April 28 2015 cayuga collegian vol 61 issue 19

Students mark Earth Day with clean-up on Fulton Campus

Collegian cayugacollegian@gmail.com

Vol. 61 Issue 19

April 28, 2015

CAYUGABRIEFS

CAYUGA

College announces new vice president for administration

STAFF EARNS

From Gregory T. DeCinque: I am very pleased to inform you that Dr. Dan Dobell will join us on June 1 as our Vice President of Administration. Dan brings a wealth of experience in administration and finance having worked previously in a community college, a state university and currently the Elmira City School District. Dan has earned a PhD, MBA and is a CPA. I would like to thank the search committee for their diligent and comprehensive work that resulted in four outstanding candidates.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Diane Hutchinson for all she has done for CCC. On a personal note, I am very grateful to Diane for all she has done to support me during my time at CCC.

Meet your Fulton Campus Student Government Officers (SGO) The following officers were elected to the 2015/2016 Executive Board.

The Collegian inadvertently published the wrong list in its last issue. The Collegian apologizes for the mistake.

Fulton Officers President – Kelly Newton Vice President – Dawson Samson Secretary – Jennifer Allen Treasurer- Sandra Pelkey

COLLEGIAN

FIRST PLACE Cayuga Color Run is a success IN NATIONAL CONTEST

By Dustin Albino, Sports Editor On Sunday April 26, Cayuga Community College hosted its first ever Color Run. The Phi Theta Kappa club held the event with all proceeds going towards Matthew House.

From what was decided on a whole year in advance, the first annual color run in school history was a success.

Through weeks of preparation and meetings every other Wednesday, the students of CCC pulled together and held an awesome event.

“This was a huge success,” said Dakota Marshall, President of Phi Theta Kappa. “We raised over $6,000 which will directly go towards the Matthew House. For being our first event like this, the turn-out was amazing. Hopefully, next year the students can have another one.”

Fun, indeed. A Color Run is a five kilometer run, in other terms it 3.1 miles in length. Throughout the course there are numerous of “color stations” where a color powder is thrown at the competitor. The end result is raising money for a great cause, and having a whole lot of fun in the process.

It took a lot of cooperation between different volunteers to put on this event. Many organizations donated equipment and time to help the students put this day together. From NYSEG donating traffic cones so the campus entrees were blocked off, to the Criminal Justice group making the food to provide for the competitors following the run. Everything went as planned. The Auburn National Junior Honor Society and the St. Joe’s National

Junior Honor Society provided many volunteers. There was a Zumba-thon to get everyone warmed up prior to the race, held by Lori Delf. Auburn Party Rental provided the tents and sound system. The Printery made the shirts for all of the competitors.

Without the help of all these clubs, this race would have been difficult to put on.

“I’ve done a lot of runs, and this was one of the best,” said competitor Lori Delf. “The students did an awesome job at setting this up, and it looks like everyone had a lot of fun.”

Coming into the first annual Color Run, it was unexpected to know how it would go. But in the end, it was a major success and the community gathered together which resulted in raising a lot of money for Matthew House.

Congratulations to the 2014-2015 staff of Cayuga Community College’s only student-run newspaper, The Cayuga Collegian, for earning first place in a national contest held by the American Scholastic Press Association.

For 13 years in a row, Collegian staffs under the direction of faculty adviser, Mary G. Merritt, have placed first or second in this Caleb Slater national review of college newspapers.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with these talented students,” Merritt said.

MORE PHOTOS INSIDE

THE OFFICIAL STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

People cause problem parking at college event

OPINIONS Here’s how I see it!

Caleb Slater

Internet Forums: The internet is a wonderful place (depending on how you use it).

Part of the reason why it is so great is because it connects thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world! One of the ways to bring these thousands of people together in one place is through the use of internet forums. A forum is essentially a message board that allows for people to share their thoughts, ideas and experience on any particular subject.

There is a forum for just about anything that you can think of.

There are forums for cooking, forums for discussing movies, “life hack forums” I’m sure there are forums dedicated to just talking about funny cat pictures.

