May 2024

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May 2024

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Political science professor surveys more than 700 locals.

Disney Channel actor comes to speak at AACC.

Former Riverhawk coaches high school soccer team.

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New SGA officers win uncontested election Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

A first-year kinesiology student will become the Student Government Association president next semester.

Jayeim Blake won the uncontested presidential race, alongside second-year graphic design student TJ

Majors, who won the role of executive vice president.

First-year economics and environmental science student Minerva Stephensbailey will become vice president of public relations, student Lara Jae Gomez will become vice president of campus activities and student Jordan Booher will become vice president of outreach. All races

were uncontested.

Blake, an international student from Trinidad and Tobago, said he hopes to support diversity as SGA president.

“I’m from … a multicultural island,” Blake, a goalkeeper on the Riverhawks men’s soccer team, said. “And Continued on Page 3

1,650 students plan to graduate May 23 Izzy Chase Associate Editor

Nikita Plaisance, a third-year sociology student, is graduating this semester alongside approximately 1,650 other AACC students.

Photo by Mason Hood

Approximately 1,650 students will graduate on May 23 with 2,206 degrees and certificates.

These numbers have slightly increased from last year, when approximately 1,637 students graduated

with 2,174 degrees and certificates.

Students from the schools of Health Sciences and Science, Technology and Education will graduate at 11 a.m. at the Hall at Live! Casino and Hotel. A second ceremony at 4 p.m. is for the graduates of the schools of Business and Law, Liberal Arts, and Con-

The Impact and Excellence Awards recognized more than 50 students, faculty and staff for their contribution to the college community.

Adventure Society President Ben Surosky, who won Outstanding Club or Organization Member of the Year, said he is “happy” about

The Super Science Club accepted the Outstanding Club or Organization of the Year award at the 2024 Impact and Excellence Awards ceremony on April 26, alongside more than 50 students, faculty and staff.

Photo by Mason Hood

Super Science group top club for 2023-24 Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

The Super Science Club won Outstanding Club or Organization of the Year at the 2024 Impact and Excellence Awards on Thursday.

Nine club members and advisers accepted the award on stage at the DoubleTree

by Hilton, including club President Bryant Pepe, who

said winning the award was “fantastic.” “[It] feels like all the hard work pays off,” Pepe, a thirdyear physics and earth science student, said. “We aim to give our students the best experience possible … and the fact that we make these things happen and open up to the student base and the community, I think really makes a difference.”

First-year kinesiology student Jayeim Blake is the next Student Government Association president.

Photo by Mason Hood

Continued on Page 3

tinuing Education and Workforce Development.

Each ceremony will last approximately two hours.

A student valedictorian will speak at each ceremony, while history professor Richard Hardesty will speak at one of the events and Continued on Page 3

2 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

Opinion

Meet the Staff Editor-in-Chief Tomi Brunton Associate Editor Izzy Chase Daily Editor Divine Mesumbe Multimedia Editor Mason Hood Sports Editor Jose Gonzalez Graphic Designer Jennifer Chisari Social Media Darian Moya Perez Reporters Waleska Cruz Éva Parry Julissa Mendoza Robles Photographers Carmen Scannell Emma Trevino Web Master Ivan Sabio Faculty Adviser Sharon O’Malley

Photographers on Page 1, top Campus Current Archive Kevin Chamberlin Marlyn Argueta

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Vote in the primary elections Editorial Board

Are you registered to vote?

Many people overlook the importance of voting. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, Americans are not consistent with voting. Only 66% of eligible voters actually voted in the 2020 elections.

Shouldn’t this number be higher?

It can be frustrating to watch politicians make decisions that directly affect your community, especially when you vehemently disagree with them. But here’s the thing: Voting gives you a say in what decisions are made.

In other words, if you don’t vote, you don’t get a say.

Voting allows you to have a sense of autonomy over what happens in your country on a larger scale and also in your local community.

This year, there are many opportunities for voting. The deadline for voting in the primary elections in

Letter from a leader

Maryland is May 14. On top of the presidential primaries that have the potential to completely change the course of the country as a whole, there are also smaller elections happening in Maryland.

These elections include positions for Congress.

It can be easy to shrug these non-presidential races off as less significant, but that’s not the case. The representatives who are voted into office to represent Maryland as a state and even counties and specific districts matter just as much.

It’s up to you to decide to vote. It’s up to you to decide to have a say.

As Election Day approaches, get informed. You can easily access who is running and on what kind of platform. Educating yourself about the candidates will help you make a good decision on Election Day. It’s also easy to find out where to vote. Look for the Maryland State Board of Elections online. You’ll find a list of polling places there.

Election Day is approaching. Make your vote count in the primaries.

Adobe Stock photo Make a plan to vote.

Mark May 14 on your calendar. Adjust your schedule accordingly so you’ll have time to vote that day. Or vote early; some locations allow voting as early as May 2.

Casting your vote means you are taking responsibility for the role that you play in democracy.

For first-time voters this year, do not be afraid to ask questions, even if you’re intimidated. This is a wonderful new opportunity that has been granted to you. It’s a privilege and a right.

Most importantly, know that your individual vote can make a difference. That is empowering.

