The Agora April 17 2017

Quartey wants college to fill need for workers Page 4

Spider-Man 3: As bad as you recall?

MCCC hosts honors reception Miyuki Zerke takes top student award; Prush, West Smith win faculty awards

Honors credit proposed Task force looks at various options for new program Leah Thomas Editor

Leah Thomas Editor

Photos by Vanessa Ray

Student of the year Miyuki Zerke, left, Faculty of the Year Nickolas Prush, above right, and Adjunct of the Year Robin West Smith receive their awards at the 2017 Honors Reception April 12.

The Outstanding Student Program of the Year Award went to the Student Nurses Association for the bake sale it organized in the fall semester.

Writing Center director Lori Jo Couch honored the 29 Writing Fellows.

Kellyann Navarre won the George Rhodes Writing Fellow Award. The Writing Fellows vote for the recipient of this award each year.

The Dr. Ronald Campbell Student Government Award went to Student Government president Grayson Bacarella,

treasurer Javed Peracha, and Brian Friley.

Monroe County’s Big Gig and the Religious Counsel’s panel event won awards for the Outstanding Diversity Program of the Year.

Vice president of Instruction Grace Yackee recognized all the students on the dean’s list. For a complete list of the Fall 2016 recipients, see https://www.monroeccc.edu/studentservices/deanslist. htm.

Quartey presented the President’s Academic Achievement Awards. These

awards go to students who have completed a minimum of 40 credit hours with a 4.0 grade point average and are currently enrolled this semester.

This year Clayton Blackwell, Justin Gruden, Kayla Hawley, Rachel Imes, Laurel Kinsey, Olivia Latray, Kellyann Navarre, Noah Stanford, and Miyuki Zerke received the awards.

The other awards presented at the reception include:

See Honors, Page 3

Two more faculty say, ‘Goodbye!’

Cheryl Johnston leaves caring legacy

MCCC will miss Terry Telfer’s knowledge

Vanessa Ray

James Quick Agora Writer

Web Editor

In a school full of talented and exceptional professors, Cheryl Johnston stands out.

Johnston, Assistant Professor of English and Reading, is retiring at the end of the Winter 2017 semester.

Along with being a respected educator, Johnston is one of those professors who is admired by both students and colleagues.

“She’s very understanding and realistic, which I appreciate,” Emma Muth says. “You can tell she’s genuinely happy and loves being a teacher.”

“Cheryl is a consummate professional,” says English Professor Lori Jo Couch. “She truly cares about her students.”

From an early age, Johnston knew she wanted to be a teacher.

Although she grew up in Willis, a small agricultural town near Ann Arbor, Johnston attended St. Mary’s Academy in downtown Monroe – which at the time was an all girl’s school.

Page 5

Page 8

April 17, 2017 Vol. 64, Issue 8

Miyuki Zerke won the Faculty Association Outstanding Student Award at MCCC’s annual Honors Reception.

Nicholas Prush received the Outstanding Faculty Award, and Robin West Smith received the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award.

MCCC hosted the Honors Reception at See Page 6 the La-Z-Boy Cen- for profiles ter’s Meyer Theater of winners on April 12.

The event honored faculty, adjunct faculty, students, clubs, and organizations for their achievements during the 201617 academic year.

President Kojo Quartey opened the event with a warm welcome to students, faculty, and guests. Student Government members introduced the presenters.

Mark Hall, director of Admissions and Guidance Services, ended the evening with closing remarks. Guests enjoyed refreshments by Kosch Catering after the reception.

Randy Daniels, Vice President of Student and Information Services, said each year the international honor’s society for two-year colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, selects an all-state academic team from among our nation’s community colleges.

“We are fortunate to have two nominees representing Monroe County Community College,” Daniels said.

The All-USA Academic Team Nominees were Ashley Klug and Jessica Ryder.

They were formally recognized in Lansing at a banquet hosted by the Michigan Community College Association.

Agora wins 14 awards at MCCPA

“It was a long commute every day.” she says.

Though the trek to the little school on the corner of Elm and Telegraph was time consuming, it was during her years at St. Mary’s that the seed of her future career was planted.

“Good teachers inspire you to be a good teacher,” she says.

While Johnston admired many of her teachers, there was one in particular who instilled a passion for education.

“My first-grade teacher, Miss Frank, loved books and stressed the importance of being a good reader,” Johnston says. “She was a dynamic teacher who made everything more interesting.”

Johnson’s love of education did not stop at the classroom. Her parents were both her biggest inspiration and constant cheerleaders.

“My parents were readers,” she says.

See Cheryl, Page 6

Inside:

The wealth of knowledge afforded to MCCC by professor Terry Telfer will be lost at the end of the semester.

“What I’ve always liked about Dr. Telfer is that he’s a real intellectual,” says dean of humanities Paul Hedeen.

“And he has a real intellectual’s approach to things. Moreover, he’s an active intellectual. Which is to say that he sees that ideas have an important part in the process of social change.”

Telfer’s colleagues and students have all benefited from his knowledge.

“Terry’s been wonderful since I started at the college,” says professor of History Edmund LaClair.

“He’s always friendly, coming down to the office. He’s deeply interested in history – it was actually one of the fields he wanted to be in. His passion there has always been 19th Century American history and literature. We often talk about Herman Melville and ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener.’

“He’s a brilliant enough man to have

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taught at a four-year research university, but he grew up as a working-class kid.

He worked in factories before going back to college. He’s brought his love of learning here, and we’re lucky to have that.”

Fellow professor of English Carrie Nartker is perhaps unique among Telfer’s peers in that she was previously his student.

“Terry’s Creative Writing class was the first time I felt like I was being taken seriously as a writer,” she says in an email. “When we read our poems aloud, he would sit back, close his eyes, and listen. When we were finished, he would have thoughtful feedback that made us feel as though he was genuinely interested in us and our work.

“College politics, movies, gender, Emily Dickinson… whatever the topic, I can always count on Terry for a conversation that includes insight, as well as respect for my ideas.”

See Students, Page 6

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Serving Monroe County Community College since 1968

MCCC may offer honors credit for students in the future.

Within the last month, a task force has assembled to begin researching and discussing plans for an honors option at the college.

Paul Hedeen, the dean of Humanities/Social Sciences Division, organized the task force.

Although the project is facultydriven, the task force is compiled of administrators, staff, and faculty.

Hedeen said students will be designated as an honors student or honors graduate on their transcript, at graduation, or through another form of public recognition.

“It gives the best students, highmerit sort of students, a program all their own,” Hedeen said.

“It gives them a reward and a distinction for high merit for the work they have already done and opportunity to do more work.”

The task force met twice this semester, and Hedeen hopes to hold at least one more meeting in the spring.

The task force was split into four work teams to begin research.

Each team looked at area colleges and universities to find answers that could begin to shape MCCC’s honors option.

Jeff Peters, coordinator of eLearning and Instructional Support and a task force member, said the work is daunting because there is a lot to consider.

