Agora - February 20, 2018

Black Panther Does the newest MCU installment live up to the much anticipated hype?

Page 16

MCCC Hollywood Student’s celebrate the golden age

Serving Monroe County since 1968

Feb. 20, 2018

Vol. 65, Issue 5

2 • Campus News

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Agora, Monroe News partnership Dan Shaw

Agora Advisor

One of my first breaks as a journalist came when I started writing for The Oregonian during my sophomore year at Oregon State University.

I had worked for the student newspaper for a year when I saw the ad for a “campus reporter” posted by the statewide newspaper located in Portland, 85 miles north of OSU. For years, editors of The Oregonian had chosen one student to cover the OSU campus. It gave them timely stories about one of the state’s two big universities, and Dan Shaw it gave students a chance to get professional experience.

That experience helped launch my career, which led to more than 30 years as a reporter, editor and publisher at a dozen newspapers in seven states.

Now, decades later, I’ve moved from the newsroom to the classroom, advising the student newspaper at Monroe County Community College.

I’m excited that The Monroe News and the college are announcing a partnership that

will put MCCC students to work covering their campus in much the same way I covered OSU. And the partnership doesn’t stop there.

Students also will cover events throughout the community, bringing another source of information to Monroe News readers.

Vince Bodiford, publisher of The News, has some of the same goals as those Oregonian editors.

He knows that his readers care deeply about MCCC. They’re interested in what happens at the college.

And he understands that developing the next generation of journalists is part of any newspaper’s responsibility to the future.

The plan is to put students to work providing stories and photos for Monroe News readers in several ways.

First, stories that already appear in the Agora, the student newspaper at MCCC (and www.mcccagora.com, the website), will be republished in The News. Not all the stories will be included, of course, but there will be a selection based on what seems likely to interest News readers.

The first such story was published in the Feb. 9 Monroe News. The article by Leah Thomas focused on reviving the Husky mascot.

In addition, any student who wants to contribute stories to The News will be encour-

The Agora Editor Vanessa Ray Web Editor Leah Thomas Chief Copy Editor Adviser James P. Quick Dan Shaw Staff: Cheyanne Abel Shane Brooks Carla Cohen Taylor Dively Miranda Gardner

Sawyer Jackson Cassidy Maier McKinley Striggow Don Thomas Erin Thomas

Editorial Policy

The Agora is published by the students of Monroe County Community College, 1555 S. Raisinville Rd., Monroe, MI, 48161. The editorial office is located in Room 202 of the Life Sciences Building, (734) 384-4186, agora@monroeccc.edu.

Submissions: The Agora encourages submissions by anyone in the college community, including free-lance articles, opinion columns, or letters to the editor. All submissions must include a name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. The Agora reserves the right to edit for clarity, accuracy, length, and libel.

The Agora is a student-managed newspaper that supports a free student press. It is a member of the Michigan Community College Press Association, the Michigan Press Association, College Media Association, Associated Collegiate Press and the Student Press Law Center.

Story suggestions are welcome. Let us know what you would like to see in The Agora - it’s your newspaper. Email submissions to agora@ monroeccc.edu.

Agora editor Vanessa Ray wrote this story in the Dec. 16 Monroe News and Agora staff member Leah Thomas took the pictures.

aged, whether the stories were published in the Agora or not.

The News also will begin using Agora reporters to cover a variety of events, through both stories and pictures.

It won’t be the first time MCCC students

have written for The News. Over the years, several students have gained valuable experience contributing to their local newspaper.

But this partnership will take that occasional role to a new level.

Of course, News editors will have to be thoughtful about what assignments students are given. Ray Kisonas, interim editor of The News, is an experienced journalist who knows his community and knows what kinds of stories make sense for student journalists.

I’m sure that more news about MCCC will find its way into The News, and I’m confident that students will provide interesting stories about life throughout the county.

Coincidentally, Vanessa Ray, editor of The Agora this year, already has been covering some news and sports assignments for The News. Her byline and photo credit have appeared several times in the last few months.

Others to have contributed regularly are Taylor Dively and Thomas.

Now, work by student reporters will become regular fare for Monroe News readers.

While that’s good for the News and its readers, it’s also good for the student journalists. This kind of professional experience will give them a leg up when they go looking for jobs after graduation.

I know. That experience at The Oregonian is what got me my first job, all those years ago.

Task force formed to study idea of adding MCCC sports program Taylor Dively Agora Staff

Community members gathered Feb. 7 for a second meeting discussing the possibility of starting a collegiate sports program at MCCC. A total of 14 members from the community attended the meeting. Coaches, athletic directors, and officials were also represented.

The first meeting, which took place on Dec. 6, showed great promise for the idea, according to Kojo Quartey, president of the college.

“There is definitely community interest for sports here at the college,” Quartey said. “Students are interested, community members are interested, and faculty and staff are interested.”

The meeting focused on how to fund the program and which sports would be chosen if the program was started.

Different funding ideas included pay-to-play, scholarships, grants, corporate sponsorships, and a booster club.

The hope for the college is to pick two sports, one for men and one for women, to start the program.

Among the choices thrown out for discussion were basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, cross country, golf, bowling, trap and skeet shooting, and outdoor vol-

“There is definitely community interest for sports here at the college.

Students are interested, community members are interested, and faculty and staff are interested.”

Kojo Quartey MCCC president leyball for both men and women. Other men’s sports were baseball and wrestling, and softball for women.

Lynn Beattie, a community member, said she thinks the meetings are going in a positive direction.

“I think the beautiful part of a second meeting was that there was a second meeting,” Beattie said. “That you had people that were knowledgeable in the field.

You don’t have people that are bored and need a place to go for the evening.”

The commitment of those who have attended the meetings has allowed an advisory committee to be formed to look further into sports at MCCC. That committee and community members are encouraged to attend the next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in room 173AB of the A Building.

Agora/mcccagora.com

February 20, 2018

Campus News • 3

Vex Team heads to championships Donald Thomas Agora Staff

Vex Team 3547: Virus, the college’s robotics team, is headed to the world championships.

On Jan. 13, Team Virus defeated eight university teams at the winter qualifier tournament to secure a trip to the World Championships.

Helping to claim the victory was the team president, Maribeth Mohn, who operated the robot alongside the driver, Carlin Huisman.

Kaleb Harrison was the second operator for their primary robot.

According to Mohn, Harrison is the main operator.

Mohn said the team did far better than she expected at the tournament, which was held at MCCC. “We were one of the most prepared teams that came there,” Mohn said.

Some of the teams that were in attendance came from schools like Michigan State University, Purdue University, and the University of Toledo.

Compared to last year’s competition, this one was almost twice as large. There were 14 teams competing, compared to the nine from last year.

“We also brought two newer Vex teams to compete here, that started last year as well,” Mohn said.

The competition ended with MCCC‘s Team Virus scoring the highest award possible, the Excellence Award, which won them the championship.

The competition between the robots is simple.

“We have yellow cones and mobile bases and we have to stack the cones on the mobile bases or stationary goals,” Mohn said. “We get two points for every cone stacked on a mobile base or stationary cone and we also get points for scoring the mobile bases in different zones. We get five bonus points for having the highest stack in different zones or

Photos courtesy of MCCC Vex-U Team Virus

MCCC’s Vex-U Team Virus defeats The University of Toledo during the winter qualifier tournament Jan. 13 at MCCC.

the stationary goal. The first zone is a fivepoint zone, the middle 10 points, and the last one is a 20-point zone.”

“It’s very focused on everything that is going on, where you will get lost in working on it and lose track until the last 10 seconds in a match, and then make some mistakes like knocking your stack over, so it’s very intense and very focused,” Mohn said.

During each match, robots are allowed to work independently for the first 45 seconds of a match. The last minute and 15 seconds are operator-controlled.

The Vex-U Team recieves the coveted Excellence Award.

Both Mohn and Benjamin Garlepied, the vice president, said there are several things they are going to be focusing on as a team to help prepare for the World Championships, which will be April 26-28 in Louisville, Ky. “At this point in time, we have the robot built to where we want it to be,” Garlepied said.

“For the most part it’s just maintenance and making sure we have a handle on the controls, especially this year because of autonomous time.”

Mohn brought up several areas they could improve upon.

“Most of our preparations, we are working on our autonomous and programming skills so that we can score points faster,” Mohn said. “We are also considering building a second robot to help with point scoring.

She said they also will practice keeping track of the time and driving.

Building such a wonder bot takes a lot of work, according to Mohn.

