campus.

The Stalking Prevention

Continued on page 3

AACC discontinues its men’s and women’s cross-country teams.

Apostle Craig Coates delivers keynote at MLK Jr. breakfast.

Student works with Make-A-Wish on Capitals’ mosaic. Page 10

Tomi Brunton Co-Editor

Public high school students who take AACC classes

no longer have

at AACC. Shown from left to right, high school students Mitchell Gaudet, Santana Hawk and Josie Dial, at a leadership conference at AACC.

Photo by Dan Elson

Adobe Stock photo

Preliminary data shows an increase in enrollment for the spring semester. Shown, students compare notes in a speech class during the winter semester.

Photo by Zack Buster

Gunn

Contributors

Tristan Comba

Jordan Crymes

Sam Gauntt

Ava Herring

Cole Popov

Olivia Sheridan

Alex Sorto

Micah Smith

Faculty Adviser

Sharon O’Malley

News isn’t always good news

Zack Buster Co-Editor

News, by definition, is a report of recent events, trends and topics of interest to the public. But what happens when that news sparks controversy?

When a political candidate says something that offends a group of people, or violent crime numbers rise in your town, what do news outlets do? The answer is, they report on those recent events.

The world-renowned news anchor Walter Cronkite once said that as journalists, “Our job is only to hold up the mirror—to tell and show the public what has happened.”

As a news publication, Campus Current has a duty to report the news, regardless of opinion or controversy.

When a news outlet reports on the news, that does not mean it condones the actions of that candidate or supports violent crime. When a news publication quotes a source with an inflammatory

opinion, it doesn’t mean the newspaper’s editorial staff endorses that opinion.

Ideally, when journalists report and write news, their opinions are kept separate from the story itself. This extends to which stories get covered as well.

Campus Current strives to be that kind of unbiased, nonjudgmental news outlet that people can trust to tackle controversial topics that students are talking about.

If newspaper editors chose not to publish a story because they disagree with what their sources say, that would be biased, and in some cases, harmful.

Imagine if that politician said something offensive and it did not get covered in the news because it was offensive. Prospective voters wouldn’t be properly informed and might vote for a candidate who doesn’t represent their views.

That’s why the news is important. We all rely on it to know what exactly is going on in the world, our commu-

Letter from the newsroom

Newspapers

nities and our college.

The public has a right to know exactly what is going on. They have a right to know the truth, even if they

don’t agree with it. And at Campus Current, our first obligation is to the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.

The secret to surviving math

Mary Turner Co-Editor

I love math. I used to do my math homework for fun. Earlier today I used trigonometry to calculate something I could have simply eyeballed. I am an anomaly.

For most people, mathematics is that hated and dreaded class they just need to pass for graduation. The way it is taught in schools makes the beauty and awe of math inaccessible and turns it into an obstacle. Even though I liked math in school, I didn’t uncover the true depth and joy of discovery in math until I broke out of the traditional education system.

They aren’t teaching us the fascinating or exciting parts of math. So, until there is a math class revolution, I have some pointers from my years as a math tutor.

It may seem surprising, but above all, my role has been to build people’s confidence. Giving detailed explanations of the nitty gritty aspects of math, while helpful, is not the most impactful thing I can do.

Most people doubt their

ability to do math. This holds them back. I don’t know the psychology of it, but I see that as their belief in themselves grows, so does their ability to succeed.

This confidence grows as they see improvement in their grades, but it also grows when I show them that their wrong answer doesn’t always mean that they didn’t understand the concepts. Sometimes it’s a simple subtraction error.

It’s easier when you have me looking over your shoulder pointing out exactly where that error is, but you, too, can cut yourself some slack. Not every error means that you are destined to fail math. Mistakes compound in math, so a small one can seem astronomical by the end of a problem.

All this talk of confidence is not to undermine the importance of understanding the concepts. I have seen that being confident and comfortable certainly helps students engage with their work. Being engaged is essential to understanding new concepts no matter the subject.

I cannot give you precise explanations of what

First-year graphic design student Mary Turner says though math is intimidating, most people are more capable than they realize.

you are struggling with, but I encourage you to ask, “Why?” While you can pass your math classes by simply memorizing everything, it is a time-consuming, bruteforce method.

By learning the “why” behind the concepts, you can approach problems as a puzzle to solve with the skills and patterns that you have learned. No more struggling to remember what can seem like arbitrary rules.

Math is a web that grows out of a set of assumptions, like a tree grows from a seed. As you begin to work within the logic of the web, each step becomes easier. You could keep tracing the web one line at a time as your professor teaches you the rules, or you can start asking, “Why?” and learn how the web grows. Math truly is beautiful, and with this strategy you might get to see that. If not, you can still pass your class.

Photo by Dan Elson

have a duty to the public to report the news, regardless of how controversial the topic is. At Campus Current, you, the reader, are our public.

Photo by Zack Buster

State scraps tuition bill for dual-enrolled

Continued from page 1

Helena Gryder, a Broadneck High School senior who takes classes here, said the changes are “really exciting.”

“It’s really good to prepare you for what four-year college is going to be like,” Gryder said. “I do see [AACC] having more high school students. And I think that’s a good thing.”

Ike Jones, an Arundel High School senior, agreed.