“The nature of a task force like this is to try and do your due diligence and get a lot of different perspectives from other community colleges to see what works for their college and for their students, and then try to determine if that would be the same experience for students here,” he said.

Hedeen hopes the faculty on the task force will be able to answer some basic questions about where they want to go as an institution, so they will have a foundation to start with when they reconvene.

“I want to know where to begin in the fall. I don’t want to start all over again, sort of have all the same discussions again, which tends to happen in task forces that go from one academic year to another because so much is lost in the summer,” Hedeen said.

Hedeen said they are at the beginning stages of making basic decisions that form the skeleton of the project.

Once they have the macro logistics worked out, they can begin filling in the pieces that will make the model a reality.

There are several big questions that must be answered before they have any concrete idea of what MCCC’s honors option will be.

First, they have to decide whether they want an honors program or an honors designation.

Hedeen said the honors program would probably be more extensive and costly.

The designation is not a real program, but it could be an interdisciplinary process where students earn honors credit with their

See Task Force, Page 2

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2| mcccagora.com • Campus News Artist encourages students to embrace diversity The Agora

April 17, 2017

Leah Thomas Editor

MCCC’s visiting artist encouraged students to pursue variety and flexibility in their art.

Chicago artist Sharon Bladholm said it is important to be diverse as an artist because each material teaches something about the other materials.

Her expertise includes cast glass, bronze, and ceramic in the sculptural realm, as well as stained glass, printmaking and works on paper.

Bladholm is featured on campus during the month of April. She visited art classes, lectured, and set up a public display of her art in the library.

At her lecture on April 5, she intertwined art, science, nature and conservation topics through stories and pictures.

She discussed the evolution of her career and her participation as an artist on scientific expeditions to isolated areas of South America and other remote areas.

“Basically, my whole life has been a synthesis of art, science, nature, and conservation starting from a very young age,” she said.

She grew up freely roaming 40 acres of woods in Wisconsin and traveling the states with her family in a Volkswagen van.

She also had access to abundant art supplies because her father was an artist.

Bladholm’s work is the interface of people with the natural world, integrating the sciences of anthropology with biology and botany from the plant world.

On a trip to Chiapas, Mexico, she fell in love with the rainforest. She loved the diversity of the plants.

“I am definitely not a minimalist. Rainforests are not a minimal kind of place,” she said. “You have the most abundance of different species, so that has been a reoccurring theme in my artwork and life.”

She said nature and art are inseparable.

Photo by Vanessa Ray

Sharan Bladholm poses with her reliefs that depict microscopic organisms.

Photo by Joseph Abrams

“Balancing heart and brain” is on display in the library in the C Building.

They are the twin roots of her life and artistic development. Her artwork is in service to the environmental issues people face today.

Bladholm has participated on expeditions with The Field Museum in Chicago, Conservation International and the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program to the Brazilian, Venezuelan and Peruvian Amazon, documenting the life of the Yanomami people through her art, and exploring conservation of endangered plant and animal species in isolated communities.

The participants of these expeditions found dozens of new species of plants and animals, and Bladholm documented their findings through her artwork and occasionally photography.

She has run Opal Glass Studios in Chicago since 1983, and she continues to complete many important commissions and show her work in galleries and museums.

She also creates public art such as installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux, France and the Gar-

Briefs

field Park Conservatory, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

This year, she is working on a public art piece for greater Chicago’s Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, which is one of the oldest metropolitan conservation organizations in the nation.

She is also creating new works of art based on her involvement with the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program in 2009.

Bladholm said she would like to see more of her work in conservatories be-

cause then her artwork would look like it is in a natural environment.

All of her artwork is symbolic. Each piece reflects the interface of humanity and nature.

She said she is inspired by science. She is an avid reader, and many of the books she reads are science related.

“Balancing heart and brain,” which is on display in the library, symbolizes the fine line between choosing with heart or brain.

“Of course we should be using our brains and thinking with our brains, but maybe tempered with the wisdom of the heart,” Bladholm said.

When people think with their heart, they are thinking seven generations ahead, like Native Americans.

“I really believe we should be thinking with our hearts, and there would be less environmental destruction,” she said.

More samples of Bladholm’s work can be found on her website at www.sharonbladholm.com.

The event is sponsored by Monroe Bank and Trust, La-Z-Boy Inc., ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital and DTE Energy.

Welding student wins gold MCCC student Brandon Turner won a gold medal at the SkillsUSA 45th Annual State of Michigan Leadership and Skills Conference March 31 in Grand Rapids.

Turner won the college post-secondary title in Gas Metal Arc Welding.

Students Kyle Knabusch and Dane Deising competed in the Overall Welding competition. They earned a top six finish in the competition.

The students are advised by welding professor Stephen Hasselbach.

Culinary deadline extended The deadline for applications to the culinary skills and management program at MCCC has been extended.

Applicants must submit the required materials to the Admissions and Guidance Office by April 25.

The original deadline was April 15.

The 2017-18 academic year for first-year students in culinary skills and management program begins with the Food Sanitation course this summer. MCCC’s Summer Term starts June 19.

Enrollment is limited to 20 candidates per entering class.

‘Chasing the Dragon’ showing

Photo courtesy of ASET Division

Representatives from dozens of companies attended the SolidWorks users group at MCCC.

MCCC hosts SolidWorks MCCC hosted its sixth SolidWorks Users meeting April 11 in the Career Technology Center.

Dean Kerste, professor of Mechanical Design Technology, hosted the meeting, the sixth since 2014. More than 100 people attended from dozens of area companies.

The meeting included several breakout sessions in the latest use of CAD software SolidWorks.

Radio show at MCCC May 18 The Paul W. Smith radio show “Pure Michigan” will come to MCCC on Thursday, May 18.

The visit is part of Smith’s tour across the state promoting things to do in Michigan.

The show will be broadcast live from 6-9 a.m. in the atrium of the La-Z-Boy Center.

The Agora Editor: Leah Thomas Assistant Editor: Joseph Abrams Web Editor: Vanessa Ray Adviser: Dan Shaw Staff: Cheyenne Abel Selene Avilla Leigh Cole Miranda Gardner

Sawyer Jackson James Quick Sarah Worrell

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.

A showing of “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,” will be offered Tuesday, May 2, at MCCC. The film is sponsored by the Monroe Advocacy Project (M.A.P.) and others, and will include discussion afterward.

It will be at 6 p.m. in Room A-173 in the Administration Building. Other sponsors are the Monroe Police Department; Monroe County Prosecutors Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of Michigan.

“Images” magazine available MCCC’s fine arts magazine, “Images,” is now available online.

“Images” is an annual publication of poetry, prose and art by students and employees.

Faculty members of the Humanities/Social Sciences Division edited the magazine. Although most of the work chosen for publication comes from art and creative writing courses, submissions from all students and staff members are welcome.