“We start when the game is first released in April,” she said. “After we gather all of our ideas, we start by designing the robot in CAD, along with building prototypes of different ideas.

“By the time the fall semester started, we probably had the drive base and the bottom of the primary robot done and built, while everything else in CAD was done.”

Each step of the building process is a team effort. They also utilize Google Drive to keep things cohesive, despite varying schedules.

Harrison, who also is one of the builders, said he strives to help their ideas become reality.

“I do some more of the build that our captain comes up with, and making them feasible,” Harrison said. “He can come up with the designs, but I have to get them to work.”

According to Mohn, the crucial part of the robot is the drive base.

“The drive base is the bottom part that has the wheels and in this game, the drive base is like a mobile base that can pick up other bases.”

Team Virus is composed of students from MCCC and several other universities.

“The best thing about Vex-U is that everyone doesn’t have to be from the same school,” Mohn said. “Students from two or more schools could form a team together, the only requirement is they have to be enrolled in a college or university.”

Aside from Garlepied and Harrison, the team also has Maddison Emmerich, a student at Kettering University.

“We do have some members that have been on the college team for longer,” Garlepied said. “So, they have like one more year of experience, but they still have more experience than us.”

Team Virus’s goal is to help promote STEM education fields to current and future MCCC students. The team also diligently works toward enriching the local community through community service.

Mohn also noted that Team Virus is always looking for new members.

4 • Campus News

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Dance magic, dance

Student Government channels glitz, glamour of early era Hollywood

Photos by Vanessa Ray

Student Govenrnment Liasion Aidan Higgins and Vice President Katie Vandenbrink are both involved in numerous activities and groups on campus. Vandenbrink was one of the organizers of “The Golden Age of Hollywood” red carpet event at the River Raisin Baquet Center Sat. February 17

(Above Left) Alexander Hewitt dances the night away. (Above Right) Rachel Fowler (left) and Allie Warner pose with a few props in the photo booth (Right) Emma Muth talks with friends

(Right) Javed Peracha, Emily Cornell, Ben Roelant, and Nathan Grodi hit the dance floor and have a few laughs.

Both current students and alumni attended the dance

Vanessa Ray Agora Editor

The golden age of Hollywood is known for its allure, glitz, and beautiful leading men and women.

On Sat. February 17, the MCCC Student Government chose to channel the glamour of this era with “The Golden Age of Hollywood” ball.

The event was held at the River Raisin Banquet Center in Downtown Monroe and catered by Kosch.

Those who attended were served a full meal with a choice of either Traverse City chicken, bistro style beef, or vegetarian lasagna.

Student Government Vice President Katie Vandenbrink and member Allie Warner were in charge of planning the entire event.

One of the members of the planning committee was Student Government member Brendan Mason. He was happy with the location of the dance, which was right along the shore of the River Raisin.

“We found this hall and thought it would be better for students, as most are from Monroe,” Mason said. “We try to stay local with the dances. I think this is a great location for it.”

Most of the students attending looked as though they were enjoying themselves. Even President Kojo Quartey took to the dance floor.

There was a photo booth, dancing, non-alcoholic “champagne,” and desserts.

MCCC student Emma Muth echoed the sentiments of many of those in attendance, as she was just happy to spend time with her friends.

“It’s an opportunity to come together with all my friends,” Muth said. “We don’t always have intersecting classes and everything, so this is a way to get together and have fun.”

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Agora/mcccagora.com

February 20, 2018

Campus News • 5

Study Abroad to take on British Isles McKinley Striggow Agora Staff

The average Tinder profile describes a person as a traveler at heart.

But how about kicking it up a notch and have an above average profile full of travelling photos?

Spots are still available to the British Isles in 2019, but the deadline to enroll is coming up quick. The deadline to register is September 30, 2018.

The sooner students and community members sign up for the trip, the sooner a monthly payment price is locked in.

The total price of the trip is between $3,929 and $4,449. Using the first amount for monthly pricing, students and community members who sign up by the month of February will have a total of 14 months to divide the cost by. That would be 14 payments of $281.

“The sooner the better,” Wendy Wysocki, professor of business and economics, said.

If students or community members wait until the September 30, 2018 deadline, the monthly payments grow to $561 with the last payment being in April 2019.

For students who make this deadline, Wysocki wants to stress that getting a passport immediately is of the utmost importance.

“It is to my understanding that you have to have it [a passport] six months in advance, so the sooner you can get it, the better,” she said.

Information on fundraising and payment options will be discussed in two upcoming meetings.

The meetings will be held in the La-Z-Boy Center on the college’s Main Campus: Tuesday, February 13 at 5 p.m. in Room Z-271 and Thursday, February 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Room Z-258.

Individuals must attend a meeting and fill out an application before registering for the trip.

To participate in the trip, students must be 18 years of age, hold a GPA of 2.0 or higher, have two letters of recommendation, and pass a criminal background check. Community members must have two letters of recommendation, pass a criminal background check, and enroll in at least one of the three classes.

The classes offered include Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, and Art Appreciation.

Principles of Management will be taught by Wysocki, Principles of Marketing by David Reiman, and Therese O’Halloran will teach Art Appreciation.

“For the two business courses, there will be some discussion about learning some business practices from the U.S. and also an opportunity to learn what those business practices look like in other countries,” Wysocki said. “We hope to have a couple business tours from a smaller company and a larger company in London.”

The trip can accommodate up to 70 people if a second group is added. The second trip would offer different courses. These include Photojournalism with Dan Shaw, Psychology of Personality and Adjustment, by Melissa Grey, and History of Western Civilization

by Edmund La Clair.

Students participating can take one to three classes for three to nine credits as a part of the 2019 Spring Semester. Some of the classes are taught on-campus and some on the trip.

“Soon Study Abroad will be required for many degrees. It is an extremely rewarding, fun opportunity, and it costs about one-third if you go while attending MCCC as compared to a four-year university,” said Joanna Sabo, former MCCC professor and founder of the Study Abroad program.

The Study Abroad Program for students and community members has been scheduled for May of 2019 to the British Isles. Enrollment for classes will begin at the end of Winter Semester 2019.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to go to another country and get an overview. You get a lot of great information from the tour directors and you get to see a lot of different places,” Wysocki said.

“Then you can always decide to go back another time if there’s a place you really like.”

The trip will include visits to Ireland, Wales and England with stops

Itinerary Chart designed by James P. Quick

in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shannon, Killarney and Dublin.

The dates are currently May 13-27, 2019.

For more information, contact Wendy Wysocki at (734) 384-4294 or wwysocki@monroeccc.edu.

6 • Campus News

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Students critical of Trump’s lack of DACA plans Carla Cohen Agora Staff

Many MCCC students and staff feel that President Trump has no real plan for immigrants.

“I think he says one thing and does another. He does his own agenda that he already had planned,” KOSCH employee David Anthony said.

“Yeah, he has a plan that he wants – legal immigrants – but I don’t know if he will follow through with all the stuff that’s being said,” student Paxton Dunn said.

The Trump administration met with lawmakers January 11 to discuss an immigration deal he’s proposing.

During the meeting, some things Trump said were not taken very well by reporters and congressman.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” said Trump, according to the Washington Post.

“I don’t think it’s exactly right, what he’s saying. I don’t think the way he worded it was right,” said student Kyle Sander.

that’s just a really offensive statement because we have treaties with these countries,” said Jenna Magrum, another student.

“We shouldn’t be talking about them like that when we could be actually helping them in their countries to help them not be ‘shitholes.’”

She went on to say that she had a friend who used to be a foreign exchange student at the college.

“Why is your president like this? This is a nice country,” Magrum’s friend told her when discussing Trump’s comments about foreign countries.

The countries he was referring to are Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries according to the Washington Post.

“Make no mistake, we are going to put the interest of AMERICAN CITIZENS FIRST! The forgotten men & women will no longer be forgotten,” Trump tweeted.

“I think he’s a good president. I don’t think he’s better than Obama, but I think people just don’t see his vision,” said student Byron Johnson. “His approach may be a little differ-

“ I “His approach may be a litfeeltle different. I think he gets a like

lot of backlash because of the comments that he makes, but I think he’s a better president as far as growing America.”

Byron Johnson Student at MCCC

ent. I think he gets a lot of backlash be-

“I feel like that’s just a really offensive statement because we have treaties with these countries. We shouldn’t be talking about them like that when we could be actually helping them in their countries to help them not be ‘shitholes.’”