The best thing about forums is it allows you to discuss things that you are passionate, or interest about with people who share a similar amount of passion for that subject and it gives you an outlet to talk about such things. Personally, I can recall reading some great articles about cinema on movieforums. com, as well as reading some great tutorials about Smash Bros. on Smashboards.com!

If there is you have something that you have a passion for, but not enough people to talk to about it, try finding a forum to express your ideas!

Greetings to all: On Sunday April 26th there was a charity event to raise money for the Matthew House held on the Auburn Campus in parking lots D & E as well as on Cayuga Way. Essentially the entire rear area of the campus.

The event involved scores of people running and otherwise occupying the parking lots and travel lanes on foot.

The event area was blocked off by portable barricades to prevent vehicles from entering the area. The reason for this was for the safety of the runners and pedestrians.

Access to the campus by vehicle was available from Franklin St, signs clearly indicated this and there was generous parking available outside of Spartan Hall Lane and all of the lots adjoining Franklin Street.

During this event there were multiple vehicles which ignored the barricades and drove around them and into the event area. Some drivers ignored direct verbal requests made by the event organizer’s staff who attempted to stop vehicles from doing this. The driver of one vehicle reportedly told one of the event staff members that - “I’ve worked here for 20 years and will park wherever I want.”

In the future if faced with similar circumstances please respect whatever traffic control is in place.

It is there for a reason.

Cordially,

Jeffery Mead

Public Safety Officer

FULTON

CAMPUS! The Collegian wants to know what is going on up there! Be a Fulton Correspondent or just email us your news at Cayugacollegian@ gmail.com

CCC Business students qualify for national leadership competition Recently, CCC Phi Beta Lambda students competed with over 100 students state-wide in a variety of competitive events and the results are in!

The following students placed in the top slots and are eligible to attend the National Leadership Conference and compete nationally: Event

Place BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 1 FINANCIAL CONCEPTS 2 PERSONAL FINANCE 2 SPORTS MANAGEMENT & MARKETING 1 BUSINESS ETHICS

1

FUTURE BUSINESS EXECUTIVE 2

SALES PRESENTATION 2

SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE 1

SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE 2

Congratulations to all of the students!

We are so proud of our students for their success. It wasn’t easy; the students were competing against schools such as LeMoyne, Morrisville State College, Binghamton University, Hilbert, SUNY Oswego, and Mercy College.

The CCC PBL chapter has been

Student(s) Rebecca McDonald Jonathan Lupo Jonathan Lupo Stephen Pinchak Kyrie Cirillo & Rebecca McDonald Team) Katelyn Mander Kevin Shutter Joel Handley & Nick Garuccio (Team) Kyrie Ciricillo

fundraising all year so that we can send our students to the national leadership conference. This year, it is being held in Chicago in June.

We wish our students well as they prepare to compete at the national level. For more information on the organization, visit www.fbla-pbl.org.

—Amy Valente, PMP, MBA Assistant Professor of Business

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KELSEY MCLEAN - CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CALEB SLATER - CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DUSTIN ALBINO - SPORTS EDITOR SHAQUELLA S. NEWBY - STAFF WRITER DUNCAN MERRITT - STAFF WRITER KEVIN SHUTTER - STAFF WRITER MALCOM HUEY - DIVERGENT NATION MARY G. MERRITT - FACULTY ADVISOR WANT TO JOIN THE COLLEGIAN STAFF? EMAIL US TO SET UP AN INTERVIEW.

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Write for The Collegian and earn credits at the same time! Register for Telcom 204, (Journalism Practicum),

with Collegian faculty advisor Mary Merritt.

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Former SUNY Oswego professor MEET THE FOURTH CANDIDATE killed in drone strike FOR CCC COLLEGE PRESIDENT

By Kelsey McLean, editor-in-chief

By Kelsey McLean, editor-in-chief

In a tragic drone strike gone wrong, two hostages were accidentally killed during a January counterterrorist strike of one of Al-Queda’s bases. Of the two hostages killed, one was former SUNY Oswego professor Warren Weinstein, who taught political sciences back in the 1970s. The other, Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian citizen who had

The fourth and final Presidential candidate for CCC has been revealed, and he’s coming to the campus this very week. He’s Stuart Blacklaw, a Vice President Stuart Blacklaw of Instruction and Student Services from Yavapai College, Arizona.