Failure can lead to success Mason Hood Multimedia Editor

Ever since the sixth grade, my dream was to get a degree in film. So when I started taking classes at AACC in 2019 at age 18, my goal was to earn an associate degree in film and transfer to a four-year university.

Somewhere during that first semester, though, I began to lose confidence in myself. I started getting sucked into my own insecurities and fear of failure. Will I be successful? Can I be a good filmmaker? Is this even what I really want to do?

I started showing up to classes less and less often.

I ended up failing most of them.

Still, I returned to being a full-time student in spring 2020, this time majoring in writing. I also took a position on the editorial staff of Campus Current, our student newspaper. But I quickly became overwhelmed with classwork and found writing stories for the newspaper intimidating and taxing.

Not wanting to let my family down, I did my best to push through it.

Until the pandemic hit.

I didn’t take the transition from in-person classes to online well at all. Once again, I failed my classes. I was let go from Campus Current.

This back-and-forth stream of getting interested in a new career field, putting time and money into it, becoming insecure and then quitting, continued for the next few years. Fear and anxiety had controlled almost every aspect of my life throughout my late teenage years and into my early 20s.

I was always too scared to make the wrong decision, so instead, I didn’t make any decisions, which, more often than not, was worse. I knew the person I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, but in order to become that, I first had to learn how to fail.

I returned to AACC again in fall 2021 and I decided to go back to studying film and media production. I returned to Campus Current in fall 2022, this time as a photographer. A year later, I stepped into a new role as multimedia editor, which I’ve continued to this day.

I feel successful.

We may not always be

Mason Hood, Campus Current’s multimedia editor, has learned to work with his insecurities and grow.

Photo by Emma Trevino able to fix our limitations overnight, but sometimes we can learn to work with them.

We can learn to recognize and acknowledge our flaws and our fears, but instead of letting them define us, we can use them as tools to change us into the people we hope to be.

I’m not going to pretend that everything’s perfect. I still struggle with classes. I still have my doubts and insecurities.

But it’s gotten a lot easier to trust myself to get through those hard times. I’m thankful for the places my journey has taken me.

I’m thankful for those in my life who have been willing to stick with me and give me second chances.

I’m thankful that I was able to give myself a second chance and a third chance. I needed them both to grow into the person I’ve become today.

Campus Current | 2024 | May | 3

News

Kinesiology student is new SGA president

Continued from Page 1

ever since I came to AACC, I found out that, you know, this community represents the same thing, right? I’ve seen a lot of diverse people from all over the world.”

Elections closed on April 19. The SGA will hold emergency elections to fill the two empty spots in the cabinet: vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, and

vice president of finance.

Majors, who is an SGA senator, is “very excited” to be executive vice president.

“I see it as, like, an opportunity to, like, learn even more leadership,” Majors said.

Majors said it is surprising that none of the elections was contested.

“I laughed quite hard when I was putting in votes for everybody else on Monday

when elections started, and, you know, there was only one person on each page of the ballot,” Majors said. “Maybe people are … too caught up with everything else to, you know, even think about SGA or running for SGA.” Blake said he hopes to be an “approachable” president.

“If you ever see me on campus, you usually see me walk around with a smile on my face,” Blake said.

2 ceremonies honor this year’s graduates

Continued from Page 1

Approximately 1,650 students will graduate on May 23 in two ceremonies at Live! Casino and Hotel.

Photo by Mason Hood

physical sciences professor Katherine Keough will speak at the other.

Graduates received five guest tickets in their graduation packets.

Robert Rogers, a second-year creative writing student, will graduate at the 4 p.m. ceremony.

SGA names top club, best student leaders

Continued from Page 1

winning the award.

“I’m just really glad that I had the opportunity to lead this club,” Surosky, a thirdyear Spanish student, said.

“I’m glad it’s come this far.”

Surosky thanked last year’s Adventure Society President Jasim McNichols for setting up the club for success.

“He went around, really built up our leadership and because of that, it’s allowed us to do a lot of cool and new,

interesting stuff this year,” Surosky said.

The two faculty members who won the Teaching Excellence Award, history professor Richard Hardesty and physical sciences professor Katherine Keough, will speak at the graduation ceremony on May 23.

Communications professor April Copes and computer information systems professor Cedric Harris won the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Zeitgeist Award, which “recognizes a faculty or staff

Riverhawks soccer goalie Jayeim Blake won an uncontested race for Student Government Association president.

Photo courtesy of AACC Athletics

member’s exemplary work on campus and in the community to support students of color and advance diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Student Government Association Executive Vice President Rabiyatou Bah won the Student Achievement and Success Program Student of the Year Award.

“I feel very honored,” Bah, a second-year environmental science student and a member of the organizing committee, said. “I wasn’t expecting the SASP award.”

Rogers said he enjoyed his time at AACC and looks forward to graduating.

“I worked in the library, I’ve been a part of SGA, I’ve done a whole bunch of stuff,” Rogers said. “I’ve helped in the theater a little bit. Honestly, everyone here is super nice and lovely people. So I’ve enjoyed every second here. …

I’m glad to be graduating.”

Jeremiah Stroman, a second-year film student, won Outstanding Second-Year Student-Athlete on a Men’s Team at an awards ceremony on April 25.