Here are links to PDF and electronic flip-book versions of the magazine: PDF: http://www.monroeccc.edu/humaniti/ MCCC-Images-31-2017.pdf

Electronic Book: https://issuu.com/monroeccc/ docs/mccc_images_31-2017-color_final A limited amount of printed copies will be available.

Task force starts preliminary research Continued from Page 1

degree. Hedeen said it could be modeled after the Global Studies designation.

The honors designation could be achieved through the American Honors Program. This organization would provide service, structure, and transferability.

“It has a lot of transfer agreements with some of the leading universities in the country,” Hedeen said. “It does not guarantee transferability, but it has articulation agreements so that if you are a part of America Honors Program you would be in line.”

If MCCC decided to contract with the organization, it would only have to create the content for the designation.

No matter which option the task force decides to take, the honors credit has to transfer to be beneficial to students, Hedeen said.

He said they are researching ways honors programs and designations are accredited.

The flexibility of the program or designation is another important decision that will impact the skeleton of the project.

Hedeen said the concept of flexibility is vital to the project’s success, but they have to decide how much flexibility is reasonable.

“It wouldn’t just be something for transfer

Agora addresses student concern

Agora Staff

“The hope would be that we could design something that would allow for maximum flexibility in fulfilling your requirements.”

Paul Hedeen Dean of Humanities/Social Sciences students. It would be something also for occupational students,” he said. “The hope would be that we could design something that would allow for maximum flexibility in fulfilling your requirements.”

Although the program needs to be flexible, the task force also needs some degree of exclusivity.

“Obviously, not everyone can join,” Hedeen said. “Only certain people with certain grade threshholds coming out of high school or grade threshhold while they are here could be part of it.”

The extent of the exclusivity could be extensive, with separate courses, graduation ceremony, space on campus, extra curricular opportunities, and special privileges like first-in-line services.

In our April 3 issue, The Agora published the headline “Get off your fat butt!”

While the intention behind our headline was to be playful and catch students’ attention, we have received feedback that we had not

Hedeen said the taskforce has to decide if they want to offer separate courses for honors students or offer an honors option to the classes that already exist.

He guesses that they will incorporate honors credit into General Education courses, but he would like to see other components.

Peters said he would like to see work outside the classroom compliment the coursework.

“Things outside the classroom sometimes are just as informative and powerful as things in the classroom,” he said. “I don’t think the committee or the college should discount other kinds of experiences that could be very beneficial to students.”

The task force members are looking into all these questions.

“We were certainly able to answer some questions, but I think that sometimes as you go through this process more questions come up and you usually need more clarity,” Peters said.

The task force’s preliminary research will help the college nail down what it wants its program to look like.

“I would imagine that as the task force goes further that it will flesh out those specifics and then start talking about those specifics to the campus community and get feedback,” Peters said.

considered.

Janis Wright, a student in the Middle College, sent an email pointing out that the headline may come across as body shaming.

We appreciate her feedback.

In response to this issue, we plan

to write a story featuring body shaming in an upcoming edition.

Anyone who has an opinion on the topic and is willing to provide insight can email comments to us at mcccagora@monroeccc.edu.

Campus News

April 17, 2017

mcccagora.com • The Agora

|3

Honors night celebrates MCCC’s best Miyuki Zerke reflects on what led to her awards Joseph Abrams Assistant Editor

Miyuki Zerke won three awards including Faculty Association Outstanding Student Award at MCCC’s 2017 Honors Reception.

Zerke has big plans for her future.

“I would like to apply for internships for the FBI and the CIA,” Zerke said.

She plans to study Arabic with a minor in French at Michigan State University, and she plans to use that knowledge to work as a translator and interpreter.

“I like being able to talk to people who others can’t understand,” she said.

Zerke thanks Political Science professor Joanna Sabo for instilling these values within her.

“I’d like to thank Dr. Sabo,” Zerke said.

“She’s helped me to realize that there’s so many other cultures out there that we need to be aware of.”

Though it hasn’t always been easy, Zerke has balanced many different responsibilities in her time here.

Zerke has been a member of the International Studies Club for the last three

years, a former member of Student Government for two years, and a member of the Ambassador Club for two years.

Although she is busy, she has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and is preparing to embark on MCCC’s Study Abroad program to Italy and Greece.

“I’d say the greatest obstacle was managing my time,” she said.

She said her work in these programs is the reason she won the Outstanding Student Award.

“I think it had to do with my contribution to the campus itself,” Zerke said.

Zerke not only won the Outstanding Student Award, but she also won the President’s Academic Achievement Award and the Outstanding Diversity Program of the Year Award alongside the International Studies Club.

Zerke attributes these awards to her strong work ethic.

“It feels like all the hours of studying has paid off,” she said.

Zerke left with some words of encouragement to anyone who seeks success.

“If you set your mind and work hard at it, you can achieve anything,” she said.

Photos by Vanessa Ray

Miyuki Zerke holds some of her awards, including the Outstanding Student award.

Nicholas Prush gives emotional thanks to students Miranda Gardner Agora Staff

The Meyer Theater was filled with emotion as Nicholas Prush was announced as MCCC’s outstanding faculty of the year.

Grace Yackee, vice president of Instruction, remained composed after an emotional announcement for the outstanding adjunct faculty award, but like a wave, the tears came back.

“You’re gonna make me cry too,” Yackee said, after she awarded this year’s outstanding full-time faculty award to Prush, the director of Respiratory Therapy.

Prush had no clue he was being honored, but his family kept the secret until it became obvious at the ceremony.

“When I saw my wife walk into honors night, I was like, ‘hmmmm,’” Prush said.

Nicholas Prush thanks his family and his “And then I started thinking…” students after receiving Outstanding FacPrush is praised for working endless ulty award.

hours to ensure students receive high quality instruction on and off campus.

“Shane and I are usually the last on campus,” he said. “Thank my wife for putting up with the long work hours.”

His dedication to the students is apparent and their success is what continues to motivate him.

“They’re the only thing that gives me the drive,” he said. “My success is their success.”

Recently, at a conference in Kalamazoo, Prush saw graduates, some now managers and directors, which gave him pride to see them moving forward.

“To see them successful means the world to me,” he said. “They have my utmost respect to see them doing this.”

Board of Trustee member Mary Kay Thayer congratulated Prush after the ceremony, adding a tear-filled thanks.

Thayer’s granddaughter, Katherine Luceralli, graduated in respiratory therapy under Prush.

“When they were down, he would bring them back up,” she said. “Thank you, truthfully.”

Prush lives by the quote on the front of MCCC’s student handbook and tries to engrain it into his students.

“When they’re in their first year or I get them in their second year,” he said. “The way you think influences the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act.”

Every day we have a choice, and Prush challenged everyone to take advantage of that free will.

“We wake up every morning, we have a choice, and we can make a difference,” he said. “I challenge each of you today, that’s in this room, to go

out and make a difference any way you can.”

Prush is a registered respiratory therapist, certified in basic and advanced life support, neonatal resuscitation, and pediatric life support.