Why Dr. Blacklaw would want to move from sunny Arizona to here is anyone’s guess, but if nothing else, no one can say he isn’t willing to make sacrifices for the job.

While Dr. Blacklaw has spent the past year in Yavapai, his background experience is full of wanderlust -he’s been everywhere from Olivet College in Illinois, to Jefferson Community College in New York, to Washtenaw Community College in Michigan, and all the way back to Arizona at Yavapai. To some, this might show a varied and interesting mix of experiences, but to others, it might be a distressing pattern of

officials have also admitted that they weren’t aware that either Farouq or Gadahn were inside, as well, and neither was specifically targeted. The strikes were believed to be, at the time, within the bounds of policy guidance, however. The blame seems to fall squarely onto one thing -- faulty intelligence.

In spite of this, President Obama has apologized for the deaths of both men. “As a husband and as a father, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish that the Weinstein and Lo Porto families are enduring today.” he said during his public address, last Thursday. Obama has also offered to compensate both families for their loss, Warren Weinstein (left) before he was taken hostage. though the details have yet The right photo is a still of him from video released to be disclosed.

An independent anonymously to reporters in Pakistan, Dec. 26, 2013. investigation is currently traveled the to Pakistan to work on going on to prevent faulty a reconstruction project. intelligence from slipping through Along with the two hostages the cracks and causing another accidentally killed, American tragedy like this again, but some Al-Queda operatives and senior wonder -- is this proof that drone ranking members Ahmed Farouq, strikes are too dangerous to use? a deputy emir, and Adam Gadahn Is U.S.A’s intelligence starting to have also been confirmed to be fumble under the stress? Or is it killed in the area-- though Adam proof that the U.S Government Gadahn is believed to have been is willing to gamble on a few killed in a separate operation. ‘causalities’ to righteous ends?

Weinstein had been held by AlRegardless, Weinstein’s wife does Queda since 2011, and Lo Porto not blame either of these things. since 2012, but neither-- along While devastated by the news, she with the two other living hostages puts the blame solely on one thing: inside the compound at the time- his captors. Our hearts, of course, go was believed to be inside. U.S with her and her family.

non commitment. However you want to see it, is up to you.

As you can see, Dr. Blacklaw has much experience with community colleges, with at least four under his belt, which can be seen as a big plus, considering the stark differences between community college and larger, more fast paced private colleges. He also has a Ph.D. in Higher Education, which might make him more appealing to you in comparison to the candidate with little to no educational background.

Of course, being a President requires all sorts of skills, not just experience in education, so it’s still all fair game.

Seeing how Dr. Blacklaw got his start as a Director of Journalism, here’s hoping he doesn’t forget all the poor, tireless, and unloved student papers out there in the world.

There will be an open Q&A with the Auburn students at 11:00 on Thursday, so if you want to learn more about him, there’s no reason not to go. Who knows? He might be your new President.

CCC Spring Blood Drive breaks record Director of Student Activities, Norman Lee announced a new record has been set for the number of donations during a campussponsored blood drive.

“Thank you all! Today the campus broke a record number of donations at the blood drive 48! The old record was 36,” Lee announced. “Good job everyone and thank you.”

Synthetic Marijuana for a Deathly High?

Artificial drugs and their negative impacts

By Duncan Merritt, staff writer

CCC students, Kyrie Ciricillom (left) and Gillian Sears (right) with Business Professor Amy Valente (center).

CCC students selected to present at SUNY conference CCC students, Gillian Sears and Kyrie Ciricillo, presented at the first SUNY Undergraduate research conference held on April 10 at SUNY Brockport. They were among 500 students who were selected

from across SUNY to present their work at the conference.

They presented a marketing plan that they developed for The Friends of the Hospice Thrift Store in a marketing class last year.