Jenna Magrum Student at MCCC

cause of the comments that he makes, but I think he’s a better president as far as growing America.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to lump people into one race,” student Carmen Lozano said.

The current immigration policy, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is ending on March 5 of this year.

Trump continues his demands for a wall on our Mexican border.

“We must BUILD THE WALL, stop illegal immigration, end chain migration & cancel the visa lottery. The current system is unsafe & unfair to the great people of our country – time for change!” said Trump tweeted on Jan. 4.

“Building the wall isn’t necessary. Everyone should have the same opportunities like they did years ago,” said student Kaylee

Smith.

“I think he might be going extreme, as far as building a wall and stuff like that. I think that’s a little excessive. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Johnson said.

President Trump had his first State of the Union address on January 30.

During this meeting, the Trump administration and members of the United States Congress were to discuss the budget, economic report and agenda.

But throughout this bipartisan meeting and State of the Union address, not once did they reach a decision on a new immigration policy.

For now it’s a waiting game, but by March 5, a new policy will be in place.

Nursing students take to the halls Bristyn Nadeau For the Agora

You wouldn’t usually see nursing students working in the hallway.

The Practical Nursing class, which is held in room 203 of the Life Sciences Building, is at capacity.

This often makes it difficult to hear while practicing the requisite skills.

“We have enough seats for twenty-four students, period,” professor Lindi McClure said.

“And then you put all the equipment out there. It’s tight.”

The hallway is, thankfully, a great deal quieter.

This makes it easier for students to learn new and important skills in the few weeks before they begin the next portion of their class.

“We spend five weeks front-loading and

“We have enough seats for twenty-four students, period. And then you put all the equipment out there. It’s tight.”

Lindi McClure Nursing professor

where they’re learning all those kind of beginning essential skills,” McClure said.

Using the hallways to learn important skills in a quieter area helped, she said.

She said it’s critical that they learn the necesssary skills..

“To walk into their first clinical site and be able to take vital signs, give a bath, and safely transfer and feed patients, and start learning how to assess patients.”

Photo by Bristyn Nadeau

Professor Lindi McClure’s classroom is typically very full.

Agora/mcccagora.com

February 20, 2018

Campus News • 7

Cryptocurrency gaining value, appeal Shane Brooks Agora Staff

Bitcoin’s value has grown well over 500 percent this past year, leaving economists wondering if the trend will continue.

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency which, unlike most, operates outside of any central bank or single administrator. This type of currency uses advanced encryption methods, or cryptography, for secure transactions.

Despite a recent surge in publicity and media relevance, a majority of people still don’t know what cryptocurrency actually is.

Bitcoin, the first and most valuable among cryptocurrencies, has played a substantial role in the increasing popularity.

Bitcoin and its cryptic technology have been around since 2008, but what’s making it popular as of late is the 2017 run. In mid-December Bitcoin reached $19,205.11, which has receded down to well over 40 percent since its all-time high.

MCCC students Joel Luallen and Caedin Carrabino both referred to cryptocurrency as a digital stock that goes up and down in price. They also said that they knew about Bitcoin only because of their friends who have invested.

“Kind of, but not exactly,” Carrabino said after being asked if he knew how Bitcoin and cryptocurrency worked.

Carrabino was not the anomaly on Monroe’s main campus. Out of ten students interviewed on campus, not one of them was able to accurately describe Bitcoin as anything other than a stock.

The factor that seemingly piques the interests of millennials is the investment opportu-

Briefs EMT Training scheduled Coming this Fall MCCC will be offering a non-credit EMT training course.

This course will be a blended online course that will be done in partnership with Huron Valley Ambulance, a regional, nonprofit provider of accredited ambulance and health transportation services in southeast and south central Michigan.

After students finish the course, they will be eligible to take the National Registry Certification test as required by the state of Michigan for licensure.

For more information on the training,

Bitcoin surged to become the sixth most valuable currency in the world in 2017 and is expected to rise again in 2018.

nity aspect; people are looking at Bitcoin as an alternative form of stock. The structure of it is similar and comparable, but ultimately stocks don’t move at a similar rate to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s value does not affect the stock market whatsoever.

In several countries, Bitcoin is currently being utilized in high volumes after the devaluation, inflation, and failure of their own national currencies. These include nations such as Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Unlike traditional paper money, it is not possible to touch, feel, or print a Bitcoin.

go to building A room 173D on Feb. 13, Feb. 27, March 13 and April 10 for informational meetings that will last from 10AM – noon.

Free Tax Preparation MCCC student volunteers will be offering tax preparation services on campus.

This has been done by MCCC’s accounting program partnering with the IRS to provide income tax services to taxpayers who earn $54,000 or less annually.

Having an appointment is recommended, but not required as all taxpayers will be served on a first come first served basis and must arrive no later than 2 p.m.

Children are not allowed in the tax preparation area and can’t be left unattended in the lobby.

However, much like traditional paper money, Bitcoin’s value fluctuates, just in a significantly more volatile fashion.

The number of companies who accept cryptocurrency transactions are rapidly growing by the day. Popular names like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Subway, Victoria’s Secret, and many more have started accepting Bitcoin.

It is more common to find online rather than in-store options for Bitcoin transactions. Because Bitcoin keeps the consumer’s immediate identity, such as their name, 100 percent anonymous, it is frequently used on

Tax preparation will be available on Fridays starting on Feb. 23rd – April 13th from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. (closed on March 2nd and March 30th) in the Career Technology Center.

To set up an appointment or to verify the documents necessary, please go to www.monroeccc.edu/taxassist or call the VITA info line at (734) 457-6006.

Special Olympics Club One of MCCC’s newest clubs is in search of new members.

The Special Olympics Club connects MCCC students and individuals with intellectual disabilities through sport to build friendships and help lead the social justice movement of Special Olympics.

the black market. However, the block chain technology does record the date, time, IP address, wallet ID, and the amount of transaction – all public information. The only transaction known to be more anonymous than paying with Bitcoin is paying with actual cash.

People buy their Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through certain exchanges, like Coinbase. After purchasing the desired amount of currency, they’ll then be able to keep the Bitcoin in digital wallets, such as ArcBit, mSIGNA, Armory, and Bither. In said wallet, people are given a unique, public, Bitcoin address which will be where they can send or receive currency from.

Close to 25 percent of Bitcoin is considered to be lost, and therefore forever inaccessible. The online digital wallet provides the user with a specific, uniquely put together word key in order to sustain maximum security; if someone were to lose or forget the exact word key, their wealth would be irretrievable, with absolutely no way to recover it.

Bitcoin was the original cryptocurrency; all others that came about afterward are referred to as “altcoins.” Other currencies attempt to replicate the technology that the original coin was able to generate. Litecoin, one of the marquee altcoins, is similar to Bitcoin, with the prime differences being the algorithms and transaction confirmation times.

Towards the end of 2017, Bitcoin rose to become the sixth most valuable currency in the world at a certain point. While investors and traders will hold, they can only hope that the cryptocurrency will have a similar run to a new all-time high in 2018.

1 in 3000 The Agora is launching “1 in 3000.”

This project features students on MCCC campus during the Winter 2018 semester.

The projects are audio of the student’s voices overlaid with pictures.

Students discuss their hobbies, future plans for school, or career plans.

Each week, the Agora will publish a new profile on its website - mcccagora. com.

The profiles will be located on the Features tab, found at the top of the home page.

The newest student’s story will be placed on top of the existing profiles.

They can also be viewed on the Agora’s YouTube channel.

The profiles will represent the demographics of the college. Agora staff members are looking for students in all the academic buildings on campus.

Black History Month

8 • February 20, 2018

Black History, My History

Black History Month still relevant Dan Shaw

Agora Adviser

There was a time a few years ago when I began to let the thought creep into my mind that Black History Month was becoming obsolete.

In the beginning – that is, in the 1970s – I was an enthusiastic supporter of creating a month to celebrate Black contributions to U.S. history. I was a young, white journalist, and I had covered race protests the preceding summer.

I came of age in the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement transformed America from a racially-segregated society that openly discriminated to an evolving society that embraced a multicultural revolution – albeit in awkward leaps and falls.

My introduction to race relations began in 1967, when my family decided to take a cross-country car trip to visit Expo 67, the world’s fair in Montreal, and other sites along the Dan Shaw way.

I grew up in rural Oregon, a state with fewer than one percent racial minorities in those days. At 14, I had only seen one or two Black people in my life, and none up close.