He started at Henry Ford Community College, where he received an associate’s degree in Respiratory Therapy.

He continued to Sienna Heights University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Therapy, and finished his master’s degree in Health Administration at Eastern Michigan university.

“In addition to completing his masters just a couple short years ago, he will complete his course work for a PHD in health administration this spring, and will be beginning his dissertation this summer,” Yackee said.

Robin West Smith surprised by adjunct faculty award James Quick Agora Staff

“Total shock” were the first words out of Robin West Smith’s mouth when asked about winning the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award.

The professor of Sociology cannot believe she was the recipient of the prestigious award.

Nominations are put in by students and staff. The winner is decided by a committee made up of faculty, support staff, administrators, and students, as explained by the award’s presenter, Grace Yackee, vice president of Instruction.

The award also includes a cash stipend

that can be put toward a professional development event or activity of the recipient’s choice, and a place on a commemorative plaque in the A Building.

Smith noted that when she was announced, both she and her husband looked at each other in shock. As she took the stage, she was visibly trying to not be overcome by the whirlwind of emotions.

“I took almost everything to stop crying,” she said. “I am a very emotional person.”

This isn’t the first time she’s been nominated, however.

“I got nominated last year,” she said, “and I thought it was kind of shocking to

be a first-year teacher and to get a nomination. But this year I literally did not expect because there are so many people in the field.”

There were 27 other nominees for the award.

“You have so many students cross your path in a classroom,” Smith said, “and at the end of the semester you wonder, ‘Did I touch any of them?’

“Obviously, I must have, because they nominated me!”

“It was well-deserved,” said Smith’s boss, dean of Humanities/Social Sciences Paul Hedeen.

“Robin West Smith is a wonderful fac-

ulty member; cares so much about her subject, cares so much about her students and their success. She’s truly called to her subject and to being a professor of Sociology. I’m very proud of her. I’m glad to see she’s getting an award.”

Caring about her students has proven worthwhile, as Smith explained.

“This one student e-mailed me when I lost my sister-in-law a couple weeks ago,” she said.

“She told me about what I have done for her, and how I’ve become a role model for her, not just as a professor but as a woman as well.”

Robin West Smith accepts the Adjunct Faculty award.

Students win awards Continued from Page 1

Outstanding CIS Student Luke Bunge Outstanding Accounting Student Stacie Ralph Business Management Scholars Nicole Farrell, Nathan Grodi, Laurel Kinsey, Javed Peracha, Samantha Prater, and Carla Slamiar Outstanding Administrative Professional Jennifer Freeman Outstanding Nursing Student Tyler Tomasik (Fall Cohort) and Misty Skeen (Winter Cohort) Spirit of Nursing Sarah Beth Ferrier (Fall Cohort) and Kari Hasley (Winter Cohort) Excellence in Practical Nursing Markie LaPointe Practical Nursing Student Peer Recognition Elizabeth McNett Outstanding Respiratory Therapy Student

Amanda Beste Outstanding Certified Welder Dane Diesing, Kyle Knabusch, and Brandon Turner Outstanding Student Mechanical Design Technology Jacob Swanson and Zach Swanson.

Excellence in Journalism Leigh Cole, Miranda Gardner, Sawyer Jackson, and James Quick.

Outstanding Journalism Joseph Abrams, Vanessa Ray, and Leah Thomas Outstanding Social Science Student Kellyann Navarre Outstanding Humanities Student Leah Thomas Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Tanner Irwin Outstanding Organic Chemistry Clayton Blackwell Global Studies Degree Designation Miranda Lyons

Tanner Irwin wins the Outstanding Chemistry Student Award, presented by Chemistry professor Lori Bean.

Clayton Blackwell wins the Outstanding Organic Chemisty Student Award.

Ron Campbell presents the Dr. Ronald Campbell Student Government Award to Grayson Bacarella, Javed Peracha, and Brian Friley.

Kellyanne Navarre wins the Outstanding Social Science Student Award.

Brothers Jacob Swanson and Zach Swanson win the Outstanding Student Mechanical Design Technology Award.

4| mcccagora.com •

Campus News

The Agora

April 17, 2017

‘There’s a shortage of skilled workers’ MCCC to offer more opportunity for certicates

“I always talk about the concept of a a credential, economic value — it doesn’t have to be a 2-year or 4- year degree.”

Joseph Abrams Assistant Editor

MCCC President Kojo Quartey spoke about the importance of specialized skills at his annual State of the College address.

Quartey said that in the future MCCC is going to offer more opportunity for skilled workers.

“There’s a shortage of skilled workers,” he said. “We’re doing something about it.

If not Monroe Community College, then who?”

He said there are many projects in the area in the next few years that will need skilled workers.

“Fermi 2 has been renewed, and Fermi 3 may be coming. Somebody has to provide the work for that,” Quartey said.

“The I-75 corridor is being expanded; somebody has to provide the work for that. The Nexus pipeline from Canada that’s coming down through Michigan to Ohio; somebody has to provide it.”

These projects require workers who are certified in specialized areas such as pipe fitting, welding, or electrical wiring, he said.

The jobs will require courses and training that may not be the standard college classes, but still lead to paying jobs.

Kojo Quartey MCCC President

Photo by Vanessa Ray

MCCC President Kojo Quartey speaks about the new programs the college is looking to implement in the upcoming years.

“I always talk about the concept of a credential, economic value — it doesn’t have to be a 2-year or 4-year degree. Just

as long as it’s a credential that’s going to help that student make a life, make a living, and earn some money,” Quartey said.

Adding to the list of certificate programs being offered by MCCC is a cybersecurity program.

Career Expo

Respiratory Therapy honors top students in program

MCCC offers opportunities for many different careers Vanessa Ray Web Editor

The Career and Opportunity Expo brought out students, both current and alumni, as well as community members.

There was opportunity for welders, police officers, nurses, and more.

Sean Dechert, a 2016 graduate of MCCC, said he was looking for a job in the criminal justice field.

“I try to come to as many of these career expos as I can,” Dechert said. “Today was great. It shed a lot of light on my job search.

Jenna Olson, who also was at the

“We hope to have our cyber-security center at the Whitman center in Bedford,” he said. “Why Bedford? They came to us, and if we’re in Bedford and we know that there is a wide and open market in Toledo, that gives us access to the Toledo market.”

Quartey said he hopes this program will allow high school students in the area to dual-enroll in cyber security classes.

Many students come to this college without a strong idea of what they want to get a degree or certificate in, so the college tries its best to offer opportunities and guidance, he said.

“I heard somebody describe the community college as two years of direction,” Quartey said. “Some students may have no idea what to do with their lives, so what do they do? They come to the community college, and what do we do? We shape them and mold them; we give them direction.”

event, was unhappy with how the expo was marketed.

“I have a bachelor’s in Microbiology,” Olson said. “I’m frustrated that they do not advertise the specific jobs available.”