Unfortunately, another type of mind-altering drug has made its way into normal use in society. Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, or more commonly referred to as Spice or K2, is a blend of natural marijuana plant and powerful chemicals called cannabimimetics. The health effects of the synthetic drug can be extremely dangerous and lifethreating. Side effects include: • Muscle spasms, tremors and seizures • Faster heartbeat and higher blood pressure • Psychotic episodes • Nausea and severe vomiting • Suicidal thoughts and/or other harmful actions Like many of the illegal drugs that circulate in society, synthetic marijuana is not tested for safety, therefore, users do not exactly know what they are consuming. Studies done in Germany, as well as other European countries where synthetic marijuana is illegal, revealed that the packaging on Spice displays the “natural” ingredients, such as Blue Egyptian water lily and honeyweed, but in

SERVING THE STUDENTS OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS!

reality do not contain such herbs.

So, the question that presides is, what is synthetic marijuana actually made of?! In January of 2009, the University of Freiburg in Germany announced that Cannabicyclohexanol is the main ingredient of Spice. The properties of this cannabidimimetic is reported to be five times more potent that THC, found in marijuana. Since the potency of the synthetic drug is stronger than the potency of natural marijuana, this leads to stronger negative effects on the human body and the mind.

Evidently, persons using synthetic marijuana, Spice, and K2 are participating in extraordinarily risky behavior. With harmful effects on the mind and the body and while never truly knowing what they are consuming, it is clear that nothing positive results from using the dangerous drug.

For more information, call your local poison control center at 1-800222-1222. Centers are open 24 hours a day for information as well as emergencies.

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CCC Business students tour new dairy facility About 35 students went on a road trip in late April to take a tour of Byrne Dairy’s newest business venture: Byrne Hollow Farms, located in Cortland, NY. Kate Byrne, Sales and Marketing, guided the students through a tour of their

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brand new facility which is not yet open to the public. The building was developed to facilitate tours of the plant. The entire production process can be viewed from above with large windows. Kate shared with us not only the process for producing the

different yogurts, but also the plans for future expansion of Byrne Hollow Farms as a destination. Some of the plans include an amphitheater for concerts and the renovation of a farmhouse where events can be hosted. But this wasn’t all...they

provided a wonderful lunch for the students including their tasty yogurt. The students really learned a lot and enjoyed the day.

—Amy Valente, PMP, MBA Assistant Professor of Business

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SOFTBALL

Lady Spartans get first win of the season SPORTS GO SPARTANS! GO SPARTANS!

The Lady Spartans won their first game of the season in exciting fashion on Saturday April 18th against Finger Lakes Community College. The game started out with Finger Lakes scoring 4 runs right out of the gate. Cayuga came back in the 2nd inning to score 5 runs themselves which started with a triple by Allison Chase (Weedsport, NY), Meghan Delany (Auburn, NY) hit a triple in the same inning. With the game coming down to the wire McKenzie Harris (Liverpool, NY) jacked a triple to start the 6th inning off. The Lady Spartans were down a run going into the 7th inning when

Kaitlyn Brewer (Auburn, NY) hit a single to get a runner on base. With 2 outs and a runner on 2nd Sydney Patzke (Phoenix, NY) hit a infield blooper and Duanna Johnson (Auburn, NY) scored. With the game tied Patzke took a risk to steal second and was deemed safe.

With runners on 1st and 3rd Harris hit a single brining in Patzke and the

Lady Spartans came out victorious 10-9. The second game proved to be much different, with the Lady Spartans dropping the game 10-2 in the 6th inning.

Disappointment against Monroe The Lady Spartans took to the field against Monroe Community College where they had trouble putting the bat on the ball. Monroe allowed just 4 hits in 5 innings in the first game losing 10-0 and allowed 3 hits and 1 run in the second game losing 34-1.

COLLEGE STUDENTS: BEWARE OF MENINGITIS

By Duncan Merritt, staff writer For first year college students there are plenty of dangers of which they should be aware. One concern is how much more at risk you are for getting meningitis. Meningitis is an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes, typically caused by an infection. This infection can be caused by touching anything or even anyone.

Studies have shown that 10 percent of humans carry this infection.

Someone does not need to have meningitis to pass on this infection. A perfectly healthy student that shakes your hand as a greeting may in fact be responsible for students receiving meningitis.