In an amazing combination of naïveté and courage, my parents decided to partially finance the trip by working as migrant laborers. We picked cherries in Michigan and cucumbers in New Jersey.

To most middle class Americans, that sounds like a crazy idea. But my parents weren’t like most people.

Both school teachers, they were diminutive in size – 4’11’ and 5’4” tall – but they also were smart, stubborn, and fearless.

In Oregon, where I grew up, it was a common sight to see migrant workers in the fields. As children, we

picked strawberries and beans to raise money for our school clothes, often in the same fields as Mexicans who migrated up the West Coast following the crops.

So when my parents realized they were a few hundred dollars short of financing the summer trip, it seemed like an obvious solution.

That explains why I found myself, during that hot, tense summer of 1967, picking cucumbers in central New Jersey. We were about a hundred miles or so south of Newark, where the streets were burning from the national race rebellion.

In the next row was an old Black man who happily showed my family the tricks of the trade – how to lift the leaves to find the cukes hiding along the ground, and how to avoid getting your arms scratched by the spiky vines.

He also told stories while we picked, and many of the families surrounding us sang songs as they moved up and down the rows. They accepted us for what we were – people just like them who needed to make some money, although for our family it was to pay for a vacation, not a livelihood.

They knew what was going on in Newark, and so did we. Some of them drove north on weekends to join the protests.

They gained an extra measure of respect for us when my father refused to drink first from the water container. The farmer brought water by every hour or two, and tried to make sure we got it before any Black workers.

When my father realized what was happening, he took the water and offered it to our new Black friends first. It infuriated the farmer, but underneath his poker face I’m sure my father was smiling.

Over the years since, I’ve had countless interactions with people of all races. I’ve had friends, neighbors, and colleagues from a variety of races and backgrounds. I’m proud to live in a multi-cultural nation that embraces people of all colors, creeds, and cultures.

Through the ‘70s, ’80 and ‘90s, as one barrier after

another was broken, it began to feel like we were getting close to the kind of country Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned.

Maybe someday Black history could have its appropriate place inside U.S. history, along with contributions of note from Asians, Hispanics, women, indigenous people, and all the other groups that have been marginalized in our textbooks.

Then something happened. As a new century progressed, the deaths of innocent young Black men at the hands of vigilantes and police officers began to pile up on our screens.

The surge of emotion that accompanied each incident made it clear that discrimination in America was deeper, more intransigent, more insidious, than well-meaning people like me realized.

I began to understand that my comfortable, middle class white life was masking the damning evidence that existed all along – the disgraceful incarceration rate of young Black men, the income and education gaps, the employment rates – showing that progress was more superficial than real.

I’m still proud to be an American, and I’m still proud of the progress we’ve made toward a more equal and just society.

But as we begin to celebrate Black History Month in 2018 – 51 years after my cucumber summer – I’m back to enthusiastically supporting the importance of the concept.

Yes, it’s about Black history. But it’s just as much a chance to remind ourselves that work needs to be done, and that each of us has a role to play.

For me, it means telling the story of those Black families who helped us when they could have turned their backs.

It means opposing injustice when I see it, and treating every relationship with kindness and respect.

Mostly, it means facing up to the disparities that our history has left us and realizing there’s more that I can do.

Photo by Vanessa Ray

MCCC president Kojo Quartey points to his hometown in Africa.

President describes interaction with his heritage Kojo Quartey

MCCC President

February is Black History Month, a time when we focus on the history and achievements of Blacks in the diaspora.

Black History Month was originated in 1915 by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland. In 1926, the first Negro History Week was celebrated in the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

As the years went on and as the Civil Rights Movement evolved, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month. The rest is history (pardon the pun).

As we celebrate Black History Month, let’s remember that the United States is the greatest nation in the world because of our diversity, and Black history is part of that. While it is im-

portant to set aside a month to celebrate and acknowledge the Black experience and achievements, those achievements should be celebrated every month of the year.

Every month should be Black History Month, because Black history is world history. As I reflected on Black history, I thought about my personal experiences and connections with historical events in Black/African-American history – from Africa to Alabama and beyond.

We are who and what we are.

We are shaped by our backgrounds, experiences, and values. No doubt all of that has influenced and defined who and what I am today. Simply put, my values entail approaching all situations with humility and treating all people with dignity and respect.

To begin, I was born in Ghana, formerly known as the Gold

Coast, which is the first sub-Saharan African nation with which Europeans made contact. That was the Portuguese in 1471.

Ghana was also the first African nation to gain independence from a colonial power – namely England in 1957. After independence, the Gold Coast changed its name to Ghana, which had been one of the great pre-colonial African empires. The old empire of Ghana, along with the Mali, Songhai, and others, were centers of scholarship and trade during the European Dark Ages.

The current nation of Ghana has the dubious distinction of having more slave forts than any other nation. I have had the displeasure of visiting a Dutch fort in Ghana and have seen the trail that snakes from that fort many miles to the coast where the slaves were loaded onto ships to be sent to the New World. Near the fort were plantations where the slaves worked to produce

various products after the export of slaves was banned.

Ghana is the only nation that I know where tribal leaders who perpetrated slavery have apologized to other tribal leaders and to the African diaspora who were victimized by the sale of humans.

Up the West African Coast a few countries from Ghana is Senegal, the capital of which is Dakar. Off the coast of Dakar is Goree Island, which is now a tourist resort.

Goree’s claim to fame is that it was the last stop on the journey before slaves were shipped to the New World. I spent 19 months in Senegal as a teenager and visited Goree on at least two occasions. It has a huge fort with winding underground tunnels and dungeons that were used to hold slaves. The shackles and chains from those years are still present.

Goree is not that different from any of the other forts and castles, with its chains, shackles and dungeons – they are all reminders of the ignominy that was slavery. Like at other slave castles in places such as Elmina and Cape Coast, both in Ghana, many Africans in the diaspora who visit these venues come away emotional and tearful. It is an unpleasant sight to behold.

On to the United States. Baltimore, Maryland, my “home” where I spent many of my formative years in and after college. Baltimore is where Frederick Douglass, the great black orator and abolitionist, escaped from slavery.

The population of the city of Baltimore is predominantly African-American and the unemployment rate is approximately twice that of the state average.

While it is a thriving city for some, it is not as great for many others. I spent some of my college years in a rough and tumble inner city neighborhood in Baltimore.

I left Baltimore in 1984 and moved to Mississippi to attend graduate school at Mississippi State University. I spent almost three years in Mississippi, where I heard it all and experienced discrimination in many forms.

Mississippi was the place where Emmitt Till and many other Blacks were lynched and killed.

Agora/mcccagora.com • 9

Design by James P. Quick

See Quartey, page10

10 • Feature

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

New professor brings passion to math Cassidy Maier Agora Staff

Amera Almusharrf chased her passion for knowledge across the Atlantic Ocean.

The new associate professor of mathematics at MCCC grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to America to get a master’s degree in 2008.

That decision eventually led her to start teaching at MCCC last semester.

Her dedication to learning is plainly seen in the classroom.

“I thought she was extremely nice and willing to help her students out. She’s one of the only math professors I’ve ever had that actually did notes,” said writing fellow Rachel Billock.

“She didn’t just do problems on the board, she explained them and wrote each step on the board, so you could copy it down and use it to help with your homework.”

“She’s a very nice person with everything so far,” said math professor Kathy Shepherd.

“She wants her students to do well, like we all do.”

Almusharrf got a master’s degree in fractional calculus from Western Kentucky University and planned to continue on to get a Ph.D. The school didn’t offer a Ph.D program, so she redrew her map to the future.

She credits education and her children as being the reason why she’s here at MCCC. She moved to Michigan in 2011 to continue work on her Ph.D. But Almusharrf couldn’t find anyone else studying fractional calculus and ultimately decided to begin focusing on delay differential equations while she continued going to school.

She got a Ph.D in applied mathematics at Oakland University, but didn’t stop there. Her desire to learn more motivated her to begin do-

Photo by Cassidy Maier

Amera Almusharrf holds a Ph.D in delay differential equations.

ing research with a former professor on delay differential equations.

She explains she started working at MCCC to stay close to this professor, so they could continue their research.

“I see the education system is very strong and there’s a lot of research going on. It’s helped me to stay close with the researcher and to schools such as Wayne State and U of M,” Almusharrf said.

Her children are also a large part of the reason she’s here.

Almusharrf had wanted them to attend an Arabic school and to be near an Arabic community and she found this in Southeast

Michigan.