She went on to say that she only came back to the event because Dechert called her.

“He told me that they were looking for crime lab workers,” she said. “They need to do a better job and be more specific.

This happens too often.”

Anyone who missed the event and is interested in information can contact Barry Kinsey, director of Workforce Development at 734-384-4124.

(Left) Amanda Beste is pinned by her husband for the Outstanding Student Award at the 2017 Respiratory Therapy Recognition Ceremony.

(Bottom left) Shannon Domzalski is pinned by her son for the Sparrow Award. (Bottom right) Shane Spaulding receives the Alumnus of the Year award.

Photo by Vanessa Ray

Sean Dechart shakes the hand of an officer as he finds information about a job in criminal justice

Photos by Vanessa Ray

Apprenticeships offer students opportunities Miranda Gardner Agora Staff

Apprenticeships tilt the scales when it comes to merging into the workforce.

“Apprentices get their schooling paid for, they get incremental wages as they go, and at the end of it all — they get a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Cameron Albring administrative assistant for the ASET Division.

Internships get students a foot in the door with employers, but there is no employment guarantee; whereas apprenticeships are a work, learn, earn model.

“It’s not all theory based, you need hands on training to be employable, too,” Albring said. “Internships do not always pay.”

MCCC fall semester enrollment was 3,144 students with 90 of them apprentices – only about 3 percent.

“A lot of college students, over 60-70 percent, are in debt well above $40,000 these days,” Albring said. “It’s because of the pressure in high school to follow a four-year track.”

Monroe county is currently constructing a Career Technical Education (CTE)based middle college that is planned for 2018, she said.

“The name will be the Monroe County Technical and Career Early College,” Albring said. “The goal is that it’ll be a busi-

ness, culinary, accounting, CIS, as well as health, and technology based learning.”

Awareness is key for students to know their options for careers and education moving forward, Albring said.

“Raise the awareness, because they are high-wage and high-tech jobs,” she said.

“That’s why apprenticeships need to be there at an early age — so students know that.”

Barry Kinsey, director of workforce development, talked about women and minorities being underrepresented with apprenticeships.

“We have a lesser ratio for females who are apprentices that choose to come to Monroe,” he said. “We need increasing awareness that females can do STEM technology, can become mathematicians, engineers, and scientists.”

There is a need for businesses to sponsor more women and minorities into apprenticeships in culinary, healthcare, CNA, medical coding, medical tech, etc.

“Hopefully, the other occupational programs on campus open their doors, and MCCC moves towards offering local industry a plan for apprentice-able trades,” Albring said.

“If our other areas on campus made that connection, it could drive more female students into an occupation and craft,” she said.

Photo by Miranda Gardner

Barry Kinsey, MCCC’s director of Workforce Development, presents at the apprenticeship workshop.

MCCC sponsored a “Build Your Workforce with Registered Apprenticeships” workshop April 6. Speakers outlined the steps to developing and taking advantage of apprenticeship programs.

“The key behind apprenticeships is developing relationships,” Russel Davis, state director of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship, said.

With bachelor’s and associate degrees, students begin with the school; aspiring

apprentices start with the employer.

“A registered apprenticeship must be employer driven,” Albring said. “You have to be sponsored, then you choose your school.”

MCCC has several local partnerships that employ and instruct future machine repair/maintenance personnel, electricians, coordinate measuring machine (CMM) technicians, auto mechanics, and welders.

“UAW-Ford, National Galvanizing, Monroe Environmental, GM Battery Plant to name a few,” Albring said.

Apprenticeship courses are based on the employer and what classes they require, and the employer assigns the apprentice their trade.

“You may be able to choose, depending on where you are in the company, seniority, or experience,” Albring said.

Apprentices in the field are under their employers’ supervision in a work setting.

“They’re working under a well-qualified journeyman that’s done 12,00015,000 hours on the job,” she said.

Apprenticeships combine a system that educates, trains, and employs someone in their field of work, while receiving technical education.

“Training results in an industry-recognized credential that is portable,” Albring said.

The certification does not come from the college, but from the U.S. Department of Labor. Apprentices receive 32-35 credits while earning their certification.

“They can always come back to the college and get a two-year degree or fouryear degree,” Albring said.

For more information about apprenticeship programs at MCCC, visit http:// www.monroeccc.edu/aset/apprenticeship. htm.

Campus News

April 17, 2017

mcccagora.com • The Agora

|5

Student government plans for future event

Family Fun Night scheduled for after Ping-Pong Beatdown and Honor's Reception

Joseph Abrams Assistant Editor

Family Fun Night, the final Student Government event of the year, is quickly approaching.

During the most recent meeting, Student Government members talked about their upcoming event, Family Fun Night, and their most recent events, the Honors Reception and Kojo’s Ping-Pong Beatdown.

Family Fun Night will be from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 21, in the gymnasium of the Health Sciences Building. The cost of admission is $1.

There has been a bit of a rough patch in planning the event.

“We ran into a little issue this year, that we’ve never been encountered with before” Student Government advisor Tom Ryder said. “The Middle College, who makes up a good percentage of our volunteers, don’t have school. They’re on spring break. So, although we have a few Middle College students, the normal amount we get, we didn’t get.”

With the loss of the Middle College, which requires a certain amount of volunteer hours to graduate, Family Fun Night

Photo by Joseph Abrams

Students play Ping-Pong after the tables are brought up to the cafeteria for the tournament.

has fewer people working it than usual.

“We’re at minimal number of volunteers,” Ryder said.

However, this isn’t slowing Student

Government down, and they have all the attractions already taken care of.

“Games are all set, advertising is all set, these flyers, 8000 of these, went out

to elementary schools, the magician’s all set, giant inflatable’s all set,” Ryder said.

“Tinkerbell, Belle, Snow White are coming, firetruck is coming, the room reser-

vation’s all taken care of, Respiratory Therapy is taking care of concessions.”

There also are plans for child safety IDs, a photobooth and facepainting, he said.

Only a little bit more legwork is needed before Student Government members have everything they need for the event.

“Our big task next week is we have to go out and purchase all the decorations,” Ryder said.

They have turned their focus to Family Fun Night, after finishing with the Honor’s Reception and the ping-pong tournament.

Kojo’s Ping-Pong Beatdown 2: The Rebound was a tournament between the President of the college, Kojo Quartey, and any students who signed up.

The tournament finished with Quartey victorious in the end.

“I really enjoy interacting with students.

My involvement in this tournament was a perfect example of that,” Quartey said.

As for why he won, he said it was all chance.

“I am very beatable, I got lucky and won,” he said.

(Right) Brian Knox and Hank Brannocle hug after a succesful Poetry Alive session.

(Bottom right) Brian Knox coaches Lori-Jo Couch for her part in the "The Jabberwocky."

Students and faculty join actors on stage for Poetry Alive

Photo by Leah Thomas

Web Editor Vanessa Ray wins first place for best First Amendment Reporting

The Agora receives journalism awards Leah Thomas Editor

The Agora received 14 awards at the Michigan Community College Press Association awards banquet on April 8.