Early symptoms are headache, rash, vomiting, lethargy, and sensitivity to light. If you have two or more of these symptoms please call your doctor right away for help. After exposure, these symptoms listed above should start appearing in a day or so. In some fatal cases symptoms started to appear within hours of exposure.

Meningitis is treated by antibiotics that fight this disease and slowly gets you back on your feet. Prevention is the biggest part of not getting meningitis. There is a vaccine available which costs about $120. You should not get the vaccine if you are already infected, have allergies to certain drugs, and if you are or will become pregnant.

Another way to prevent this infection from happening is to frequently wash your hands well using soap and to watch what you’re touching and playing with because this infection can be anywhere.

Healthy Living Club bringing awareness to Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault by displaying the Clothesline Project Members of The Healthy Living Club on the Fulton campus participated in the Clothesline Project. The project has four goals: To speak for the survivors as well as the victims of the violence against women, to help with the healing process for people who have lost a loved one or are survivors of this violence, to document violence against women and to raise society’s awareness of this violence and concern for its victims and to provide nationwide network of support, encouragement and information for other communities starting their own Clothesline Projects.

Diet Pepsi drops aspartame amid cancer concerns

By Duncan Merritt, staff writer Due to drooping sales of Diet Pepsi, the company PepsiCo announced last Friday they have chosen to drop the ingredient aspartame in Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi sold in the U.S. They say their decision relates to consumer safety worries about aspartame.

“We recognize that consumer

demand is evolving and we’re confident that cola-lovers will enjoy the crisp, refreshing taste of this new product,” said senior Vice President Seth Kaufman in a statement.

Some people fear that aspartame could be linked to cancer, even though the Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety

Get advice now for Fall 15

By Shaquella Newby, staff writer

Are you looking forward to attending CCC in fall 2015? Set up an appointment with your advisor to schedule your classes. If you need help with your FASFA for next semester as well, be sure to stop in the financial aid office to get the help that you need.

“My advice to future students coming back in fall 2015 is to look over the college catalogue and your degree evaluation to help decide what classes you need to be taking and what classes you have left,” said

Norman Lee, an academic advisor at CCC. “Also, I strongly encourage students to start thinking about any work study positions and sign up now, being that the list gets crowded.”

Another suggestion would be to make sure you get you financial aid taken care of, make sure you have completed it and that your all set to go.” Lee said it is important to make sure all your financial aid paperwork is correct and complete so you will be all set for classes in the fall.

SERVING THE STUDENTS OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS!

Authority have said that it is safe.

The company says the new Diet Pepsi will contain the sweetener sucralose, an artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda, and acesulfame potassium or ace-K. The new products are expected to hit store shelves some time in August.

The new bottles and packages will be released with large lettering saying “Now Aspartame Free.” Pepsi officials say the taste has not changed, but people will be the judge of that.

PepsiCo has spent years trying to develop a new Diet Pepsi sweetener that would change the tide of the consumer to turn more of a profit.

So far PepsiCo has no plan to take out the ingredient aspartame in any other of their drinks for example, Diet Mountain Dew. On the other side, Coca-Cola is unmoved by PepsiCo actions and say they have no change planned for their products.

Brian Jacobson, a consumer advocate, says the best way to stay away from aspartame is to stay away from all types of cola.

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Amber’s

Couponing Corner

CCC student, Amber Sawyer, is an expert at coupon savings. She is now sharing her skills at saving money through social media.

CCC student reveals how her passion for clipping coupons has turned into big savings!

By Amber Sawyer, contributing writer Many new things have come to my couponing experience. Last year, I wrote about how it was just a hobby, and now it is way more than that.

Just a little recap for those who don’t know about me and my story. While growing up with separated parents I had to find something to occupy my time, and that was watching the television show Extreme Couponing.

My grandfather always clipped

coupons and I would help him when I went over to their house. My mother used to use coupons, too.

So I grew up in an environment of clipping coupons. Every Sunday, my mother and I would clip coupons to do the weekly grocery shopping.