Photo by Mason Hood

Coffee with the Current Free coffee Free newspapers Meet the staff

Tuesday May 7th

Third-year sociology student Nikita Plaisance said she will transfer to a four-year university after graduation.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Plaisance said. “I’ve met so many people here. And it’s kind of been like the best years of my life and also sometimes the worst years of my life, but I’m very glad that I came here.”

9:45-11a.m. on the Quad

4 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

News

Economy top concern for county residents Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

The No. 1 concern of Anne Arundel County residents this spring is the economy, according to an AACC survey of 741 locals.

According to the survey, conducted biannually

by AACC’s Center for the Study of Local Issues, 26% of the respondents consider the economy to be the most

important problem facing them, rising from 23% last fall.

Respondents named rising housing costs as their second-biggest concern, at 24%, and crime as the third, at 22%—decreasing from 36% last fall.

“Issues related to the economy, housing and crime, as well as growth and development, [are] key problems facing the county,” political

science professor Dan Nataf, the center’s director, said in a press release.

Respondents also weighed in on the absence of plastic bags in grocery stores, with 36% indicating they support the ban completely and 22% saying they support it partially.

Other survey questions discussed the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse, the war in Gaza and local elections.

Poli-sci prof shares 2024 voter insights Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

Student voting habits tend to be shaped by their identities, according to Dan Nataf, the director of the Center for the Study of Local Issues.

Wikimedia Commons photos

Most college-age students tend to be independent voters, unaffiliated with any political party, according to a political science professor.

Dan Nataf, the director of the Center for the Study of Local Issues, said young people’s voting habits are primarily shaped by the way they were raised.

“Many people are affected by socialization factors when they’re young,” Nataf said. “And these are often driven by their family’s political orientation. … It’s probably going to lay some kind of foundation of values and beliefs, which they’re going to carry through into early

Phys. student studies extracurricular stats Divine Mesumbe Daily Editor

Twenty percent of students do not engage in extracurricular activities, according to a physics student’s survey.

Matt Bacho, a first-year physics student, surveyed 50 students to gather data on student engagement in campus clubs, student organizations and work-study programs for his honors project in statistics with professor Kevin Tolliver.

“I think it’s really cool,” Tolliver said. “I … [hope] it grows to become something

bigger and it makes some actual change.”

The research also concluded that 25% of students do not use The Nest, AACC’s website for organizations, clubs and events. The majority, 38%, of students who use The Nest use it for clubs, more than anything else.

According to Tolliver, it was “really exciting” when Bacho approached him to start the project.

“I immediately thought, ‘This could be a lot of fun,’” Tolliver said. “[I] love to, like, work with students in designing their own statistical projects that interest them.”

A survey of more than 700 Anne Arundel County residents and AACC students shows the economy as their top concern.

Adobe Stock image

The project has “evolved” since it started, according to Bacho, the vice president of finance for the Student Government Association.

“We are going to use this information … to inform the Office of Student Engagement and other staff members,” Bacho said.

OSE can use the data to determine what “resources aren’t being used” and to “assess what to do” about it, according to Bacho.

Bacho said working on the project has taught him an “incredibly useful skill” that he will “take into the real world.”

adulthood. And so, that then becomes the basic imprint.”

Nataf surveys hundreds of Anne Arundel County residents, including AACC students, every semester about their political perspectives and their priorities.

Another factor that affects the way students vote, Nataf added, is identity.

“If they’re LGBTQ, that’s such a powerful identity that it can put them in touch with politics at an earlier time,” Nataf said. “They’re trying to figure out … ‘Where am I going to be accepted most easily in terms of this identity?’”

Additionally, Nataf said schooling makes a big difference in voting habits.

“If you go to a public university or college, like AACC

… there’s more openness and possibility for self discovery,” Nataf said.

Nataf added, if “you go to Liberty University, which is like an evangelical kind of environment, [then] your early socialization is going to keep being reinforced if you’re an … evangelical religious person.”

Nataf said state-level elections, like Maryland’s primary election on May 14, tend to be significantly less partisan than national-level elections.

“Basically, the higher you go up and the level of government, the more partisan things become,” Nataf said Associate Editor Izzy Chase contributed to this article.

20% of students engage in extracurricular campus activities, a student survey shows.

Image courtesy of Matt Bacho “Going out into the field [and] learning how to assess public perception … and then turning that into something actionable—that’s going to be incredibly helpful in the future,” Bacho said. “I’m glad that I had this experience.”

Bacho added, “Even if statistics isn’t your thing … there’s all sorts of honors-eligible classes where you just get to work with your professor on a project. … I definitely think everybody should consider it.”

Campus Current | 2024 | May | 5

Campus Life

English prof. tries to run Bob Dylan class Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

An English professor will teach a course this fall focused on interpreting singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s lyrics as literature.

Students in the special topics class English 290 will analyze Dylan’s lyrics, his music and his cultural impact, according to professor Rob Hurd.

“Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature,” Hurd said. “There have been Bob Dylan English classes,

you know, going back to the 1970s. So this is by no means, like, a new phenomenon.”

Dylan, a folk and rock singer, is considered to be one of the most successful songwriters in history, reaching the peak of his popularity in the second half of the 20th century.

Dylan isn’t the only singer-songwriter who will be featured in an AACC class this fall. Communications professor Jessica Mattingly will teach a course, Communications 130, on Taylor Swift.