The MCCPA recognized the best journalism work at community colleges in the state on Michigan.

This year nine colleges competed for awards: Delta College, Lansing Community College, Grand Rapids Community College, Washtenaw Community College, Northwestern Michigan College, Schoolcraft College, Monroe County Community College, Muskegon Community College, and Henry Ford Community College.

The awards were presented at the annual MCCPA convention in Mount Pleasant, Michigan at Central Michigan University.

Although The Agora represented the smallest college paper that competed, it walked away with about one out of every six awards given.

Agora artist Leigh Cole won four awards for his cartoons and columns.

The awards won by The Agora staff include: General Excellence (Division II): Ago-

Through dramatic readings, Poetry Alive! actors introduce audiences to new and exciting ways to experience poetry.

On April 6, the MCCC Introduction to Humanities students sponsored a Poetry Alive! performance in the Little Theater.

Professors and students braved the torrential downpours and high winds to watch Hank Brannocle and Brian Knox perform a number of poems from different eras and genres.

The Ballad of Hiram Hover by Bayard Taylor and Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll were just a few of the poems that Knox and Brannocle brought to life.

The highlight of the evening came when Professor Lori Jo Couch was brought onstage to play the role of the jabberwocky.

Couch, to the delight of those gathered in the Little Theater, was a spirited and animated and fit right in with the Poetry Alive! actors.

The Poetry Alive! troop is constantly on tour.

Anyone interested in more information can go to poetryalive.com.

Photos by Vanessa Ray

ra staff, second place.

Overall Newspaper Design (Division II): Agora staff, first place.

Online Newspaper (Division II): Agora staff, first place.

First Amendment Reporting: Vanessa Ray, first place.

Multimedia Reporting (Division II): Agora staff, first place.

Feature Story: Joseph Abrams, third place.

Original Cartoon – Editorial (Division II): Leigh Cole, first place.

Original Cartoon – Editorial (Division II): Cheyenne Abel, second place.

Original Cartoon – Entertainment (Division II): Leigh Cole, second place.

Humor Column: Leigh Cole, third place.

Serious Column: Leigh Cole and Miranda Gardner, second place.

Blogs: Julia Toniolo, second place.

Headline Writing: Joseph Abrams, third place.

News Photo: Evan Kutz, honorable mention.

There is no better time to be a journalist Vanessa Ray Web Editor

There are many ways to get involved while attending MCCC. You can join the Student Government, become a Writing Fellow, or a Student Ambassador.

All of these groups provide wonderful experiences and camaraderie.

However, if you want to be a part of something that looks good on your resume while allowing you to gain experience while still having fun, The Agora may be just the place for you.

When I decided to join MCCC’s student newspaper last year, I was full of questions and uncertainty. “’What if my writing isn’t good enough?’ ‘What if the staff doesn’t like me,’ or the always relatable, ‘How am I going to find the time?’”

I can say, without hesitation, that joining The Agora is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

If you are worried that your writing may not be good enough, it may ease your mind to know that writing for a student newspaper is very different from writing for class.

Yes, there are rules, and you may have to do the occasional serious piece, but one of the great aspects of The Agora is that you get to write about issues that matter to you.

I have covered everything from politics in the classroom, to feminism, to the retirement of one of my favorite professors.

You get to throw MLA formatting out the window. Paragraphs in journalism get straight to the point. Sounds good, huh?

When it comes to the staff, you won’t find a better group than the writers and artists of The Agora.

We represent a wide age range with varying backgrounds. Some of us are liberal, some are conservative. The diversity of our beliefs is one of our greatest strengths.

There’s something about working towards a common goal that brings people together.

Though we do get down to business, especially when we are working to put out an issue, I’ve never laughed harder than with members of The Agora.

I’ve met some of my best friends here.

Time is the one that can be tricky. Part of being a successful college student (and successful at life in general), is learning how to manage your time.

One of the nice aspects of working for The Agora is that you will always know when your story is due. It can also be a problem, especially if you are prone to procrastinating (not that I know anything about that.)

When I started at The Agora, just about a year ago, I had never taken a journalism class or written for a newspaper – student

Photo by Dan Shaw

The Agora staff gathers in Central Park at the John Lennon Strawberry Fields memorial during its annual trip to New York City.

or otherwise.

I wanted to be a part of The Agora because I think journalism is a great way to create change.

I once heard the quote “Writing can’t change the world overnight, but writing

may have an enormous effect over time, over the long haul,” by Leslie Marmon Silko. It struck me like a thunderbolt.

Joining The Agora may not change your life overnight, but it will have an effect on it.

Like anything in life, what you put in determines what you get out.

6| mcccagora.com •

The Agora

Feature

April 17, 2017

Cheryl Johnston was destined to teach Continued from Page 1

“I learned very early the importance of being a reading model.”

Though her parents had varied interests when it came to their choice of literature, she had no issue drawing inspiration from both.

“My mother was a reader of novels,” Johnston says. “When I would ask her what her book was about, she refrained from saying ‘You wouldn’t be interested’ or ‘You wouldn’t understand.’ She would tell me about what she was reading. She was the person who showed me that reading was worthwhile and pleasurable.”

Though her mother loved novels and stories, her father preferred the newspaper.

“My father taught me the importance of being educated on current affairs,” she says. “He used to keep clippings of articles he thought I would find interesting.

Even into adulthood, he would regularly send me envelopes full of clippings.”

With a strong support system at home and teachers who nurtured her love of writing, reading, and the arts, Johnston excelled in the classroom.

After graduating high school, Johnston went to the University of Michigan and earned a Bachelor’s degree in English.

She went on to receive her teaching credentials.

Her first job was as an instructor of adult education classes at night.

“I really liked that job because the students were so highly motivated,” Johnston says. “Working with them is where I learned to be a good teacher.”

After a few years teaching adults, Johnston returned to her alma mater and taught upper level high school classes.

While teaching at SMCC, Johnston became an adjunct professor at MCCC – a role she would fill for 15 years.

Johnston was eventually offered a fulltime position, and spent the next 18 years being one of MCCC’s top professor’s.

What sets Johnston apart is her quest to bring about new and interesting ways to help encourage curiosity and learning.

“Cheryl was always concerned with students first,” McCloskey says. “She rarely did anything without first wondering how it would benefit students.”

There are many programs that would not exist if it were it not for Johnston. The success of the Children’s Literature class is a part of her substantial legacy.

“I am proud of the growth and enrollment of Children’s Literature,” Johnston says. “The class always fills up and we rarely have anyone drop out.”

She particularly enjoys working with

Agora file photo

Cheryl Johnston’s passionate and animated teaching style helps students assess and appreciate literature.

tomorrow’s educators, often seeing herself in many of her Children’s Literature students.

“With the status of teachers being diminished, I think it’s important that we remember the value of educators,” she says.