That also included looking at all the ads to ensure we were paying the least amount possible.

Couponing has always interested me. It is my hobby. My fiancé really encouraged me to start, so that’s where it all began about three and a half years ago with just one shelf and a few coupons here and there. Then, my stockpile grew to a few shelves and pegboards. Now it is one whole room that I love and take much pride in.

Couponing has helped me in so many ways. In the last three years, my life took a turn for the worse when my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV lung and brain cancer. I wanted to help her save as much money as possible while she went through chemotherapy and radiation.

She was the breadwinner of the family, and she and my stepfather were supporting my younger brother. As you can imagine, that was not so easy because she could barely work. Not only that, but the cost of living is not cheap. So I began couponing to save myself money. I am a fulltime college student pursing a Journalism writing degree, and that takes most of my money. In my household there are two dogs

and my fiancé. We love to cut the costs as much as we can. Clipping coupons, the little time it takes, is so worth the $.50, $.75, $1.00 because it always adds up!

Now I have my own couponing website and Facebook page for Amber’s Couponing Corner. Nobody ever believes the savings in the show Extreme Couponing; well, I am living proof in a realistic way. If you watch Extreme Couponing, you see people purchase hundreds of dollars worth of groceries for a few dollars or even pennies. There are a few things many don’t realize though when they’re watching the show. There is a disclaimer at the end of the show. Also, from experience I know every coupon has a limit for its use, so technically the people on Extreme Couponing are abusing and misusing coupons.

To help you get started, my website includes many match-ups from the stores that are most Amber Sawyer’s closets and shelves are coupon-friendly around stuffed with items she purchased for little Auburn. My website also or no money just by clipping coupons. contains coupon policies, giveaways, a coupon trade section, a purchasing coupon section, a place to donate your unused coupons for animal products, and of course, the about me/contact me. Every once in a while I do giveaways for coupon envies, and coming up, once I hit 100 likes on my Facebook page, I will be doing another giveaway of a prize to be determined! You can trade coupons with other couponers around the area on my page, or you will have the ability to purchase coupons from my clipping service coming soon. The price will include a fee of $.49 for every 40 coupons ordered, to cover the price of a the stamp I need to purchase to send them to you via U.S. Postal Service.

Individual coupons will range in price from $.08 to $.22 cents each.

Payment will be via Paypal. This service provides safe, easy and quick access to coupons without having to pay $2.50 per Sunday paper. This will help especially if you just want one specific coupon for a certain product then you can get multiples of the same coupon for a cheap price.

In the donation section of the website, people will be able to donate their unwanted animal coupons so I can purchase the items and donate them to the local Fingerlakes SPCA. They are always looking for donations because they help out so many four- when a giveaway will pop up! After all, you could learn some couponing legged creatures.

Feel free to check out the tips from either site, or possibly learn great deals and savings at about deals you did not know existed. amberscouponingcorner.jimdo.com Thanks for reading and happy or on Facebook. You just never know savings!!

DIVERGENT NATION MEETINGS Mondays at 11 a.m. in The Black Box Theater.

All are welcome to attend!

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ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – How bad is it?

(Spoilers)

By Caleb Slater, editor-in-chief If you haven’t been to the movies in a while, then you may not be aware of the fact that a new comedy disaster, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was just released. It did fairly well at the box office, grossing over 23 million on opening weekend selling just behind the extremely popular Furious 7, but does quantity equal quality? In this case, no, no it doesn’t. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 has become one of the worst reviewed comedies in a long time. It was actually given a 0% out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes. The 30 million dollar question on everyone’s mind then is, “Is it really that bad and if so, why?” Luckily for you, I sat through one of the most painfully awful movies I have ever seen in search for those answers.

Before I even begin reviewing this movie, I think it is important to note that I really enjoyed the first film in this franchise and was really excited to see the direction that the producers would go in with this sequel, so I entered the theater with an open mind, ready for anything because at the end of the day this is a comedy. It’s supposed to be tongue and check and make the audience laugh, that’s the reason why a lot of comedy films get lower review scores because the critics tend to forget the fact that the main reason why the movie was made is to make the audience laugh. I kept that in mind when I went to go see this film, but among the many other issues that I have with this film, one of the main problems is that it’s just not funny.