Hurd, who offered the

Dylan class in spring 2023 but did not attract enough students to run it, said classes about music industry icons offer an “exciting new topic for students.”

“A lot of times, you know, we continue to kind of offer the same kinds of literature classes … and those are great,” Hurd said. But “I think it’s important to show [students] that academics … are not just about, like, Shakespeare, right?”

This time, Hurd plans to advertise the course more and offer an information ses-

Take a walk around campus and you will see two common student essentials: water bottles and laptops.

Students decorate their personal items with stickers, allowing them to showcase their personalities and interests.

Students paste stickers on their belongings for lots of reasons.

“My reason was because of my daughter, she’s 11,” first-year radiology student Korina Rivera said. “She put stickers everywhere on her water bottle, walls, folders and notebooks. ... She likes anime. I believe it’s called

Dining hall adds new baked pastry option Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief Izzy Chase Associate Editor

The Hawk’s Nest Grill & Deli started selling baked treats in April, like chocolate cupcakes and caramel popcorn, created by culinary students.

Melissa Hawkins, a hospitality, culinary arts and tourism instructional specialist, said the students are baking different kinds of pastries each week.

Hawkins said the student bakers are “very handson” in the process of selling the pastries.

“We help and guide them through the process, but they’re going to be responsible for all production packaging, looking at nutritional information, even pricing,” Hawkins said. “They [get] to see the raw ingredients all the way to a finished product.”

Hawkins said she has heard positive feedback so far.

sion on the history of Dylan and his music to students who might be interested in enrolling in the class.

Hurd, who is publishing a chapter about Dylan in a Bloomsbury Press book

this summer, said academics should “write about pretty much anything” that interests them.

The 15-week class will run Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Demon Slayer, so I bought her stickers. And then as I was online, I saw stuff that I liked, some skulls, so because of her I started putting stickers on my laptop.”

“It puts some fun in some of the stuff I use on a daily basis, like school being, you know, kind of boring,” second-year game art design student Saffron Ramallosa said. “I have something to catch my attention while I’m doing something.”

Business professor Stephanie Goldenberg said decorating belongings with stickers reflects students’ personalities.

“So it might be an image that they like that they’re drawn to, it might be a say-

ing that resonates with them, it could be a brand that they enjoy, and I find that it’s a way for them to connect with others,” Goldenberg said. “People see the stickers and ask about them or maybe they have something similar and they can share in that experience.”

Goldenberg said stickers are a conversation starter.

“It’s like a common bond between individuals,” Goldenberg added. “So if you have a sticker that represents your personality or your interest or your values that someone else acknowledges, it’s almost a way for you to break the ice to be able to have that conversation with someone else.”

Stickers popular with students on campus Waleska Cruz Reporter

Some students express themselves by putting stickers on their laptops and water bottles.

Photo by Mason Hood

English professor Rob Hurd will teach a class on singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, right, this fall.

Wikimedia Commons photo

“I’ve heard from several faculty members that they’ve been supporting it and are very excited to see what we do in the future,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins said she hopes to offer more allergy-friendly, gluten-free and vegan options in the future.

Hawkins also plans to involve other pastry classes, not just advanced courses.

The treats are refreshed once a week and the supply is limited, according to Hawkins.

The Hawk’s Nest Grill & Deli sells pastries, like frosted chocolate cupcakes, made by culinary students.

Photo by Mason Hood

6 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

Campus Life

Disney actor talks at AACC Waleska Cruz Reporter

If you Google Kevin Chamberlin, the actor who played the lovable butler Bertram on the 2011-2015 Disney Channel sitcom “Jessie,” chances are good that you will learn he is dead.

He is not.

He proved he is alive and well in 2021 by posting a quick original tune on TikTok called, “I’m Not Dead.” It got 9.8 million views.

“There are a lot of people who kind of fantasize about going to their own funeral,” Chamberlin said. “You know? ... And I actually got to experience that without dying.”

And that’s not all he posted. In fact, Chamberlin spent most of the pandemic posting TikTok videos, reviving the fame he enjoyed during the kids’ comedy’s four-year run.

Chamberlin, whose most recent appearance was on the AACC campus on April 29

for a discussion with theater students about auditioning for musicals, has been pretty busy since the show that shot him to stardom ended.

After “Jessie” ended, he did a year in the musical “Wicked” on Broadway and struggled through “the pandemic and two [actors’ and writers’] strikes, which kind of killed the industry for a while.”

Besides “Jessie,” he acted in the plays “Dirty Blonde,” “The Addams Family” and “Seussical,” which “is one of the best [projects he has worked on].”

Chamberlin added that although “Seussical” was his favorite, the show didn’t sell well, but “now it’s the most-produced musical in America. It’s like in the Top 5 every year of licensed musicals.”

Chamberlin has spent the last two years working on a new crime series for HBO, set to come out in the fall.

Kevin Chamberlin, best known for his role as Bertram on “Jessie,” talks to students at AACC about the audition process.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Chamberlin The semi-historical thriller series “Dusters” is “an homage to the muscle car movies of the early ’70s,” Chamberlin said. Produced and written by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, the show is about the first Black female FBI agent, who is trying to infiltrate a criminal ring in the Southwest in 1972.