“It opens up more options to kids who, like, might not have the money to pay for college tuition,” Jones said. “I think … having more people around will kind of help jump-start new ideas

and … get more things moving.”

Dual-enrolled homeschooled student Aidan Gunn said his experience with AACC has been “incredibly positive,” but he said he is “frustrated” homeschooled students are not included in the free tuition plan.

“Hopefully, they can kind of bridge the gap there a little bit and offer free tuition to homeschooled students as well,” Gunn, a high school senior, said. “[But] I think that offering free [community college] tuition to high school students in general is a huge step.”

Grabowski said he hopes the program will make AACC “an option” for students who

can’t afford to pay tuition.

“[I want] to make sure that everyone in society, regardless of their background, ethnicity, race, gender, all have equal opportunity to successfully engage in post-secondary education,” Grabowski said.

Gunn said he has enjoyed being a dual-enrolled student.

“I think the best part about being a dual-enrollment student is that not only does it give me a taste of the college experience … it also helps my [college] application process,” Gunn said.

“That’s going to help me get into four-year schools. So it’s giving me the expe-

Helena

rience, but it’s also making me a better candidate for my future.”

Grabowski said offering

free tuition to dual-enrolled high school students will increase their numbers at the college.

Police logs show rise in stalking incidents

Continued from page 1 a dual-enrolled web design student who reported a stalking in October, said. “Wherever I went, he happened to be there.”

Three students reported being stalked on campus last fall. If you believe you are being stalked, experts say to inform your family and friends. You can also file a report with AACC police by calling 410-777-1818.

Adobe Stock photo

After the woman, who asked Campus Current not to use her name, filed a report regarding her experience, police sent out an email alerting all students and faculty.

She said the student con-

Enrollment bumps up for spring 2023 term

Continued from page 1

“We’ve tried to strike a great balance with what we offer in person and what we offer remotely, and people are more comfortable with

state rule giving free tuition to students who enroll in high school and community college at the same time might have contributed to the enrollment hike.

“That’s incredibly en

tinually followed her around campus.

Rick Wiggs, a board member at the Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center and a survivor of attempted homicide, offered advice to students who suspect they have a stalker.

“You have to inform people that are around you, your family, your friends,” Wiggs said. “You have to … be open about it.”

Wiggs said he did not know his wife was being stalked until her stalker killed her, shooting him during the attack. Their two children were in another room in their home.

As January is National Stalking Awareness Month, AACC police will host a panel discussion and set up tables across campus to teach about resources for stalking victims, Sgt. Janene Kerpelman said.

Baum added: “Things are moving in the right direction. We want to meet our mission: to serve as many people as possible.”

Millner noted the numbers are preliminary, and Enrollment in the School of Continuing Education

Welcome

Gryder, a Broadneck High School senior who also takes classes at AACC, is one of the students who will no longer pay tuition for AACC courses.

Photo courtesy of Helena Gryder

AACC profs. teach at county high schools

Zack Buster

Anne Arundel County public high school students can take college classes from AACC professors at their schools.

Sara Eger, AACC’s director of instructional pathways and partnerships with county high schools, said having college professors teach at the high schools makes it easier for students who want to be dual-enrolled without having to worry about transportation,

time and finances.

To take the classes, students must be part of the Early College Access Program, which offers free AACC tuition to public high school participants.

Students at 13 public schools can get both high school and college credit for the AACC classes, which range from English 101 to a course on drones.

Instructional Specialist Tim Tumelty, who has taught drone-related classes at Broadneck High School for two years, said teaching

in the program is a unique experience because he has to “get the students out of the mentality that they’re in high school, because I am there as a college teacher teaching a college class.”

Tumelty, who taught at the Naval Academy, added: “It’s almost a semester-long process. On the first day, you know, [there’s] a little bit of tough love. … So the high school shenanigans just don’t go over well with me.”

Tumelty added opportunities like ECAP are “a great way for high school students

to prepare for college,” noting that “seeing them grow” is his favorite part of teaching high school students.

“The best way to get ready for college is to take a college class,” Tumelty said. “And Anne Arundel Community College is a great place to do that.”

Mary Tillar, AACPS as-

sistant superintendent for advanced studies and programs, agreed, saying the county recognizes “the power of providing opportunities for our students in high school [for] college credits” because it gives them better access to careers that are “passion- and interest-oriented.”

Charter students get college degrees early

Students at Chesapeake Science Point Charter School in Hanover can receive their high school diplomas and their transfer studies degrees from AACC at the same time.

Sophia Hendricks, a dual-enrolled junior at the school, said while the program “isn’t for the faint of heart,” it allows students to prepare for university life and “get some college credits under your belt while you’re still in high school.”

Hendricks added: “It kind of gets you a feel for col-

Services to maintain same hours in spring

Academic advising and admissions, as well as most other student services, will be open in person Monday through Thursday and virtually Monday through Saturday in the spring semester.

Most services, including the library, will open at 8:30 a.m., but closing times vary. For example, Financial Aid closes at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Most in-person services will be closed on Friday.

“Hopefully [the hours] affect students in a very positive way,” Felicia Patterson, the vice president for learner support services, said.

“We try to make sure that the hours we’re providing are what students need.”