“It’s a wonderfully rewarding career.”

Her love of her Children’s Literature class does not go unnoticed by her students.

“She’s made me think more. My skills for evaluating literature have greatly improved,” Muth says.

Muth also appreciates Johnston’s style of teaching.

“She’s not stagnant or afraid of doing something different. Every semester she tries to change things up with different books, activities, and experiences,” she says. “This speaks to the passion she has.”

Though Children’s Literature has a special place in Johnston’s heart, on campus she is probably best known for her constant support of One Book, One Community (OBOC).

While describing Johnston’s substantial legacy, McCloskey made special mention of OBOC. “She helped organize trips to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, the

Art museums in Detroit and Toledo, and ArtPrize in Grand Rapids,” McCloskey says. “Of course, she was also the driving force behind One Book, One Community.”

“One Book, One Community has taken up the past eleven years,” Johnston says.

“I’ve enjoyed watching it grow.”

Because of the grassroots nature of OBOC, the program does not receive any large grants. Therefore, Johnston has to depend on her colleagues for help.

“I’ve been able to work with people in other divisions,” Johnston says. “Everyone who is on the committee contributes.

They are really invested in the success of One Book, One Community.”

Even though she is retiring, Johnston said that she will be back to help chair the event. She believes that OBOC is filling an obvious need.

“One Book, One Community adds value to the education students receive here at MCCC,” Johnston says.

When asked what she is going to miss most, apart from her students of course, Johnston’s blue eyes lit up.

“My colleagues,” she says without hesitation. “Some were here when I was an adjunct. I’m truly going to miss the collegiality.”

Johnston made special mention of Couch and Professor Carrie Nartker as being two of her closest friends.

When speaking to Couch, it’s obvious that the admiration is mutual.

“She introduced me and other professors and students to Art Prize in Grand Rapids, and I will forever be grateful,” Couch says. “From travelling to Europe to just talking in our offices, I have so many wonderful memories of Cheryl. She will be missed.”

As far as plans for retirement, Johnston can sum it up with one word – travelling.

“I plan on travelling to my favorite city, London, the day after Mother’s Day with my husband,” Johnston says. “Professor Dillon has never been, so we’re taking him there and showing him around.”

After London, Johnston will be heading to Italy.

“In September my husband and I are going on a food and wine tour in Italy,” Johnston says. “Art and food, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

When asked what she looks forward to the most, Johnston reiterated her love of travelling.

“I’m excited to be able to travel whenever I want,” Johnston says. “My granddaughter lives in Arizona and I’m looking forward to visiting her more. If I see a cheap airfare, I can just grab it and go.”

While Johnston has earned her retirement and the adventures that await her, there is no doubt her absence will be felt.

William McCloskey, who retired last fall, summed it up perfectly.

“I realize that a number of professors have retired recently. Cheryl is one that will be sorely missed,” McCloskey says.

“The college will not be the same without her.”

Agora file photo

Cheryl Johnston makes a point to English profesor Bill McCloskey at the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam during the 2015 Study Abroad trip.

Students appreciate Terry Telfer’s guidance Continued from Page 1

Students Andrew Berns and Phyllis Alexius in Telfer’s 11 a.m. English Composition II class are very candid about how much they enjoy the professor.

“He’s my favorite teacher so far,” Berns says. “He’s really easy to talk to and he gives great feedback.”

“I just feel like Dr. Telfer has made me a better writer,” says Alexius. “He’s really opened my eyes to a whole new world of writing, and I’m grateful for his insights. I hope the college is going to continue with his ideas of doing the research paper based on movies and movie reviews. It kind of goes along with the humanities side of it. It’s ingenious.”

But what of Terry Telfer himself? What’s his story?

Born in November 1947, Telfer’s childhood was awash with discussion.

“On my dad’s side, they were what they used to call Roosevelt Democrats. My mother’s side wasn’t political, but they all came from down there in Appalachia,” he says. “We had a lot of political talks – my mother’s family didn’t talk politics, my dad’s family lived for it. So every dinner was that, and when his brothers and uncle came over that’s what they did for the weekend: drink and talk politics.

“I was allowed in on that, so it’s always something that’s been there with me.”

Telfer is not a native of Monroe, hailing from the neighboring community of Detroit Beach.

“We weren’t especially liked by Monroe. I think it’s probably still that way,” he says. “But I had a cousin who was all everything at Monroe High. He was the opposite of me in high school. Great athlete.

“I went up to Monroe with him a couple of times and got to know some of the people from Monroe High. It kind of gave me a free pass into Monroe.

People wouldn’t bother me.”

When asked why he got into teaching, he explains that it is due to his love for both reading and writing.

He recalls a time in his childhood that really got him into reading.

“I had a grandmother who was a manic reader,” he says. “She’d come over for Sunday dinner about once a month, and she’d be reading in her chair. Then she’d fall off to sleep for maybe five to ten minutes; then she’d wake up and start reading again. All she did was read.

“She gave me the collected works of Charles Dickens when I was about seven or eight. That had a big influence on me. Other than that, she just was not a grandmother. There wasn’t anything grandmotherly about her. But that book got me more interested in reading.”

Lately, Telfer explains, he’s been reading 19th century Russian authors such as Leo Tolstoy, Georgi Plekhanov, Zbigniew Barański.

“I think the novels everybody’s going to remember were written in the 19th century,” he says. “It was just such an explosive period for fiction.”

He recalls the moment that piqued his interest in

Art by Leigh Cole

poetry, which later led him into teaching.

“I ran into a bookstore – literally, I think, or pretty close,” he says with a chuckle. “It was here in Monroe, the old Book Nook. For whatever reason, I stopped at this one aisle, and they had a book of contemporary poetry by Robert Creeley.

“And for whatever reason – might have been the cover – I picked that book up. I opened it and it just hit me like a rock because I’d never understood that poetry was actually about the way people talk and think.”

Telfer attributes his prior misunderstanding to the poetry selection offered by his high school, which included Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s seminal “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which even he admits “bores most people to tears.”

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1974, then took time off from schooling and worked for a publishing company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“There were times when it was just a godawful job,” he says. “Eight straight hours of just proofreading. Do that for two or three weeks straight. It was

something I got to the end of and I knew it was the end.”

Telfer returned to college and received his doctorate in both Early American Literature and Early American History from Bowling Green University in 1991.

“I really enjoyed that I could put those two together, because those are two things that I love,” he says.

Much like his former colleague, William McCloskey, he says that anyone planning to go for their doctorate really has to want it.

“Unless you’re really interested in the topic, don’t do it.”

Telfer began at MCCC as an adjunct soon after receiving his degree. He enjoys working at a community college level due to the variety of students, and how he can see them grow and develop.

“Improvement is certainly one of those things that makes you happy as a teacher,” he says.

“But I think more of the thing is, you know, is being here long enough to see students go through two or three years and see what happens to them.”

One instance he recalls, not long after he started at the college, resulted in a very happy ending for the young man and woman involved.