Fun and Games

Did you know?

While AACC offers 100 different academic programs, just 10 of them account for more than half of enrollment.

Photo by Carmen Scannell

His advice for future actors who want to follow in his footsteps is to “take the power.”

“Knowledge is power,” Chamberlin said. “So if you go in [to an audition] knowing who’s by the table, knowing what the project is about, the style that you’re going to audition in [you can] ... audi-

tion with material that’s appropriate.”

He also told students to simply find joy while performing.

“A lot of people are very joyless in their auditions,” Chamberlin said. “And if you’re having fun, the people behind the table are going to have fun.”

Campus Current | 2024 | May | 7

Campus Life

Students take permit spots Izzy Chase Associate Editor

Have you parked in a reserved spot on campus without a permit because you thought you could get away with it? You might be right.

Police Chief Sean Kapfhammer said the Department of Public Safety has received multiple complaints from faculty and staff about students parking in their spots.

But officers tend to give students a lot of chances before ticketing them, the chief said.

Kapfhammer said Public Safety sends emails to students at the start of every semester to remind them not to park in faculty and staff spaces, and then responds to complaints from permit-holders.

“So we let everybody know ahead of time,” Kapfhammer said. “And then as the year goes on, we will get

complaints from employees saying that … now their spots are being taken up.

So we come out and we are forced to … do some enforcement.”

Some students have reported receiving warnings rather than fines when they park in reserved spots without a permit.

Faculty and staff members can apply for a permit that allows them to park in reserved spaces that are typically closer to campus buildings. Most students do not qualify for permits.

“The people who work here have to have the spot to park in so they can get into their jobs,” Kapfhammer said.

The typical fine for parking in a reserved space without a permit is $35, but some students have managed to get away without being issued tickets. Students who receive tickets must either pay them at the cashier’s of-

Many students park in faculty-only permit spots. Some say they do not get tickets for it.

Photo by Mason Hood fice or appeal them within 14 days.

Fines are due 28 days after a student receives a ticket. After that, a $10 late fee kicks in every two weeks until the ticket is paid. The maximum fee is $100.

If the fee goes unpaid, the college places a hold on the student’s account. That student may not be allowed

to register for classes.

Corinne Sypniewski, a second-year psychology student, said she parked in a reserved spot because “it was closest to me” and found a $35 ticket on her windshield.

Sypniewski appealed it and did not have to pay the fine.

Ivan Garcia, a second-year chemistry student,

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said he has parked in reserved spaces multiple times but has received a warning and no tickets.

“I like parking in empty spaces,” Garcia said.

Likewise, paramedic student Theodore Speier said he has parked in permit spots on multiple occasions but has never received a ticket.

8 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

Campus Life

Professor researches chipmunk psychology Éva Parry Reporter

Have you ever noticed that you feel most proud of yourself when you achieve something that you worked really hard for?

Chipmunks feel the same way.

That’s what an AACC psychology professor found while studying the link between the food storage habits of chipmunks and the work ethic of humans.

As part of his master’s thesis and Ph.D. dissertation at University of Oklahoma around 2008, Jarred Jenkins found that chipmunks have a preference for food they have worked for.

“My dissertation was focused on the work ethic,” Jenkins said. “In humans, we see this all the time, that we tend to prefer resources that we’ve had to work harder for.”

Jenkins continued: “If you get an A in a really hard

class, and you get an A in a really easy class, which A do you prefer? And most will say the A in the hard class if they have a preference, because they’ve worked harder for it.”

Jenkins studied two types of chipmunks: the Least Chipmunk, which lives in the Western United States, and the Eastern Chipmunk, which is native to Maryland.

“We’d actually collect up in Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula,” Jenkins said. “And then we would take them down to our lab in Oklahoma, where we do a variety of behavioral tests to, kind of, understand their behavior, their choices between food patches, how they store their food and how they remember where that food is for later use.”

His master’s thesis focused on the Least Chipmunk’s method of food storage.

“These animals scatter cash, which means they take

their food resources they collect and they space them throughout their environment,” Jenkins said.

Before his chipmunk research, Jenkins worked with lab rats as an undergraduate at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania.

Jenkins said he looked for a graduate program that would allow him to continue to study animal behavior.

“What was important for me and choosing my program was less about the species, and moreso about studying the animals from a psychological and a biological perspective,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said he enjoyed working with the animals in a natural setting, so the researchers tried to mimic the chipmunks’ natural environment in their lab.

“We had our chipmunks kind of housed in kind of semi-naturalistic enclosures; we gave them tasks that were semi-naturalistic,”

AACC psychology professor Jarred Jenkins found that chipmunks appreciate food more if they’ve worked hard for it—just like humans.

Adobe Stock photo Jenkins said. “It wasn’t a perfect reflection of their life in the wild, but it was something that mimicked life in the wild, versus where we do a lot of stuff in psychology with rats and mazes, right?”

Jenkins said a common misconception about psychology is that it is the study of human behavior only.

“That’s a false assumption,” Jenkins said. “Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. And so there are psychologists who study cockroaches, there are psychologists who study birds, or psychologists who have

Congratulates the

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studied chimps and great apes.”

Ella Westerfeld, a firstyear psychology student in one of Jenkins’ classes, said she hadn’t realized that studying animals was a part of psychology until taking his course.