The cafeteria will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Chick-fil-A will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Patterson noted that the college plans to “stick with” this schedule.

“We’re hoping that these hours that we’ve developed for spring become our regular hours moving forward,”

Patterson said. “And we’re certainly open, you know. If students respond and tell us, ‘Hey, these hours are not working as well as we’d like,’ then of course we will respond to that, because that really is the goal: to make sure that students can get their needs met.”

Patterson said the pandemic led the college to adopt online student services.

“We didn’t have very many remote services,” Patterson said. “We had a few but not to the extent … we have now. Now you can pretty much do anything remote.”

lege. At a four-year college, you’re alone for the first time and you have to figure out so much on your own … but now I feel really prepared.”

Students at the small charter school who get into the program take AACC classes for free from ninth grade to 11th grade. The pathway in this charter school is part of a larger partnership between AACC and Anne Arundel County institutions called the Early College Access Program.

AACC’s director of instructional pathways and partnerships with high schools, Sara Eger, said the

program “allows [students] to explore while still in high school,” to find out what they want to major in before transferring to a four-year college.

It’s an opportunity “for students to really figure out if this is really what [they] want to do,” Eger said. “They have the opportunity while in high school to switch gears before they commit to maybe choosing a college that specializes in something that wasn’t what they wanted.”

Hendricks, who discovered her passion for the medical field while taking an AACC course in the program, agreed.

Tomi Brunton Co-Editor

Co-Editor

Zack Buster Co-Editor

Most of AACC’s student services will keep the same in-person and online hours as last semester.

Graphic by Mary Turner

Some AACC professors are teaching high school classes, which students can take for college credit.

Photo by Dan Elson

Sophia Hendricks, a dual-enrolled junior at Chesapeake Science Point Charter School (left), says earning two degrees at once is hard but rewarding.

Photo courtesy of Sophia Hendricks

College to celebrate Black History Month

Dan Elson Co-Editor

The college will host approximately a dozen in-person and virtual events in February in honor of Black History Month.

To start off on Feb. 2, students will have the chance to paint and interact with Annapolis artist Comacell Brown Jr.

Christina Thurston will show her documentary, “Boldly Beautiful Ethnic Hair Care on the Great Plains,” on Feb. 9. The film is about her experience finding haircare when she moved from Maryland to South Dakota.

On Feb. 23, faculty and staff will promote Histori-

cally Black Colleges and Universities to students who are looking to transfer. There will be scavenger hunts, games and alumni presentations.

Then on Feb. 28, up to 15 students will tour the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis. Students have to RSVP for the event.

“Many people have never been there and so we really wanted to get the students to take advantage of this event,” Black History Month Coordinator Stephanie Smith-Baker said.

Throughout the month, Baltimore painter Calvin Coleman will display artwork in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts.

Black History Month

will include the annual Race Card Project, which allows students to write about race and post their thoughts in the Careers Center and in the Humanities building.

Smith-Baker, a professor of health sciences, said the Black History Month committee is “intentionally bringing diversity to the … month-long activities.”

Student Government Association Vice President of Finance Michael Amwoga, a third-year business student, noted Black History Month “helps to remind the younger generation of students [of] the progress this country, and, technically, the world, has made.”

Second-year communi-

AACC celebrates Black History Month in February with on-campus and virtual events.

Adobe Stock photo

cations student Laniya Harris said it’s “really cool” that the college celebrates Black History Month.

“When I was in high

school, we really didn’t do things like this,” Harris said. “So I’m happy that it’s happening in … higher levels of education.”

Local pastor speaks at MLK Jr. breakfast

The keynote speaker for the 42nd annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 16 said younger generations “haven’t been taught to find their voice.”

The event’s theme was King’s quote, “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The speaker, Craig Coates, the senior pastor of the Fresh Start Church in Glen Burnie, said his speech followed that theme.

“The silence of a generation that has a voice and are not using it for social justice and for restorative justice, things of that sort, [means]

we’re still walking in the same shoes that we walked in—shoes of ignorance,” Coates, who goes by the title “apostle,” said.

AACC co-sponsors the breakfast annually. The event took place this year at La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie.

In an interview with Campus Current, Coates said older generations have set a “bad example” with silence about social justice.

“Have we done our part to pass down to the next generation the same instructions, the same importance of character and love that should have been passed down so that they can keep the dream alive?”

Coates asked. “I don’t be-

Staff gets diversity training

Sam Gauntt Contributor

AACC is requiring fulltime faculty, staff and administrators to complete a new series of diversity training this school year.

Interim Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Kellie McCants-Price described the training, which began in the fall, as a “threetwo-one plan.” The plan requires all full-time faculty

to complete three diversity training seminars hosted by the college and two classes or training sessions of their choosing. Each faculty member also will create a project related to IDEAL—Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Leadership.

The college offers professional development classes, including Diversity 101; Understanding and Interrupting Unconscious Bias; and Fostering Inclusion, Sen-

sitivity and Respect in the Workplace.

Interim Coordinator of Inclusive Excellence Forrest Caskey said the two elective courses “could be at the college or externally, like getting a certificate or attending an event or something where they’re learning something about DEI.”

The college also requires participation in a longer-term goal or project.

“We want everyone to

… establish one goal that’s related to diversity, equity and inclusion that is in some way related to their role at the college,” McCants-Price said.