I honestly believe that there are only two types of movies that are worse than a poorly shot and

produced film.

1.

An unfunny comedy.

2.

A horror movie that can’t be taken seriously.

It’s sad to say, but that’s exactly what Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is, an unfunny comedy. Let’s take a moment and look at exactly who created this film, sometimes to better understand a movie, it’s doesn’t hurt to know who created said movie. As it turns out, this movie was created under Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions. This comes as no surprise, as his company has been known to produce a really awful comedy, just so that Adam Sandler can go on vacation; Sandler has even admitted to doing this in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live. It is important to note; however that every now and then Happy Madison does something genius and original (50 first dates, reign on me). It is also important to note that Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is NOT one of their more clever productions.

With that being said, there were some pretty talented people working on this film. For example: The executive producer for Mall Cop 2, Marty P. Ewing also worked on films such as: Holes, Yes Man and the successful Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Even the cinematographer, Dean Semler worked on films such as: Bruce Almighty and Dances with Wolves.

I guess the next question would be, “Where did this film go wrong?”

My answer to that is that it’s a sequel. It might not have been as bad if it was a film on its own, but it’s a sequel. Think about it for a second, why do we watch sequels? We watch sequels to see all of our favorite characters come back together one more time to overcome a new conflict. This sequel does none of that. For one thing the kill off the two biggest supporting characters from the original film within the first 10 minutes of the movie!

The first character that they remove is the love interest, Amy (Jayma Mays). It is revealed that she decided to divorce Blart after only 6 days of marriage because she experienced, “extreme vomiting.”

This is absolutely ridiculous and breaks all continuity because her character married Blart despite his weight issue. She married him because of his character. I understand that the reason why the writers put this in the script is because Jayma Mays wise fully chose not to reprise her role in Mall Cop 2, but they didn’t have to destroy her character. They could have changed actresses, or made up

campus candids

something more believable, like she’s on a business trip.

The other character they literally kill off is the wise elder from the first movie, Paul Blart’s mother (Shirley Knight). She goes out for the paper, which is for some reason in the middle of the street and then gets run over by a milk truck. It happens for no rhyme or reason and the characters barely even react to the death of their loved one. This is a shame because the sub-plot of the movie is about the daughter growing up, but afraid that her father won’t be able to handle the sudden change in her life. It’s kind of similar to the relationship between Raven Symone and her father’s character played by Martin Lawrence in the comedy flop, College Road trip. This sub-plot could have been an excellent opportunity for some witty dialogue and an actually genuine moment between the characters, if Maya went to her grandmother for advice, but NO, they figure it would be a lot funnier to just kill the grandmother off instead!

In addition to the killing off of the supporting characters, the other issue with this movie is that the conflict is very similar to the conflict of the original film, but worse in every way possible. The idea of this film is that Blart gets an invitation to an expo for mall cops that is being held in Las Vegas. When I heard this, I figured I would just let that plot point slide and instead just use it to further support the “Adam Sandler wants to go on vacation theory.” When he arrives at the hotel it is later discovered that a criminal origination just happens to be stealing art from the hotel during the weekend of the expo. Blart’s daughter randomly and without much explanation ends up in the same suite as the criminal organization and they hold her hostage.

Now, as you probably guessed, it’s up to Paul Blart to create some clever traps around the hotel and save the day once again. Here’s the problem with that, it just doesn’t make sense.

In the first film, it was explained that Paul Blart was the only person in the West Orange Mall and both the police and SWAT team are waiting on orders to go inside and help. This is why Paul Blart needs to take action.

It’s not the same in the sequel, there is no reason why the security at the hotel can’t see the gun fights in the hallway, or the art being stolen, or any of the other suspicious behavior that goes on during the movie. It’s never explained why the security at this hotel who have apparently never made a mistake before, can’t

take action to prevent this criminal organization.

There is even a scene where one of the real security guards at the hotel questions a “bad guy” dressed up as security, so that proves the real security was working during the events of the film! There really wasn’t enough time put into both the plot and character development of this movie. And that’s not even the worst part of the film.