Almusharrf grew up in Saudi Arabia with four sisters and a brother. Her infatuation with math seems to have been ingrained from the start.

“I loved the subject since I was a child in elementary school,” she said.

And so has her zeal for absorbing as much information as her brain can possibly hold.

“I used to get all A’s in my subjects in my old school - in elementary and high school. I love studying,” she said.

She feels coming from a different background gives her the opportunity to broaden the horizons of others here at MCCC.

She explains that many people in the area don’t know very much about Islam. She cites a recent conversation with a coworker as an example.

The two talked about Ramadan, with Almusharf explaining some of the main components to the coworker.

She says it’s the ninth Arabic month and involves fasting from before the sun rises until after it sets.

The month is a time to focus on bettering yourself.

“We devote this month to worshipping God. We read what’s happened through the whole year — what did we do wrong, what did we do right, what can we do better next year — and this is of course regarding the soul and not work,” she said.

Another component involves helping those in need.

“We feel they need more, they can’t help themselves. We donate money, clothes, any need for them,” Almusharrf said.

She says she and her family cook food and share it with the less fortunate, often driving long distances to do this.

Almusharrf has big plans for students in the future.

She’ll be going to a math competition in April at Lawrence Technological University for the Student Competition Using Differential Equations Modeling (SCUDEM). She hopes to get ideas to form a team of her own here at MCCC that will participate in similar competitions.

“I think I have a great chance to pursue my goals of hosting a team of students and encourage them to do research and attend conferences and math competitions,” Almusharrf said.

It seems her passion will forge a path for MCCC to climb to higher places.

Quartey discusses Harold Franklin and Alabama pastors. I have met all of Dr. King’s children on different occasions.

I left Mississippi in 1987, Ph.D. in hand, and moved back to Baltimore. However, I went back Many a time, I visited Montgomto the Deep South for more of the southern expeery and Selma, and crossed over rience. I spent eleven years of my life in Talladega, the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Also Alabama. This was, ironically, one of the best placwhile at Talladega, I had the honor es I have ever lived. of working with Mr. Harold FrankTalladega College, a Historically Black College/ lin, the first Black to integrate AuUniversity (HBCU) was founded by the American burn University.

Missionary Society to educate and train freed slaves.

Franklin’s office was directly across The first building on campus, Swayne Hall, was built from mine; he taught history, and I by slave labor. The Amistad (Slave Mutiny) murals are taught economics. Needless to say, I located in Savery Library at Talladega College. heard many horror stories from him.

While at Talladega, I had the opportunity to I also visited, lectured at, and was visit many other historically-significant venues. recruited to teach at Tuskegee UniThese included the 16th Street Baptist Church in versity. This Alabama institution was Birmingham Alabama. I spoke at this place, which, founded by Booker T. Washington. I in 1963, had been bombed by white supremacists, also interviewed at and was offered killing four innocent black girls. a position (which I did not accept) at Fisk University in Tennessee, W.E. B. I spent time in Anniston, Alabama, one of the places Harold Franklin circa 1964. where many Freedom Riders were attacked and beaten. I also Dubois’ alma mater. once worshipped at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GeorAfter I left Alabama, I took a position at Lincoln Universigia, where both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his father were ty. Another HBCU named for the great president who issued

Continued from Page 9

the Emancipation Proclamation.

It was at Lincoln that I learned about Juneteenth. You see, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all the slaves.

There were slaves being held in Galveston, Texas (I’ve been there, too) until two years after the Proclamation.

It was not until June 19, 1865 that they learned that they were free. By the way, it is worth noting that Lincoln University is an 1890 Land Grant Institution founded by the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantries. These “Buffalo Soldiers,” who after returning from the Civil War, founded an institution to educate themselves and their progeny.

So, after recounting much of my “Black History” experiences, I end this educational and, hopefully, edifying and illuminating lesson with a statement about the importance of education. Indeed, much progress has been made by African-Americans since the days of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.

Invariably, the only way forward is through education in all its forms. That is why I am so proud to be in this great profession of education that transforms and enriches lives, regardless of one’s background, nationality, ethnicity or color.

Black History is important to all of us because it is world and American History.

Agora/mcccagora.com

February 20 , 2018

Feature • 11

Ag program expands under McCain Carla Cohen Agora Staff

Andrew McCain brings a much-needed resource to the MCCC campus.

McCain is the coordinator of the new Agriculture Program.

“I’m a 50/50. I’m employed by Michigan State and MCCC,” he said.

With a bachelor’s degree in crop and soil science, McCain found this partnership with MSU and MCCC to be kismet.

“I saw they had an ad in the Monroe Evening News for the coordinator’s position. I’m kind of one of those, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be,” said McCain.

“He’s doing a great job with the new agriculture program,” said Paul Knollman, dean of the Business Division.

“He’s easy to work with, he’s really good for the students for a guy that’s never been in education before, he relates to the students really, really well.”

Seven months into the program, McCain is happy with everything.

“There’s a huge support network,” he said.

He gave as an example a company called FarmLogs, which helps older farmers use new technology, such as farming equipment that utilizes GPS. “They’re a bunch of 20 and 30-year-olds that are just like whiz kids,” McCain said.

Knollman said McCain is versatile.

“He has to be able to talk to students, then he has to go out and talk to farmers and people in the agricultural industry.

He seems really good at that, very smooth, very comfortable,” Knollman said.

McCain has talked to some faculty and found that efforts to start an Agriculture Program date back to the mid-70s.

“There was evidence that one was maybe tried, but this one is full-fledged and going,” McCain said.

“I was asked to help set this up, and I’m so happy to give it

McCain in his office in the CTC Building.

Photo by Carla Cohen

Photo by Vanessa Ray

The idea of an Agriculture Program has been discussed since the 1970s, but McCain has made it a reality.

to Andy and say ‘it’s yours, buddy,’” Knollman said.

Students are required to intern between their first and second year of the program. It can be with a small farm, a big company, or anything in between. They must complete 480 hours of contact time and have the internship pre-approved.

As long as students maintain a 3.0 GPA, they can transfer to MSU for their bachelor’s degree.

The program at MCCC only requires a 2.0 GPA. “My students are dual-enrolled, so they’re basically MSU students and MCCC students,” McCain said. “It’s around $26,000 a year to go to the MSU campus. That’s housing and classes.”

Students still have to pay for the MSU credit hours for the Agriculture classes, but MCCC’s general education classes are far cheaper than MSU’s.

“There’s a little over half – almost a third – of the cost they can save by staying in Monroe,” McCain said.

He further note that he had around 70 credits at MCCC before he transferred to MSU. When asked about how he got his start, McCain told about his childhood.

“I started when I was twelve,” he said. “Bailing hay, pitching manure, feeding the cows and chickens. My mother was a school teacher, and my dad worked at Ford, but all three sides of us were farms.

“My brothers and I worked at all of them growing up. As I got older, I was like, ‘boy, there was something to all of that.’ ” The hard work definitely paid off, getting him where he is today.

Marion Eipperle, designer and owner of Green Meadows Golf Course, had a big influence on him. Green Meadows itself used to be farmland.

“What I liked was, he had an idea, a thought, and he did it,” McCain said. “Seeing his way of doing things and kind

of his morals. I just learned a lot from him: how to talk to people and treat people. It’s good to have somebody like that in your life.”

If students think that they may be interested in Agriculture, McCain encourages them to look at www.iat.msu.edu.

“It has videos that give students an idea about how broad the program is. I don’t think a lot of people realize how many products are really grown in Michigan. The west side of the state really does a lot; blueberries, cherries, hops farms,” McCain said.

“I think Andy is a great guy and he’s a great addition to MCCC Staff,” said Tom Ryder, Student Activities director.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with him and talking about setting up the Ag club. I think he’s the perfect pick to be the new Ag director.”

One of the new electives offered deals with drone flying.

The drones can fly over crops, looking for damage, and the footage can then be used to help fix the problem.

“I think it will be a big emerging use in agriculture for sure,” McCain said.

This summer, in the field to the north of MCCC, there will be a community garden for the Agriculture Club and agriculture students. A grant for the school for this purpose.

There will also be test plots for different farmers to test certain products; everything will be donated by farmers.

“They’ll be one-acre plots. One will have corn, one will have beans, one will have what they call ‘cover crops.’

They’ll be different seed companies that help us out; they’ll be like herbicide companies that will donate some materials,” Knollman said.

“I have a lot of people that just want to see agriculture succeed,” McCain said..