Caskey, an academic literacies professor and the adviser for the Genders and Sexualities Alliance, a student club, said although the college offered diversity training in the past, this is the first time it has been required for faculty.

lieve it’s been done.”

In King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, he called for racial equality.

Coates said the breakfast was a way to guide “younger voices to discover their voice.”

“The MLK breakfast to me is a sign that it’s still possible to realize Dr. King’s dream, because there’s still a platform,” said Coates, who has founded multiple businesses, including clothing company Modern Priestwear. “And wherever there’s still a platform, there’s an opportunity for voices to be heard.”

“5781: The Post-Pandemic Mandate,” a book Coates published in 2020, helped inspire the speech.

The Rev. Craig Coates was the keynote speaker at the 42nd annual MLK Jr. breakfast, sponsored in part by AACC.

Photo courtesy of Craig Coates

Tomi Brunton Co-Editor

Interim Coordinator of Inclusive Excellence Forrest Caskey leads diversity trainings.

Photo by Dan Elson

Foreign students call college ‘welcoming’

Ava Herring Contributor

International students said in October the campus atmosphere is friendly and welcoming.

Being an international college student in the U.S. poses challenges like learning a new language at an academic level, making friends and navigating cultural norms.

“I’m not an English speaker,” biology student Anne-Keren Kanté, who grew up on the Ivory Coast, said. “I’m a French speaker, so sometimes I can have, maybe, difficulties to understand.”

Kanté added: “But the teachers were very accommodating and my women’s health class professor knew I wasn’t a native English speaker, so she would give me extra time completing quizzes and helping me understand.”

There are 432 international students enrolled at AACC from 76 countries.

Fifth-year nursing student Frank Fitzgeralde Libom grew up in the Northwest of France. He said he felt satisfied with his educational experience here, but being an international student hasn’t always been easy.

“I feel like most people don’t know what international students are,” he said. “Most people don’t know we exist, because they are that rare. As an international student, you have to be fulltime, in terms of credit, and you have to work and do internships to earn a living, so most international students don’t have a lot of time. It’s pretty difficult.”

Kanté said she came to AACC in 2021 to learn how to speak and write English before transferring to a university.

She explained the difficulty of communication bar-

riers and said the campus is accommodating her.

German-born nursing student Maze Boland, 26, said she felt lost at first.

“I remember I had a lot of classes online,” Boland said. “I remember thinking I’m just going to have to explain everything to myself and can I ask for extra explanations? Are they going to be respectful?”

Despite these challenges, the students said the college has been very accommodating of their language barriers and their professors go to great lengths to ensure their success.

“The atmosphere was great,” Libom said. “It was not difficult to make friends, even if I didn’t want friends. People would come up to me and ask to be friends anyway. Everyone is so nice, and I learned so much. People still reach out to me from campus. It’s awesome.” Boland agreed.

Did you know?

Fun and Games

“AACC has a really nice atmosphere, academically and personally,” Boland said. “Everyone has been welcoming. I’ve felt pretty good being here. AACC is very capable of catering [to] every student’s needs in terms of classes and class times. It’s a very good spectrum.”

Despite the accommodations, the international students said the campus still has work to do to ensure the comfort and success of students.

Kanté and Libom said they would like to see a

support group on campus for international students, a refuge where they could share their experiences with those who have had similar ones. That might help them make more friends at their new school and country, they said.

“We could share our experiences and, you know, just talk about it,” Kanté said. “And have other people around you that understand you and maybe have experienced it, too.”

Boland said it would also be beneficial for the school.

Fifth-year nursing student Frank Fitzgeralde Libom, who grew up speaking French, says he enjoys studying here, despite unique challenges.

Photo by Zack Buster

Photo by Mary Turner

Cop-turned-prof says he relies on his faith

Jordan Crymes Cole Popov Contributors

AACC criminal justice professor Reynaldo Evangelista remembers hugging the victims of an apartment complex fire as a rookie police officer.

“It was, I guess, unprecedented because many of my colleagues were shocked that I was doing that, you know, and some even had some pushback,” Evangelista recalled of his favorite memory as a police officer at the scene of an apartment fire.

Fellow officers asked him, “What are you doing, Reynaldo? You know, [as] police officers, you’re not supposed to hug citizens.”

Evangelista said he is driven by service rather than ambition.

Evangelista still engages in service work when he’s not teaching at AACC. He is the director of community

engagement for the fraternity Iota Phi Theta and serves as a commissioner for the Baltimore City Community Relations Commision. In addition, he is the chief chaplain for the Seat Pleasant Police Department.

Growing up, Evangelista felt called to be a Catholic priest.

“I come from a very Catholic family, [both] Filipino and African American,” Evangelista said. “And in my particular family, someone was always destined to go into a religious life as a priest, a brother or a nun.”

Evangelista’s plans changed after a dispute at a Catholic school where he worked as the vice principal. The incident led him to notice a recruiting ad from the Baltimore Police Department.

“So I gave them a call and I passed the test, and everything went forward from there,” he said.

However, Evangelista said he has faced his share of challenges during his career.

“I think because of perhaps my race [or] my background, I’ve been left out of certain conversations, certain discussions or even certain areas,” he said.