And Mason Swank, a first-year transfer student, said he appreciates Jenkins’ experience in the field.

“It’s easier for them to have the students connected with real-life experiences because they can give examples from themselves,” Swank said.

Campus Current | 2024 | May | 9

Campus Life

Event series focuses on civic engagement Divine Mesumbe Daily Editor

The Office of Student Engagement invited three political actors across three events in March and April to encourage civic engagement and promote voting at AACC. As part of the Voter Education Lunch & Learn Series, State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis spoke about becoming an election judge; Special Secretary of Opioid Response for the State Emily Keller ex-

plained Maryland’s response to the opioid crisis; and William Rowel, the senior adviser to the Annapolis mayor, encouraged students to become politically engaged beyond voting.

“It’s just helpful to be able to bring some of these resources to [students], versus having them have to go out and find them,” OSE Director Amberdawn Cheatham said.

“Why not bring them here on campus?”

According to Cheatham, this is the first time OSE has hosted the Voter Education

Lunch & Learn Series and it plans to launch it again in the fall.

“It’s important to the college … to help students see it’s important to be civically engaged,” Cheatham said.

“We [added] food to help [so] students don’t have to choose between eating lunch and learning.”

OSE staff wanted to create an “open space” for students to “have their concerns be heard” and “their questions answered,” according to Cheatham.

“Politics touches every

When attorneys use artificial intelligence to write legal documents, they can wind up introducing evidence in court cases that is not true—sometimes deliberately and sometimes accidentally.

Six members of the Maryland justice system in April agreed that the negative consequences of using ChatGPT or another AI text generator for legal research and presentations far outweigh the positives.

“When people show up in court in a variety of different situations with what they contend is evidence, it’s

Profs, students talk book banning ethics Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

A panel of professors hosted an open forum in April for more than 100 students and faculty to debate book banning in schools.

At Meeting of the Minds, the audience of students and faculty discussed book banning through lenses such as censorship, child development and whether it’s appropriate for kids to learn about sex.

“It was wonderful civil

discourse,” English professor Suzanne Spoor, who co-hosted the event, said. “People were very brave and told their truth from their point of view, and were very respectful of other people.”

According to English professor and panelist Steve Canaday, the definition of book banning is “[when] choices made by experts who have training are overridden by school boards or administrators or teachers or politicians on the basis of a book’s content.”

part of our lives,” Cheatham said. “I think it’s very important for students to be engaged in the voting process to understand who it is that they have representing them. … [Politicians are] supposed to be representing their perspectives.”

Second-year math student Ev Hansen, who attended the opioid crisis event, agreed.

“People need to trust what’s going on in their system,” Hansen said. “Being involved in the process brings everybody together.”

difficult for us to discern … whether these things are accurate or truthful,” E. Gregory Wells, chief judge of the Appellate Court of Maryland, said. “And so we rely on everybody not to be deceptive, but to tell us the truth. And I think that’s really a part of what we’re concerned about.”

The Annual Forum on the Judiciary, hosted by AACC’s Legal Studies Institute, featured four judges: Wells, Elizabeth S. Morris, Julie Rubin and John P. Morrissey. The panel also included Sandra F. Howell, a magistrate in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, and Justice Jonathan Biran of the Supreme Court of Maryland.

Mary Bachkosky, a legal

studies professor who facilitated the panel, said AI is increasingly common in many professions, including the legal field, which “is a particularly interesting topic, because evidence needs to be brought to trial. And it’s concerning that evidence could be [AI-generated].”

The panel discussed not only the legality of generating court documents using AI, but the ethics of it.

Morris said judges and attorneys are responsible for verifying the truthfulness of what evidence is presented in court.

“When you present something to the court ... judges rely on that information,” Morris said.

Legal professionals discuss AI in court Izzy Chase Associate Editor

Six members of the Maryland justice system visit AACC to discuss the use of AI in the courtroom at a Legal Studies Institute panel.

Photo by Izzy Chase

The Office of Student Engagement hosts an event for students to learn how to become election judges.

Photo by Divine Mesumbe

Canaday added that “overwhelmingly, book banners target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” Other frequently banned topics include books about women’s rights, death, violence, sexual assault and religious minorities, Canaday said.

Spoor and Human Services Department Chair Nicole Williams, another cohost, created Meeting of the Minds several years before the pandemic but put it on hold until this semester.

Panelists engage in conversation about the ethics of book banning with audience members.

Photo by Mason Hood Spoor said she plans to hold one every semester from now on.

Third-year business student Mya Williams, who attended the event, said it’s “important to have these discussions because it can bring awareness to what’s

happening currently.”

Williams, the Student Government Association vice president of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, said banning books “takes away our individual freedoms [and] ... it takes away freedom of speech.”

10 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

Campus Life

Students dress up in personalized styles Waleska Cruz Reporter

The personal style of the most stylish AACC students is just that—personal.

In fact, those who dress up for class say they don’t pay much attention to the fashion trends on social media. They like what they like and they dress accordingly.

Second-year media production student Maria Bejaran said trends and social media influencers “don’t … have a role, if I’m going to be honest. I just kind of throw on whatever I want.”

No matter what they were wearing, students said their outfits are an expression of their personalities.