Students interested in the Agriculture program can contact Andrew McCain by phone at 384-4155 or his email: amccain@monroeccc.edu.

12 • Feature

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Foundation makes impact on MCCC James P. Quick Chief Copy Editor

For 20 years, the Foundation at MCCC has been enriching the lives of students and faculty.

Founded on April 27, 1998, by the Board of Trustees, the Foundation is integral to the college, according to President Kojo Quartey.

“It’s important to realize that the Foundation is part and parcel of the institution. It raises money only for Monroe County Community College,” Quartey said. “Our Foundation doesn’t raise money for anybody else.

“It supports the community in the sense that we can use the funds community members give us to help individuals in our community who may one day be students here.”

Joshua Myers has been the executive director of the Foundation since 2012, when previous director Sue Wetzel moved on to become vice president of Administration.

“We’re celebrating our twentieth anniversary this year,” Myers said. “We do a variety of different fundraising efforts for the college. We are the philanthropic arm of Monroe County Community College.”

Myers explains that the Foundation is a separate 501C from the college. Funds are not co-mingled.

It also has an independent board largely comprised of community members, alumni, and various other supporters of the college.

“I am a college staff member that leads it from the college’s side,” Myers said.

The Foundation’s scholarships and enhancement grants are beneficial to students. It puts a sizable amount of funds towards scholarships.

“Scholarships are the thing students see the most,” Myers said. “We are actually in the scholarship cycle right now. We typically offer about a quarter of a million dollars in scholarships every year. That’s over 100 students.”

One such scholarship is the George Rhodes Writing Fellow of the Year Award. This scholarship, which honors the memory of the late Writing Fellow George Rhodes, is awarded to a writing fellow who honors his dedication and skills in their own actions in the program.

The 2016-17 winner was Kellyann Navarre.

The scholarships are all private donor-supported, Myers added.

Enhancement grants – which Myers describes as mini-grants given to faculty and student initiatives – are especially helpful for such projects as Study Abroad.

Photos courtesy of Dan Shaw.

Study Abroad students with Joanna Sabo in the Czech Republic’s Krkonoše Mountains.

“There’s a grant this year for the students going to London for the nursing program,” said Wendy Wysocki, head of the Global Studies Division, which spearheads the Study Abroad program.

“They are hoping to use that money to sponsor excursions to some healthcare facilities; NHS stuff.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity. Not only can they go and get global experiences, they can also see how the healthcare system works there.”

Other projects and programs the Foundation assists include Vex Robotics, Destination Dance, and One Book, One Community.

“Actually, for One Book, One Community, the Foundation’s one of the founding partners,” said Cheryl Johnston, head of OBOC. “The Foundation has been involved since the very beginning of us having a community read, even when it was The Big Read twelve years ago.

“That was funded through a humanities grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Foundation was actually instru-

“We’re celebrating our twentieth anniversary this year. We are the philanthropic arm of Monroe County Community College.”

Josh Myers Executive Director of the Foundation

mental in making that application and getting that funding. It provided the first roots of our having a community read for four years.”

When that grant ran out, the Foundation helped the transition from The Big Read to OBOC and continued to provide encouragement and financial support. Johnston describes it as integral to the project.

“We try to meet whatever the needs there are for the college,” Myers said.

According to Quartey, the Foundation was critical in helping raise funds for the CTC and the Meyer Theater. Those were larege “capital campaigns,” Myers said.

In addition, the Foundation is currently raising money for the college’s new Agriculture Program.

Quartey writes a personalized, unique thank you letter – by hand – to every individual who donates to the Foundation.

“Without the Foundation’s support, MCCC would not be where it is today,” Quartey said.

Student Carla Cohen also feels that the Foundation’s help is integral, referring to its assistance in funding the Agora’s annual trip to New York City for a journalism convention.

“I definitely have benefitted from the experience,” Cohen said. “It really allows someone to expand their views of the world and of journalism. Without the Foundation’s funding for this, most wouldn’t be able to go.”

Clubs aren’t left out, either.

Melissa Grey, head of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, cites its help with the Pride Prom.

“They’ve been consistent supporters, which

Agora staff members in Central Park.

gives students a confidence and a starting point that they otherwise wouldn’t have,” Grey said.

“Josh has always been helpful and flexible during both the application process and figuring out how to access the funds appropriately. My most vivid memories are of students enjoying themselves and having a great time at Pride Prom, and that’s where his and the Foundation’s help really shows.”

So what does the future hold for the Foundation?

Myers said there will be a celebration later this year, but nothing’s set in stone at this early stage.

“We’re in a really big planning year,” Myers said. “We’re reviewing our mission, vision, and values, as is the college. But this is an independent process. The board is going to be undertaking a strategic planning process. We’re going to be renewing our bylaws.

“It’s not flashy stuff, but it’s a good time to look back and review our direction over the next twenty years.”

Agora/mcccagora.com

Opinion • 13

February 20, 2018

Staying healthy in the face of the flu

Cheyanne Abel explains how to fend off and survive infection.

Cheyanne Abel Agora Staff

Whether it’s referred to as arguing with the worms, calling the dinosaurs, or just plain throwing up, society can set aside their differences and agree on this topic: we all hate it.

In fact, we hate it so much that whenever we hear someone say “I have the stomach flu,” our first instinct is to bathe in disinfectant spray and rub our hands raw with sanitizer.

Unfortunately, these tactics won’t help.

According to several health sites, the “stomach flu” isn’t the flu at all. The correct term for the illness is gastroenteritis (a.k.a. norovirus or infectious diarrhea). It infects the digestive tract, causing aggravated lining and inflammation that produces vomiting and diarrhea, occasionally accompanied with a low-grade fever.

This virus can only infect the body by ingestion and lasts between 24 to 72 hours. Influenza, on the other hand, is a respiratory virus that can be spread via airborne infection, last anywhere between three to seven days, and produce alarming fevers that can be fatal.

Norovirus is found in droplets of vomit and/ or fecal matter and can be spread by toilet flushing or people who have not washed their hands correctly. If a healthy individual happens to encounter the virus and eats something with his or her hands, the process has just begun.

Within a day or two, the virus begins to grow and spread throughout the gastrointestinal tract

until the body has no choice but to get rid of it. At this point, think of your stomach as an incubator.

So, what now? What can you do to keep others from getting sick? How can you prevent yourself from catching it again? If you have been around someone who has it or if you’re starting to feel nauseous, you can take activated charcoal to drastically reduce symptoms, accelerate the recovery process, or even get rid of the virus before you marry your toilet.

Activated charcoal is a supplement made from coconut shell and is known for absorbing harmful toxins inside the body. It’s also sometimes used for food and alcohol poisoning.

However, it is always important to talk to a doctor beforehand as it can absorb medications.

If you do not have access to activated charcoal or you take other medications, the best and quickest way to recover is to rest. Try to seclude yourself from other family members and use a separate bathroom if possible. If you only have access to one bathroom, be sure to bleach the affected areas and keep toothbrushes and other oral items stored in a closed area where the virus cannot contaminate.

Forgot to put them away? It happened without warning? Remove these items and place in mouthwash, such as Listerine, and let them soak for an hour, then rest them in hot salt water. It is also important to drink plenty of clear fluids to prevent dehydration since losing bodily fluids is definite. Try to sip on water or

clear broths to keep up on vitamin intake and stay hydrated. You can also drink sports drinks to replace electrolytes and may be easier to hold down than water.

It is also important to understand that even though you may feel a lot better the next day without any side effects, you are still contagious! To keep friends, family, and colleagues safe, try your best to stay home from school and/or work for two full days.

The norovirus remains in your system for 48 hours, and can still infect others. This is also a good time to slowly reintroduce daily activities while eating light foods, such as the B.R.A.T. Diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast).

Be aware that if you have caught the norovirus once, you can catch it again. However, in most cases, your body might be able to get rid of it a lot quicker than the first time, hopefully bypassing the symptoms.

On the bright side, you can prevent yourself from catching it again the same year and even more in the future by taking certain precautions. The first, most important step of all, is hand washing. Wash them every chance you get with hot, soapy water, making sure to scrub between fingers and under the nails. Try to keep your fingers out of your mouth and avoid eating with your hands when you have the option to use a fork or spoon.

Once you have mastered the primary steps of keeping yourself germ-free, you can

Art by Cheyanne Abel

move on to tackling surface areas in your home and work area. Remember to not let hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays that say “kills 99.9% of germs” fool you.