Still, he worked around the challenges, becoming the first person of color to run AACC’s Police Academy.

“Most of my students understand I have a strong faith and I rely on my faith to help me to overcome those challenges and break those walls,” Evangelista said. “Even if I wasn’t asked to be at the table, I put myself at the table.”

Second-year transfer studies student Tommi Bresnahan is one of his students.

“He is very knowledgeable and educated with what he teaches,” Bresnahan said. “You could really tell that just by his lectures and how passionate he is.”

Some students said Evangelista has an upbeat and informative teaching style.

“He relates a lot of things we learn in class to real-life situations,” Bresnahan said.

Dual-enrollment student Julia Demarco said she would take another class with Evangelista.

“He’s very upbeat,” Demarco said. “He’s a really good storyteller and very, like, engaging with what he’s

talking about. It’s clear that he knows what’s going on.” Evangelista, who joined AACC 15 years ago, had some advice for students: “Always be driven by service and be driven by what your heart tells you.”

Evangelista also encouraged students to see every opportunity “as a way of investing in your future,” and “always embrace [your] failures.”

Professor Reynaldo Evangelista, a former cop, teaches criminal justice at AACC and is involved with several community organizations.

Photo by Cole Popov

Student helps pay for orphanage after loss

Ava Herring Contributor

Leslie Shadrick, a 40-year-old web design student, thought she would be a traditional parent until her 3-year-old son died last year from a genetic disease. Instead, she became a mother figure to seven orphans.

Shadrick and her husband, Kirk, 56, found out while Leslie was pregnant with their son, Benjamin, that he had a genetic condition called Edwards Syndrome or Trisomy 18.

According to the Department of Health, approximately 90% of children who suffer from Trisomy 18 do not survive beyond the first year, and many live only a few days. Benjamin survived for three years but passed away from suffocation after paramedics were unable to clear his clogged breathing tube.

Shadrick, who is from

Mexico City, decided to pour her son’s $10,000 life insurance payout and the funds she and her husband saved for Benjamin’s future into an orphanage in Veracruz, Mexico.

“There are so many children who live in the streets in Mexico, and there’s just such a need for orphanages, good orphanages,” she said.

“I didn’t even think,” she said. “I just grabbed my husband by the shoulder and said, ‘Kirk, that money is not our money. That’s God’s money and he wants us to give it to an orphanage.’ And my husband was so puzzled. He was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to do it.’”

Kirk Shadrick said he didn’t want to keep the money anyway.

“What was going through my mind at the time was sheer grief,” he said. “We were just devastated. And so, I was looking down at the check and I was like, ‘What

am I going to do with this money? I don’t even want it.’”

Shadrick said she and her husband had two choices after their son died. They could have “gone into complete self-destruction” or “run to God.” They chose to lean on their faith.

“We decided to try and find the joy in the grief and we continue to try and see the joy in it,” she said. “So we found joy in seven orphans in Mexico, who are living in a very tiny little orphanage.”

Shadrick said Veracruz is a poor city and that it was negatively impacted by COVID-19, draining the city of resources and money.

“It was just so bad and they were completely drained of hope,” she said. “And so we started sending them $300 a week.”

The orphans, whom Shadrick has visited in person, are Alberto, Sammy, Alexa, Alicia, Melanie, Esperanza and Anna. The orphan-

age for boys and girls is run in Mexico by Pedro Cruz, a taxi driver, and Maria Rosario Ríos—a couple that has cared for more than 200 orphans in their lifetime.

“These seven kiddos ... never had anything,” Shadrick said. “And so what we do is we pay for their school supplies. We pay for them if they want to go to college or cover those costs. We pay for anything they want to explore or learn or do.”

So they could continue to fund the orphanage, the Shadricks decided to orga-

nize large community yard sales with their neighbors and church congregation.

“You can’t just give, give, give, and so we had to come up with ways to make money,” Leslie Shadrick said.

Shadrick said because many families in Veracruz are poor, they sell their children or even kill them.

Shadrick and her husband have been working with an architect and a real estate agent in Mexico to build a new orphanage, which will be able to house up to 50 additional orphans.

AACC student Leslie Shadrick and her husband, Kirk, finance an orphanage in Mexico. They say they were inspired to help after the death of their son. Shown, Kirk Shadrick (center) and Maria Rosario Ríos (right) with kids who live at the orphanage.

Photo courtesy of Leslie Shadrick

Safety in lots major priority

Olivia Sheridan Contributor

“Oh boy, they’re assholes,” second-year transfer studies student Tristan Comba said about student drivers in the AACC parking lots. “It’s like they have road rage. They’re impatient. They don’t pay attention to their surroundings. They just don’t care.”

Comba isn’t the only student who feels this way. Other students told Campus Current they also find it difficult to safely drive through and park in the AACC lots.

AACC Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer said driving in campus parking lots comes with a short list of rules.

For starters, permitted parking spots are for faculty and staff only.

“Nobody else is supposed to park in them, and they have hang tags that indicate that,” Kapfhammer said.

But second-year student David Dallanegra said he often has trouble finding a spot to park in.

“I wish there were more available parking spots for students,” Dallanegra said. “There are a lot of permitted parking spots that people don’t use.”