Environmental science student George Sines, who, on a recent warm, windy day wore green shorts from Tillys, a brown tank top and a black sweatshirt with some skeletons on it, agreed.

“I feel like bigger things like bell bottoms and baggy jeans coming into fashion are fine with me,” Sines said.

“I’ll do that. But then, like,

micro-trends, boo, we hate those.”

First-year graphic design studies student Lilika Farrell said her wardrobe changes the more she explores her style.

“I would say I pick and choose certain styles because I’ve been kind of exploring it for a long time,” Farrell said. “You sort of develop this intuition of what you like and don’t like and what fits into your style.”

Like Farrell, several students said their style has evolved over time.

“A good example would be in high school when I was, like, a freshman, I would wear a lot of skinny jeans and sweaters and Vans,” Bejaran said. “And now it’s like, I hate skinny jeans. I only like baggy stuff. Yeah, none of that. I wear a lot of crop tops now. I used to be so insecure about that before but now I have my belly out all the time.”

Still, Farrell said, “I don’t really like to take on a different aesthetic, every single trend cycle or something like that because, one, I can’t af-

ford to live like that. And two, it’s not good for the planet.”

Farrell said thrift shopping and reusing clothing are good for both the planet and her budget.

While many students simply throw on whichever sweatpants and hoodies are clean every morning, others carefully curate their outfits to showcase their creativity and unique style.

“You know, it’s just school but I love dressing up as if I’m going somewhere special because, you know, it’s like, life is too short to be boring,” second-year forensic studies student Jaymee Green said. “I’d rather feel good in myself and give off this aura of, like, even if people look and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, what is she wearing?’ they’re looking.”

However, some students style their clothes by incorporating comfortable items into their outfits while still looking stylish.

First-year psychology student Samantha Lindsey, who wore a sweater and baggy pants from PacSun,

First-year grahic design student Lilika Farrell says her personal style has evolved over time.

Photo by Waleska Cruz a ring and black Converse sneakers, said, “I think there should be a balance.”

“I think that I shouldn’t value comfort more, because then I’m, like, oh, like, I’m wearing sweatpants every day,” Lindsey said. “[But] I’m not the type of person who is going to wear something really uncomfortable just because it looks good. So I like

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to balance between both of them.”

Second-year business student Kailyn Mcilree said her style is called “tomboy chic.”

“I’ve always liked dressing a little bit more on the baggier side ... like dude style, but I like adding a little feminine touch with chunky jewelry,” Mcilree said.

2024 Fall Staff 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 | 2024 | May | 11

Entertainment

Dance Co. performs in orchestra concert Tomi Brunton Editor-in-Chief

For the first time in 10 years, the Dance Company will perform to live music in the AACC Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert.

The orchestra’s concert is titled “A Mother’s Day Tribute,” as it will show on May 12, Mother’s Day, in the Kauffman Theater. The Dance Company will perform while the orchestra plays Danzón No. 7, a musical piece designed specifically for dancing.

Margaret Russell, the Dance Company’s director, said dancing to live music is

a “special treat that not all dancers get to do.”

“It’s such a great opportunity for dancers to perform alongside other artists and with live music,” Russell said. “It makes the dancers appreciate the other artists in the room, you know, the musicians.”

Orchestra conductor Anna Binneweg said the show will be a “nice, collaborative, departmental event.”

“It’s always great any time you can put performing arts together in different mediums,” Binneweg said. “It’s nice; nice for the audience, nice for the orchestra.”

The performance is a tribute to Mother’s Day, so the pieces the orchestra plays will “relate to or be inspired by” mothers and motherhood, such as Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, according to Binneweg.

Russell added that performing to live music makes the dancers “smarter.”

“You really have to, like, listen to what’s going on,” Russell said. “[The musicians] are human beings.

They’re not a recording, you know, so it keeps it fresh.”

The Dance Company will also perform its own, separate show on May 3 and 4 in

Amaranth Vol XLIX

the Kauffman Theater.

Russell said the show will be a mix of ballet, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop.

“No matter what you like, we’ll have it,” Russell said.

Russell said the show’s name, “Elevation,” is “a little

bit of a play on words.” “[It’s] raising the bar for the dancers and pushing them to their boundaries and lifting them up when they need to be lifted up, but also, like, there’s a lot of lifts and jumps,” Russell said.

is being published has value in it in that it explores communities’ diverse experiences,” Sierra Luers, the journal’s editor-in-chief, added.

Luers said the volume is the first to be released in a post-pandemic era for the club, as they are moving toward more in-person events and leaving behind virtual activities.

“I think this volume is special because this is the first time that we’ve had … visibility on campus since COVID,” Luers said. “We’ve been able to create a stronger environment and Am-

aranth community and culture through our coffeehouses.”

Amaranth hosts monthly coffeehouse open mic nights where students and alumni read their original works and drink coffee.

Amaranth will host a release party in the Student Union from 6 to 8 p.m. the same day as the journal release.

“I encourage everyone to come to the release party even if they don’t have anything in [this edition],” Sharp said. “Come pick up a free copy of the journal.”

Student literary mag releases 49th edition Julissa Mendoza Robles Reporter

Amaranth, AACC’s student journal for the arts, will release its 49th edition in May. Image courtesy of Amaranth

The Dance Company will perform in the Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert on Mother’s Day. Photo by Mason Hood

The 49th edition of AACC’s student-run journal of the arts, Amaranth, will be released on May 9.