To kill this nasty bug, you are going to need something a lot stronger than Purell and alcohol wipes. In this scenario, bleach will be your best friend. Mix a solution half bleach and half water to clean hard surfaces such as toilets, countertops, floors, and other infected areas and allow the area to air-dry.

If you had a family member pollute fabric furniture, however, there are certain products that you can find in stores to disinfect but choose wisely! Read the back label under the virus column and make sure norovirus is listed. A good product to use for couches and other furniture is Lysol maXcover, which can be found in any superstore cleaning department. For work settings or for people who are not comfortable using bleach on surfaces, Clorox hydrogen peroxide wipes also kill the norovirus and will not stain or ruin household appliances.

Sometimes, even if we follow health procedureslikesacredlaws,wegetsickanyway.When the stomach flu hits, just acknowledge that it could always be worse: you could’ve ended up with the actual flu.

Just remember that there is no harm in being prepared and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Stay healthy!

14 • Opinion

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Elusive potholes plague MCCC students

Cassidy Maier Agora Staff

Potholes have been plaguing Michigan dwellers, with those in Monroe County being no exception.

The constant freezing temperatures that rise long enough to evoke thoughts of spring before plummeting again have done a number on the majority of county roads.

Potholes and other road damage has been rampant during these past few months, with MCCC students feeling the burn during their commute.

Madeline Thomas, a student at the college, said she had been driving in Newport when she hit a particularly big pothole.

“It took up a huge quarter of the road and I went through it and it was bad. I almost popped my tire. I thought I did for a minute, it was so loud,” Thomas said.

Other students talked about similar experiences.

“I just started driving this year really, by myself, and definitely in my neighborhood throughout the winter, the potholes have gotten a lot worse,” Jenna Mignano said. “Like you’re weaving throughout the road to try to avoid them, but then again the road’s small and if a car’s coming the other way it’s kind

Photo by Cassidy Maier

Road damage on Shoemaker road.

of hard to avoid them.”

“They don’t take care of them really well at all. Sometimes they’ll just put a little bit

of something over top and then by a couple months later it’s back into a pothole because so many people drive over it,” agreed Mad-

ison Hurley.

Ed Shinnevarre, the district supervisor, said the road commission has their hands tied during this time of year.

He explained the process for filling in a pothole and said during the winter months, the commission can simply put what’s called a cold patch over the hole.

The cold temperatures don’t allow fixing the holes with a hot mix that will last two to three years. Instead, road workers are stuck simply patching the hole until the weather warms up.

“A cold patch can hold anywhere from one day to six months,” Shinevarre said.

He goes on to explain that the public is the road commission’s eyes and ears for potholes and road damage.

With so many miles of road to cover in the county, the people who work at the road commission can’t drive down each and every one of them each week, meaning there’s damage they’re unaware of.

“People have to be our eyes too. We’ve got fourteen hundred miles of road and we’ve got three supervisors and we don’t run them all every day and they pop all the time,” Shinevarre said. “There could be potholes out there that are bending rims right now.”

#MeToo: You are never alone Carla Cohen hopes to bring more awareness to the tragedy that is sexual abuse by sharing her own experiences and by encouraging readers to speak out about their own Carla Cohen Agora Staff

Losing awareness of everything around you, chills down your spine, feeling small and insignificant.

Those are a few of the sensations I’ve felt; each more unpleasant than the next.

Many people affected by sexual abuse or harassment don’t speak up.

There could be many reasons for why, but none matter. What matters is what we do about it.

On social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, people have started hashtagging the words MeToo, letting people know that they are not alone.

It’s my opinion that everything of significance, whether it be good or bad, affects your future.

I wrote an article a few years back for the Agora about domestic violence. I listened and watched as someone was beaten in the hallway of my apartment building.

There are many types of abuse and each one is as serious as the others.

There are many things in my life that I have brushed off because I didn’t think it was a “big deal,” or I justified it to myself that I was the one overreacting.

But at the end of the day, I knew I wasn’t.

Sometimes I didn’t speak up because I didn’t realize what was really happening until it was over, and then I felt like it was too late.

“There are many types of abuse and each one is as serious as the others.”

Carla Cohen I didn’t speak up because in that moment I stood frozen like a statue, feet planted to the floor, as if I was trapped in quicksand.

Each time, I knew I should have spoken, but now that it’s in the past, does it really matter? The damage is done, my mind is al-

ready affected.

I don’t smile the same. I don’t love the same.

If I tell my boyfriend, will he still love this damaged creature sitting before him? A mess of emotions affected by the horrible people in my past. Each one who made me feel like I was the one who was wrong.

It puts you in a difficult position to trust someone, to know that they have good intentions. I want to believe that everyone has a good heart and would never take advantage of mine.

There have been many cases in the news lately that I’m sure everyone has heard of – from Larry Nassar to Aziz Ansari.

Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor who used his power to take advantage of hundreds of Olympic gymnasts.

Ansari went on a date with a woman he met at the Emmy Awards. He used his celebrity status to take advantage of her, continuously ignoring her body language and distance from him.

These are only a couple of examples.

Sexual harassment doesn’t have to be taking advantage of someone drunk at a party.

It could be a co-worker or even a friend who pushes boundaries but doesn’t realize that they’ve just taken something from you, your voice.

I wish I had stopped what was happening to me, or told someone. Instead, these mem-

Photo by Carla Cohen

Self-portrait.

ories have built up in the back of my mind, repressed, flooding my thoughts at the most inopportune times.

I call those memories my demons, and they help me grow daily into someone stronger.

Whether it’s hashtagging MeToo on social media or telling someone you trust, it’s time to speak out and speak up.

It’s time to be free.

Agora/mcccagora.com

February 20, 2018

Sports • 15

Allstar game takes precedent over Olympics Taylor Dively Agora Staff

The NHL Allstar Game has become a laughingstock of pro sports.

It has been for years, but the NHL reached a new level of embarrassment with the 2018 Allstar Game.

During the summer, it was unclear whether or not the NHL would be hosting an Allstar Game due to the Winter Olympics.

The league normally takes a two-week long break during years that the Olympics are held to allow players the opportunity to represent their country.

In the interest of attempting to make more money, the NHL decided to bypass the Olympics in favor of hosting the ASG in Tampa Bay, Florida.

When the news came out at the beginning of training camp that players were not allowed to play in the Olympics, some players took it in stride while others angrily voiced their opinions.

Alex Ovechkin, captain of the Washington Capitals and former captain of Team Russia, was notable among the angry players. He was seen multiple times conversing with fellow Russian teammates trying to find a way to bypass NHL rules to play for Russia.

The league eventually put a stop to this and reiterated the fact that all players in the league were under contract and were not allowed to participate in the Olympics.

This is the first year since 1998 that NHL players will not be part of the Olympic teams.

Before 1998, teams consisted of college, junior, free-agent, or retired players. The majority of players this year are from those same groups.

Not only would players prefer the Olympics over an ASG, but players have skipped ASGs in the past because of how pointless they are.

Other leagues have tried to make their ASGs important or at least interesting for the players.

The NHL has neither of these things.

Home ice advantage during the championship final is not determined by who wins the game, and the game and skills competitions haven’t had any significant changes for years.

Major League Baseball decides home field advantage for their championship final through an allstar game which adds an extra incentive for players.

The only incentive in the NHL is in the form of a bonus payment for the players who already make millions of dollars. They would honestly rather enjoy the weekend off

like the rest of their teammates.

Players such as Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Jonathan Toews have all skipped past ASGs to get those two days of rest.

They were all suspended one game for doing that, but when you look at the bigger picture of making it through the final 25 plus games in a season, it would be well worth it.

Ice hockey has been a hard sport to grow and introduce to people throughout the world. It is an extremely expensive sport to play and watch.

A kid cannot go outside and play ice hockey like they could with sports such as baseball and football. They would have to live in an area that had a rink, pay hundreds of dollars for ice time, and find at least nine others also capable of doing this just to play a game.

The Olympics act as a means of advertisement for the game on a global scale. It helps showcase the sport in countries where it is otherwise nonexistent.

Removing the best players that each country has to offer just because they play in the NHL lowers that enthusiasm and, most importantly, the skill level of the game being played.

Who would want to watch a tournament of average players playing a game that is not very popular?

Photo by Taylor Dively

Brian Dumoulin reacts to Sidney Crosby winning a face-off.

The NHL has made a huge marketing mistake by keeping the players out of the Olympics. Hopefully this is not the new precedent for years to come.