The college’s executive director of administrative services, Jim Taylor, said the Arnold campus has 4,263 regular parking spaces, along with 118 accessible spots for disabled drivers.

Taylor said the amount of accessible parking spaces on campus is regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Anne Arundel County guidelines.

Kapfhammer said the faculty and staff who park in reserved spots must apply for permitted parking hang tags with the Department of Public Safety and Police. The hang tag must be visible when a car is parked in the

Students say they wish campus parking lots had more spaces.

permitted spots.

Kapfhammer said it is not uncommon to find unregistered cars parked in permitted spots. The fine for parking in a reserved faculty space is $35 and must be paid to the cashier’s office in the Student Services building within 28 days of the issued citation. Drivers who fail to pay the fine could be denied access to registration and other college services.

“Obviously, staff and handicapped spots [should] have priority,” Comba said. “But … with such a [large] amount of those permitted parking spots, it leaves the students very few parking spots, which kind of just causes more commotion as students fight over parking spots.”

But parking in the wrong spots isn’t Kapfhammer’s greatest concern.

Despite the students’ parking spot troubles, Kapfhammer said, “At the end of the day, the pedestrians in the parking lot are my primary concern.”

Campus police reported three car accidents on campus in October 2022, including one in a parking lot. This is an improvement from October 2021, when the police force reported four car accidents with no injuries.

Low sunlight causes seasonal depression

ing for an extended time.

If you’re feeling a little blue as the winter drags on, it’s possible you suffer from seasonal depression.

AACC psychology professor Maria Winters, a licensed counselor, said unlike winter blues, seasonal depression affects a student’s daily liv-

Some in community still prefer masking

AACC students who still wear masks on campus said their reasons go beyond preventing illness.

Third-year theater student Aidan Henderson said masks can serve as a sense of comfort.

“I think it has helped a lot of people with some insecurities, but ... it’s also become a crutch,” Henderson said.

Deneen Dangerfield, dean of student development, said wearing a mask on campus is optional.

AACC lifted its mask mandate last May, about two years after the beginning of the pandemic.

Still, some students continue to wear face coverings on campus, and not only for health reasons.

“I like to try to coordinate it with what I’m wearing,” Henderson said. “I have

several that are cute patterns.”

Mask-wearers said others don’t seem to notice them.

Fourth-year photography student Graig Bracey, who still wears a mask around campus, said he doesn’t get “any type of reaction at all nowadays” from unmasked strangers.

Bracey said masks have become a part of the culture, but back in 2020, “some people actually took offense.”

Winters said seasonal depression is diagnosed by psychotherapists as Seasonal Affective Disorder and is known by the acronym SAD.

Winters defined SAD as a sort of depression related to changes of the seasons. It is typically triggered in winter because of less sunlight and shorter days.

“I notice I start to slack off a little bit,” Payton Thompson, a first-year transfer studies student, said. “And I get tired sooner in the day when I feel this pressure like I should be doing something.”

Psychology professor Linda Donovan, a psychotherapist, said SAD is most commonly found in teens and young adults.

Photo by Dan Elson

Fourth-year photography student Graig Bracey says wearing a mask helps with his allergies.

Photo by Graig Bracey

Tristan Comba Contributor

The winter season can cause loss of sleep and motivation, along with other symptoms of depression. Adobe Stock photo

Olivia Sheridan Contributor

Capitals help Make-A-Wish

Aidan Gunn Co-Editor

A second-year undecided student’s wish came true in December when the Washington Capitals displayed a mosaic he designed in the building where the team practices.

Will Mumford, 19, a brain tumor survivor, re-created one of the team’s logos out of red, white and blue glass tiles as a part of the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic program that grants wishes to critically ill children.

Mumford, who has participated in a National Hockey League program called Hockey Fights Cancer, has grown close with the team over the years and has even become friends with some of the players.

“It’s just really cool to, like, have a relationship with these guys,” Mumford said. “They know me somewhat. You know, it’s really cool.”

Over the years, the team has invited Mumford to multiple events to hang out with players, skate in the arena before a game and even get recognized in a special pre-

game ceremony.

Mumford “pretty much met most of the Stanley Cup roster,” he said.

When Make-A-Wish accepted Mumford in late 2019, he decided to use his wish to give back to the Capitals organization.

“I decided I wanted to do some … art piece or that sort of thing in the community,” he noted.

Mumford has been passionate about mosaics since a young age, when he learned about the art form in school.

“My elementary school did, like, cultural arts stuff,” Mumford said. “So one of the things they did was have a mosaic artist visit. Each student got to make a little circle and then she put that onto the larger mosaic.”

Mumford said the decision to partner with the Capitals was an easy one.

He began constructing the eagle by making a smaller model, which he said was crucial to perfecting the final product.

“There’s a lot of things on the smaller one that I changed on the larger one,” Mumford said. “And … I’m a

lot happier with how it looks on the larger one, because … there were just … some things I messed up and some things I wasn’t happy with.”

He used various shapes and colors to re-create the Capitals’ signature eagle logo.

“Will’s always been a great spirit,” Capitals star forward Tom Wilson said in an interview with media company Monumental Sports. “He’s a lot of fun to

Students collect data on local crab species

Zack Buster Co-Editor

Student volunteers are helping AACC’s Environmental Center collect data on local horseshoe crab populations.