This year, the editors chose 57 unique pieces from more than 200 submissions, according to Managing Editor Zoë Sharp.

“We’ve even accepted a musical composition piece, which is our first time doing that,” Sharp said. “We’ve got some really experimental pieces of poetry.”

“Each piece of work that

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

12 | Campus Current | 2024 | May

Sports

4 basketball players make regional team Jose Gonzalez Sports Editor

The National Junior College Athletic Association dubbed four AACC basketball players All-Region for their performances this season.

Two women’s players, Ayannah Gorham and Bianca Garin, and two men’s players, Kris Peet and Jeremiah Stroman, are part of the

All-Region 20 team.

Gorham had an average of 14 rebounds and 17.7 points a game. Garin had an average of 4.3 rebounds and 16.2 points a game.

“I was just, like, surprised,” Garin, a second-year medical student and shooting guard, said. “I just really want to win and that’s why I’m, like, giving it my all every single game.”

Stroman averaged 6.6

rebounds and 19.2 points a game. Peet averaged 7.8 rebounds and 17.6 points a game.

“I didn’t expect to be nominated,” Stroman, a firstyear business studies student and forward, said.

Women’s basketball finished its season in February with a 3-18 record, failing to qualify for playoffs.

Men’s basketball ended its season with a 9-16 record.

Students wear merch for fav sports teams Jose Gonzalez Sports Editor

Students on AACC’s campus wear merchandise to show support for their favorite sports teams.

Photo by Mason Hood

Now that the weather is warming up and jackets are coming off, more students are showing support for Maryland teams by wearing Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles jerseys and caps to classes.

Kyle Schechter, a firstyear electronics engineering technology student, said he wears Orioles merchandise for the “support of my team.

I like to rep the apparel.”

Schecter, a lifelong Orioles fan, said watching the baseball team is a huge family tradition.

“My parents actually postponed their honeymoon to go to Cal Ripken’s re-

Riverhawks alum now coaches high school Jose Gonzalez Sports Editor

When Marlyn Argueta played forward for the Riverhawks soccer team from 2008 to 2010, his teammates constantly told him he should be a coach some day.

Now he is.

Argueta, who graduated from AACC and went on to earn a degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has coached boys’ soccer at South River High School in Edgewater since 2011. In 2019, he took over running the high

school’s soccer program.

Since becoming coach, Argueta’s team has scored more than 60 goals and conceded 15.

“I’ve always been told that I … could be a coach, that I have wisdom,” Argueta said. “The way that I play … seemed like a smart way to play, so I’ve always wanted to coach.”

And he said he loves it.

“I just fell in love with [coaching],” Argueta said. “I love soccer. It’s taught me so many lessons in life that I wanted to give back a little bit.”

Argueta’s style of play

Men’s basketball forward Kris Peet, right, was one of four Riverhawks to make the All-Region team this semester.

Photo courtesy of Frank Mitchell III

is inspired by every coach he has worked with. Plus, Argueta said “[Diego] Cholo Simeone from Atletico Madrid is probably my [coaching] idol.”

Argueta led the South River team to win the county championship in 2022, and then into a state championship victory in 2023.

That was South River’s first boy’s soccer state title in 36 years.

“It was my first full cycle of freshmen to seniors, and they won the state championship,” Argueta said. “I wanted to bring that as a player [and] I’ve never had

cord-breaking game … which is unheard of,” Schechter said. “So the Orioles are definitely big to our family.”

Ripken played his 2,131st consecutive game on Sept. 6, 1995, breaking Lou Gehrig’s major league baseball streak.

Aiden Morgan, a firstyear undecided student, said he wears Orioles merch because the baseball team represents the state.

“They really represent Maryland as a state better than the [Washington] Nationals,” Morgan said. “To me the Orioles means happy summer days, watching baseball and enjoying baseball.”

Morgan added: “I’ve been an Orioles fan my entire life and I’m very loyal. And so I represent the Orioles every

day [by wearing a] hat.”

Caden Mewshaw, a firstyear undecided student, said he wears Ravens clothing because football is “unique” compared with other sports.

“I got into football when I started playing fantasy [football] and [the Ravens] was just the home team,” Mewshaw said. “But I started to really like the team once I started learning more about the players.”

Danielle Beach, a 10thyear elementary education student, said she wears Ravens gear because she grew up watching the football team.

“My family’s really into football,” Beach said. “I grew up here in Maryland, so the Ravens were my team.”

Marlyn Argueta, left, a former AACC soccer player, is a soccer coach at South River High School.

Photo courtesy of Marlyn Argueta the opportunity to. Now that I did as a coach, it just goes full circle and … I’m just so proud of my team and the school.”

Former AACC soccer head coach Nick Cosentino, who coached Argueta as a player during his time as a Riverhawk, said he always saw him becoming a coach.

“The guys looked up to

him,” Cosentino said. “When the coaches needed some advice regarding their players, opinions or attitudes towards certain things, he was one of our go-to guys.”

Cosentino, who coached the Riverhawks from 1999 until he retired a couple of months ago, said Argueta and his team “gelled together really well.”