Eagles make history in this year’s Superbowl Shane Brooks Agora Staff

The Philadelphia Eagles, led by Nick Foles, dethroned league MVP Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52.

The conclusion to the 2017-18 NFL season ended with a final score of 41-33. The Eagles brought home their very first Super Bowl championship in franchise history and Foles was named the MVP. A Minneapolis crowd of 68,000 was fortunate to have witnessed not just Super Bowl history, but NFL history as well with a record-breaking combined 1,151 yards between the two offenses. There were just two punts on the night.

Despite throwing for a Super Bowl record-high of 505 passing yards, Brady was unable to earn his sixth ring. Foles had a performance for the books, completing 28 of 43 attempts for 373 yards, putting himself into the top five for Super Bowl passing yards in a game.

After driving down the length of the field, Foles tossed the go-ahead, game-winning, 11-yard touchdown to tight end Zach Ertz with just two minutes and 21 seconds left in the ball game.

Following the late score, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham made a signature moment with the strip-sack on Brady. That set up the rookie kicker Derek Barnett’s 46-yard field goal to extend to an 8-point lead. Barnett’s kick was a record-setting distance for a rookie in any Super Bowl.

With just over a minute left to play, Brady

Zack Ertz diving across the goal line for the winning touchdown.

and the New England offense were able to take the field with no timeouts remaining.

Three completions drove the Patriots to their own 49 with just nine seconds to go.

After the Hail Mary attempt to tight end Rob Gronkowski was incomplete, the gameclock had expired; the Eagles were officially named Super Bowl 52 champions.

“Get used to this,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said. “This is the new norm in Philadelphia!”

This was quite the Cinderella story amongst Super Bowl winning teams. Losing your MVP-candidate, star quarterback for the backup to make a run into February and come home with a Lombardi Trophy. The Eagles were point-spread underdogs in each of their postseason games.

Carson Wentz, Eagles’ starting QB who tore his ACL prior to the playoffs, will likely reclaim his role as the team’s starter for week one in 2018. Popular belief is that the Eagles will consider plans to trade Foles, but it re-

mains uncertain at this point in the offseason.

This loss brings Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and long-time quarterback, threetime MVP Tom Brady, to a 5-3 record in Super Bowls for both of their careers. As of today, both Belichick and Brady are expected to return to New England for the 2018 season.

Foles, the Super Bowl 52 MVP, began his career in Philadelphia when he was drafted in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. In March 2015, he was traded to the L.A. Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford and a fifth round draft pick.

Later, the Rams ended up deciding to release Foles after he was benched for Case Keenum. This situation unfolded at age 27, and he had strongly considered options regarding retirement from the game of football.

“I think when you look at a struggle in your life, just know that’s just an opportunity for your character to grow,” Foles said in the post-Super Bowl press conference.

“And that’s just been the message. Simple. If something’s going on in your life and you’re struggling? Embrace it because you’re growing.”

Last March, the Arizona alum returned to the Eagles on a two-year backup deal behind Wentz. Once he was asked to take the field in week 14 of the 2017-18 regular season, the rest, as you know, is history.

No matter the outcome of Foles’ career as an Eagle, it is near certain that no. 9 will forever be praised in the city of Philadelphia.

16 • Arts & Entertainment

February 20, 2018

Agora/mcccagora.com

Panther, Panther, Burning Bright

Sawyer Jackson

Black Panther breathes new life into the MCU

Agora Staff

I’ve written about the Marvel Cinematic Universe many times.

While it is a franchise I enjoy due to my childhood love of comics, I’ve been waiting to see an installment in this now decade-old saga that carries a certain significance.

Not like “The Avengers,” whose success drastically altered long-term storytelling in big-budget tent-poles, but cultural significance. A film that would turn the tides by displaying an underrepresented demographic in ways which have never been done on a blockbuster scale.

That movie is “Black Panther.”

Co-writer/director Ryan Coogler brings the emotional heft and humanistic gravitas woven into his previous two films to craft an epic rife with family drama, political discourse, and cool gadgets to boot.

“Black Panther” is the eighteenth entry in the MCU, but it makes the whole enterprise look brand new again by carving out a corner in this ever-expanding universe that looks and feels unlike anything else ever put to film.

Set shortly after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to his native land of Wakanda after his father’s death to take his rightful place as king. Wakanda is an isolationist country in Africa that is the most technologically advanced in the world.

T’Challa’s reign is quickly complicated by the emergence of Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), an outsider with surprising ties to Wakanda and radical ideas of how it should be governed. Tested like never before, T’Challa is forced to confront his father’s legacy, Wakanda’s role in the world, and ultimately, what kind of king he has to be.

If “Thor: Ragnarok,” Marvel’s previous film, was about the sins of colonialism catching up to the present with devastating results, “Black Panther” imagines an African nation that has remained untouched by colonialism.

In their isolation, Wakanda has been allowed to thrive and excel ahead of the rest of the world.

It isn’t until Killmonger arrives in the picture that Wakanda’s traditions are challenged.

Yes, their isolationism has benefitted the people already living in Wakanda, but their refusal to engage in the outside world has brought on more harm than good to those not as unfortunate, specifically Killmonger himself.

Make no mistake, “Black Panther” is Marvel’s most political film to date.

Without getting too deep into spoiler territory, Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole examine how Wakanda’s isolationism creates enemies like Killmonger.

How he goes about achieving his goals is horrific, but his motivations are not without reason.

If anything, this is a tale about the importance of representation and identity, and how tragic it is when those things are stripped away from people.

On top of that, Michael B. Jordan is absolutely phenomenomal in this role.

He is wrestling with some dark emotions here, and he makes sure the audience not only sees but understands his fiery rage.

Equally-compelling is T’Challa, having just ascended to the throne, and uncertain when Killmonger’s presence calls everything he stands for into question.

Legacy is a theme Coogler has tackled before (“Creed”), but not on such a grand scale as this.

Unlike some previous Marvel films that, intentionally or not, act as uncomfortable power

fantasy where the hero is completely vindicated by the end, which stunts any substantial growth, “Black Panther” challenges T’Challa directly, forcing him to confront horrible truths about both his father and his country.

It’s in these emotional scenes where Chadwick Boseman shines. He only had a supporting role in “Civil War,” but he takes full advantage of being the lead here.

He bears T’Challa with great emotional intelligence and regality, making him the ideal actor to play this iconic character.

In fact, every single character has purpose and agency, no matter how large or small their role. This is a film that is firing on all cylinders in every department.

“Black Panther” is the most visually-ar-

resting picture in Marvel’s catalogue, which is saying something considering how the studio has drawn much derision for their bizarre color-grading techniques in the past.

Ludwig Göransson’s score is fitting for the film’s African setting and unique enough to separate itself from other superhero movies.

On a purely technical level, “Black Panther” is aces.

Rachael Morrison’s beautiful cinematography and Hannah Beachler’s intricate production design work wonderfully together to bring Wakanda to life.

It cannot be overstated how this is a setting so distinct from just about every major Hollywood production that has ever been.

Even the occasional dodgy CG shots and wonky green screen compositions aren’t enough to sink such achievements.

Though “Black Panther” has quite possibly the strongest thematic resonance of any recent superhero movie, the story does lose some steam towards the end of the second act when T’Challa drops out of the picture for some time.

Without spoiling too much, this decision makes some sense in terms of functionality, but it feels like a waste of time because we know he will be re-entering the story very soon.

While there have been much worse third act climaxes in these comic book adaptations before, going from complex political intrigue and internal struggles with legacy and identity to “we must stop the bad guy” feels like an obvious downgrade.

Though it does lead to some of the best moments of the film (the last scene between T’Challa and Killmonger in particular is forever burned into my memory because it’s so haunting) and it works for the story, that’s exactly how it feels: Perfunctory.

Yet, despite these writing stumbles, “Black Panther” is more important for the ways it works than the ways in which it doesn’t.

Superhero movies are made for children, but that doesn’t mean there is anything inherently wrong with enjoying children’s entertainment as an adult.

Walking out of this film and seeing all the kids enraptured with excitement and awe reminded me of when I was a small child walking out of “Spider-Man.” I felt amazed. I felt like for the first time in my life a movie spoke directly to me.

Most importantly, I felt inspired. However, it didn’t dawn on me until I was older that I felt these things because Peter Parker looks like me.

And now children who look like T’Challa can experience these emotions as well.

Perhaps one day, those kids, inspired by what they just witnessed, will grow up and become film critics or storytellers themselves.

That is beautiful. That is meaningful. That is why “Black Panther” matters.