A few students each semester assist biology professor Paul Bushmann in gathering information about the crabs they find on Chesapeake Bay beaches, like

how many eggs they lay and where they build their nests.

“It has been fun to broaden my experiences,” dual-enrolled student Emily Ernst, who helped Bushmann collect data on the crabs last year, said. “Before this study, I had never done work in microbiology. I have learned so much about laboratory work.”

These horseshoe crabs,

whose scientific name is Limulus polyphemus, are large crustaceans on the East Coast of North America. The crabs can grow as long as 19 inches, including a long, ridged tail that they use to flip themselves over when they get stuck upside down.

Bushmann, who has gathered data on the crabs for almost two decades, described the research as “notable” because no other researchers focus on the population around the Chesapeake Bay. He said the work is crucial to understanding and preserving the species.

“Ecologically, they’re an important part of the bay,” Bushmann said. “They’ve been around for a good bit longer than dinosaurs were ever around, and they’re still here. It would just be rotten to have them decline or disappear because of something we did after 100 or 75 million years of existence.”

have around and it’s been really fun getting to know him over the years. … It’s really cool to see what he did. … [I’m] super proud of Will for doing that and I think he was pretty pumped.”

Wilson wasn’t the only player who went out of the way to support Mumford. At a Capitals practice, forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each gave him a hockey stick.

“I got sticks from Nicks,” Mumford said.

“[It’s] really heartwarming to see the wishes come true,” Caroline Potolicchio, the Capitals’ director of fan development, said. “I think ... every community that Will’s a part of, whether it be, you know, his school, or the Maryland community or the Capitals community ... I think everyone’s lucky to know him.”

The Environmental Center, located in the Health and Life Sciences building, conducts other research, including a project on bacteria levels in the creek on the Arnold campus and local rivers; a study on the types of life in temporary water pools; and the growing and planting of aquatic plants to aid conservation efforts.

Environmental Center Director Tammy Domanski, a biology professor, said

the center’s goal is to give students the opportunity to get “hands-on” experience with research and spread awareness about the field of environmental science, adding students “need to be educated, aware and, in fact, even be advocates for environmental concerns.”

Bushmann said the center was “conceived of as this kind of collaborative effort for professors to engage students in research.”

Second-year undecided student Will Mumford’s eagle mosaic is on display in the Washington Capitals’ practice complex, thanks to Make-A-Wish. Courtesy of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic

Limulus polyphemus is the only horseshoe crab species that lives in North America.

Adobe Stock photo

Former AACC biology student Amethyst Conwoy records data about a horseshoe crab at Cove Point in 2015.

Photo courtesy of Paul Bushmann

College discontinues cross-country teams

Dan Elson Co-Editor Micah Smith Contributor

AACC Athletics has discontinued the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, the college announced in December.

Budget constraints, a lack of competing cross-country teams at other community colleges and a shrinking pool of interested runners led to the program’s demise, according to sources in the Athletic Department.

“I never want to drop any sport necessarily, but it’s been a challenge for sure,” Athletic Director Duane Herr said. He said it was hard “just trying to fill a team, trying to get students here to build full teams. Across the region and nationally, we’ve seen numbers diminishing, and even the meets are more challenging to come by.”

Out of the 23 schools in the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 20 league, only 47.8% had men’s cross-country teams and 30.4% carried women’s cross-country squads.

AACC’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams went to Georgia in November 2021 to compete in the NJCAA Region 20 Division III championship meet. The squads didn’t make it back this fall.

The men’s team carried six players this season while the women’s roster had five.

Herr said the move is “just something that we felt like, it was time to kind of take a step back and look at how we could potentially support the rest of the other programs that we have, with an opportunity to engage students that are interested in running activities.”

Women’s head crosscountry coach Susan Noble, an adjunct health professor,

said she struggled to recruit enough runners to sustain a squad.

“Our region has shrunk,” Noble said. “There are [few] female runners. I’ve consistently been the only female coach and the only female coach with a full team.”

Noble added, “My biggest competition isn’t other schools, it’s employment. People have jobs.”

Runner Paul Watson Jr., a second-year transfer studies student, said the move “sucks.”

“It’s one of those sports that not a lot of people are really interested in because mainly running [is] punishment for like 90% of sports,” Watson said. “I feel like there’s a small majority who do enjoy it. It’s kind of sad.”

Runner Bailey Healy, a first-year transfer studies student, agreed.

“I think everyone’s just a little bit disappointed,” Healy said. “I didn’t know it was

happening. I don’t know if anyone else knew. But it feels like it came out of nowhere. But at the same time, I get it. … It was a really small team so I understand. It’s just disappointing.”

Still, Healy plans to stay at AACC.

Men’s head cross-country coach Keith Bigelow, who works full-time in facilities, said the teams made the students’ lives better.

“We improved their sit-

uation,” Bigelow noted. “We got better student athletes. … They came in, we onboarded them and we tried to make them better runners and better students.”

Runner Noelle Somers, a first-year transfer studies student, said she enjoyed “the practices. Sometimes we’d always come and practice and sometimes we’d stay later and all [hang] out. … We’ll just mess around and stuff.”