The worst thing about this film is, without a doubt the jokes that fall flat. I made a tally of all the times I laughed throughout the entire film and the total number was 2 times!

The first laugh took 24 minutes for me to do so and even then it was only a minor chuckle. The jokes are unbearably unnecessary and unfunny in this film. The only gags that are even worth remembering are the jokes that they just stole from the first movie! I understand the comedic effect of re-using an old gag, but that only works when the gag is really iconic, or memorable. If the joke wasn’t funny the first time, why would it be funny the second time?

I will admit though, there is something about watching Kevin James on a Segway that makes me smile every time. That being said, there are a few good elements to this movie. For one thing the soundtrack does a decent job of creating a mood.

There really was an intense feel as the criminals were stealing the art from the museum and that was only enhanced by the music. Another thing positive I can say about this film is the cinematography and the lighting.

All the scenes are well lit and there are some great shots of the Las Vegas strip. The only other positive thing I can say about this movie is that the acting is spot on. The characters are way too underdeveloped, but the actors did a great job working with what they were given.

With all of that being said, it leaves us with one overlying question, “Just how bad is Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2?” While there is no denying the terrible, awful very bad day you will have when enduring this film, I have to say that this is not the worst film out there, nor the worst movie I have ever seen. A 0% is too harsh of a rating for this film, as it is certainly not as bad as movies like The Happening or Transformers Age of Extinction.

It is also not the worst comedy flick produced by Happy Madison, I’d give that a close tie between Jack & Jill and Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star.

If I had to rate this movie, I’d give it 1 rolling Segway out of 5.

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SOMA holds first EVER Talent Show

PHOTO BY CALEB SLATER

PHOTO BY CALEB SLATER

By Caleb Slater, editor-in-chief Last Wednesday students gathered together, in the café on the Auburn campus for live music and poetry readings, among other forms of entertainment by some very gifted students and the whole show was brought together by the School of Media and the Arts, (SOMA). In addition to the talent on the stage, spectators could get a portrait of themselves made by the talented volunteers from CCC’s art department.

After the performances were finished, prizes were given out for the top three best performances of the evening. Third place was a tie between two speakers, Madeline and Donovan. Each of them were presented with a $10 gift card to the bookstore and in response to his award Donovan Stanfield commented, “My strength is choosing monologues especially those about complaining because I complain a lot myself. I choose that monologue in particular (Originally from the Russian comedic play, The Boor.) because there was a lot of yelling. I’m lucky to place and am proud of myself, but there is always room for improvement.”

Second place was given to Telcom

student Frank Smith, or Frank the Tank for his crowd inducing performance of songs such as, “I got drunk and I text your mother.”

And the widely popular, “Right here under this cowboy hat.” There Frank Smith was a slight amount of controversy in the decision, because the judges believed Frank’s songs weren’t his originals and that is the main reason why they gave him second place, rather than first. When asked about the issue over social media, Frank simply stated that, “It is all good. I was playing for the people not the prize.”

And the first place winner, Mark was awarded with a $50 card to the school store for his poetry performance. He was unable to be reached for a comment on his win, but hopefully he will have more performances in the future.

In addition we can all hope for the return of the very successful SOMA talent show next year.

CAYA club members visit historic Harriet Tubman home in Auburn

By Shaquella Newby, staff writer Members of the Auburn Campus club, CAYA (Come As You Are), recently took a field trip to visit the home and gravesite of the most well-known of all the Underground

Performance artist David Garibaldi

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Railroad’s “conductors,” Harriet Tubman. For 10 years, she made 19 trips into the South and escorted more than 300 slaves to freedom.

Students toured her home in Auburn and saw some of Tubman’s valuables including her sewing machine, which she used to make quilts. Tubman’s bed was on display. Historians say it was found guarded by a chain. The students were able to view family photos that were donated to the Harriet Tubman House by her family members.

“I’m happy CAYA gave us students the opportunity to experience history in person. I knew who Harriet Tubman was, but this trip taught me stuff I didn’t know and it was exciting,” said Natalie Naranjo, CCC student.

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