AACC Athletics ended the men’s and women’s cross-country teams in December. Shown, runners Bailey Healy (left) and Paul Watson Jr. Photo courtesy of AACC Athletics

Esports squad starts 2023 with optimism

fall, the esports programs won six tournaments and lost six.

One of AACC’s three esports teams will move from intramural to varsity this semester.

Esports, which joined the Athletic Department in spring 2022, has three teams: League of Legends, Rocket League and Overwatch. Each player participates on one of the multiplayer teams, which compete against other colleges.

The League of Legends team moved to the varsity level in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports program after making it to a playoff tournament in December. In the

“We’re getting to the point where more and more people know we’re around,” esports head coach Conway Johnson said. “We’re seeing more people show up. And we’ve had the open [practice] labs, which has been huge.”

Johnson said the Overwatch and Rocket League teams will play in intramural leagues this semester, but the players “would love to have them go varsity as soon as next semester.”

Johnson, who graduated from AACC in 2015, added: “As far as Rocket League goes, I think that’s realistic. We only need to find one

more player to round out a full student lineup. Overwatch is a little bit more of a stretch because we still don’t have a lot of full-time students. I’m aiming to make it happen, but can’t make any promises on it just yet.”

First-year finance student Jeremy Chen said esports is “pretty damn competitive.” Chen will play his second semester with the League of Legends team in the spring. Chen said he has been involved in esports for “only a semester. But it’s been awesome.”

“My expectation is just [for] people to be there,” Chen said. “And to be able to teach each other for sure. I think one of our biggest strengths

that separates us from other, like, esports, or maybe even other community college sports, [is that] we have a very good coaching staff.”

Johnson noted esports might offer scholarships “down the line.”

“I don’t know when it’ll happen because I’m not privy to the financial situ-

ation on that level,” Johnson said. “But as soon as I can make it happen, yeah, that’s something I absolutely want for the program.”

Chen said he is interested in esports scholarships. He also said he plans to apply for an esports scholarship when he transfers to the University of Maryland.

AACC Riverhawks to play 52-game season

Dan Elson Co-Editor

The Riverhawks baseball team will play a double-header in North Carolina against the Surry Community College Knights on Feb. 4 to start its season.

Last year the Riverhawks finished 10-38 during the regular season.

The Riverhawks travel to North Carolina to play against the Surry Community College Knights on Feb. 4 to start their 2023 campaign. Shown, utility player Ethan Grieb.

“We’re ... looking to build off of what we did in the fall and continue to get better,” Nick Hoffner, who is in his third year as head baseball coach, said. “And to keep

Players talk favorite professional athletes

Dan Elson Co-Editor

Riverhawks athletes said their favorite professional players work hard and are an inspiration.

Soccer midfielder Roberto Colon said he chose Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as his favorite pro because of his work ethic.

“He’s just got everything you can ask for in a soccer player,” Colon, a first-year electrical engineering student, noted. “He works hard

and he’s ... a good role model.”

Ronaldo has played upward of 1,100 games with four soccer teams since 2002 and has scored more than 800 goals in his career.

Soccer midfielder Leyton Calzado, who led the Riverhawks with six regular season goals, said he likes how “humble” Ronaldo is on the field.

“I don’t really see him bragging about how good he is,” Calzado, a first-year transfer studies student, noted. “And he’s never on so-

cial media trying to brag or get down on other players.”

First-year communications student Megan Cunningham, who plays second base for the Riverhawks softball team, said she tries to replicate the skill of her favorite athlete.

“A lot of [retired pitcher Jennie Finch’s] older [game] videos are what I learned how to do and it’s what I’ve always done,” she said.

Finch, a three-time world champion, won a gold medal in the USA Softball Olympic

playing better baseball as the season progresses.”

Utility player Ethan Grieb, a second-year transfer studies student, said the Riverhawks are “ready to win [and] ready to compete. ... It’s going to be a grind, but we got this. We got what it takes.”

Infielder and pitcher Andrew Leginze led the team in 2022 with 43 hits and a .299 batting average. Outfielder Nicholas Toskov led the Riverhawks with 22 stolen bases last year. Overall, the Riverhawks had a team ERA

of 9.64 and batting average of .233.

Second-baseman John Greenawalt said he expects the pitching to be more “solid” than last season.

Hoffner said the 10 returning players will “be looked at as like the leaders of the team.”

Right-handed pitcher and infielder Brady MacDonald said the team could win at nationals this season.

“Junior College World Series, here we come,” MacDonald, a second-year business student, said.

Riverhawks athletes open up about their favorite sports players. Soccer midfielder Leyton Calzado (left) says he appreciates how humble soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is.

Photos courtesy of NJCAA (left) and Flickr

games in 2004 and a silver in 2008 before retiring in 2010.

Lacrosse midfielder Nicholas Scott said he remembers former football player Sean Taylor “dominat[ing] like any other player but just kept it poised at all times.”

Scott, a first-year baking and pastries student, said he became a fan of Taylor’s at 4 years old.

Co-editor Aidan Gunn and contributors Cole Popov and Micah Smith contributed to this article.

Aidan Gunn Co-Editor

Photo courtesy of Gary Demski

AACC esports teams compete in League of Legends, Rocket League and Overwatch tournaments. Shown, League of Legends player Zac Pinales.

Photo by Aidan Gunn