“They got to be such good friends that one time we were looking over drafts and she was reading over his. The classroom was quiet,” he says. “Then all of a sudden she looks at him and I hear, ‘That might be the stupidest sentence I’ve ever read in my life!’ And I said, ‘You guys are getting close, aren’t you?’

“They ended up getting married a year or so later.”

In addition to his responsibilities as an instructor, Telfer has been an advisor to the International Students for Social Equality organization on campus.

“I’m very proud of that,” he says. “We’d get, at the most, four or five people a semester, but it wasn’t about getting numbers. It’s a very different kind of campus organization than your normal one.”

The club would often go to meetings in Ann Arbor and Detroit plus have guest speakers at the college, he explains.

“We have a couple who are now at fouryear schools that started their own organizations,” he says. “One in South Carolina, of all places, which you wouldn’t think about that, but he managed it!”

Telfer himself has been part of the Socialist Equality Party for the last two decades. He clarifies that it is “very much different” than the Socialist Party of America.

“It’s recognized as the only actual Marxist party out there. Period,” he says. “For a lot of people out there, especially on what they call ‘the PseudoLeft’, that’s not good, but that’s their problem.

“It’s a life-long thing. That’s what I do until I don’t do anything anymore.”

April 17, 2017

Opinion

mcccagora.com • The Agora

Spring brings American pastime back

Leigh Cole Agora Staff

Springtime is here and in my mind, that means only one thing Baseball is back.

Winter reluctantly begins to lose its icy grip on the Midwest, the trees begin to bud, the grass starts growing, and the world seems to start afresh. New life returns to our part of the world, and so do hopes of baseball fans everywhere.

Last season, we saw the oldest dream in baseball come true in October and the second oldest dream failed to materialize.

Again.

The Chicago Cubs, who had not won a World Series since 1908w, defeated the Cleveland Indians, who had not won it all since 1948.

At this time last year, who would have guessed that would be the match up that fall?

That’s what makes this time of year so very special for baseball fans.

New hope is restored. All things seem possible. This is the year your team is going all the way.

Of course, by the midsummer all-star break, it will be apparent to many of the baseball faithful, they will have to wait for another spring to recapture that hope they have now. By that time, some will realize their team has a legitimate shot at the fall classic, and for others, their hopes are dashed, melting like spilled ice cubes on a sidewalk in the hot July sun.

But that time is not yet here.

Now is the time of the sound of the ball meeting the bat, the smell of fresh grass on the field, and a multitude of other comforting clichés that accompany the dawn of a new baseball season.

Cliché, yes, but for the baseball fan, it is a welcome ritual.

The ballpark is more than where a game with men dressed in colorful pajamas compete on real and fake grass. It is a hallowed place in American culture.

The old timers actually are revered for their accumulated memories of past seasons and when they speak of seeing great players of yesteryear, it is almost as if you are somehow transported back in time. It is also a comforting affirmation that the great players we have only read of, actually existed.

Fathers can teach their children to keep score. A new world of knowledge is unlocked. Now young people will understand what 6 to 4 to 3 means. And that newly grasped code of the game will bring joy or sadness to them forever, depending whether your team was at bat or in the field.

Nonetheless, when a youngster begins to grasp the intricacies of baseball jabberwocky, a whole new world opens up to them. They have come of age, in baseball speak. And once that threshold is crossed, the world seems to make more sense.

Baseball permeates the American lexi-

Leaving home is expensive Sarah Worrell Agora Staff

con.

“He threw me a curveball with that one,” indicates someone took you by surprise in speech or action.

Who doesn’t know what it means to give someone a “ballpark figure.” I think we are in the “same ballpark” where I am going with this.

When you got that A on the test, you know you really “knocked it out of the park!”

To someone who is consistent, we say “You’re batting a thousand!”

Which business doesn’t have its “big hitter?”

Or when we speak of moving up in the world, we say “Welcome to the big

leagues!”

I am quite sure you can think of many more.

I don’t have space or time here to “cover all the bases” but you get the idea.

It is springtime and baseball is back. Just remember. At the ballpark, only hot dogs with mustard and relish are traditional fare.

Hockeytown says goodbye to Joe Louis Arena Selene Avila Agora Staff

April 9, 2017, marked the final game played at Joe Louis Arena.

The final game, which was treated more like a party than a farewell, brought a 4-1 Detroit Red Wings’ victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Late owner Mike Ilitch bought the franchise in 1982, and has owned almost every team since the Joe opened in 1979.

The franchise is still run by the Illitch family, which has brought so many memories and happiness to one arena.

As of 2016, the Red Wings have won the most Stanley Cup championships of any NHL franchise based in the United States.

The most memorable tradition in Hockeytown is throwing an octopus onto the ice after Red Wings goals in playoff games.

“Playoff games are my absolute favorite,” said Jennifer Grzywinski, an MCCC student and Red wing fanatic.

“There was always just an intense excite-

|7

Creative Commons photo

A crowd streams into the Joe Louis Arena

ment in the Joe. Regardless of the score, everyone was full of life.”

The octopus symbolized the eight victories needed to win the Stanley Cup when the tradition began in 1952. This ritual has been a fixture of the Arena since its opening in 1979.

There is plenty of speculation as to what

may become of the ritual when the Red Wings move to their new home.

“Well, since it will be named The Little Ceasars Arena, I think only pizza slices being thrown would suffice,” MCCC AlumnusKate Harley joked.

From the flawless ice to the atmosphere, we all looked forward to games at “The

Joe.” Though it is tough to move on from something beloved by generations of Hockeytown fans, the future is looking promising.

Scheduled to open in September 2017, the new arena is expected to cost $732.6 million to construct.

The future home will be known as Little Ceasars Arena. It was an intensely argued title for the hockey arena.

The arena will be apart of the District Detroit, which will be 50 blocks of businesses that will connect Downtown and Midtown into one contiguous, walkable area.

Die hard fans will continue to follow the Red Wings legacy, wherever it leads.

“Whenever the team is, where ever the game is being played, and whatever the name is called, the Detroit Red Wings will always be recognized for the phenomenal athletes and heart,” MCCC student Cody Briscoe said.

It is clear we can rest easy knowing the future is bright for our Detroit Red Wings

Decisions like when to “leave the nest” and move into your own place are difficult, but necessary.

After being a Monroe County Middle College student for five years and graduating this May, I decided that I am going to move out and find my own place this summer.

I want to have this all settled and done by the time I start my education at Eastern Michigan University this fall.

I never realized what an enormous mess I got myself into.

Most young adults can agree it is difficult to find a high-paying job at a young and inexperienced age. Minimum wage seems to be the normal starting point for most high school and college students.

Even after leaving MCCC this May with a diploma and an Associate’s Degree, it is not unrealistic to expect to be serving tables to finance living on my own.

At a surface level, all I could think of was RENT. That was the most important and at the front of my mind.

Unfortunately, I have come to realize that this is a common mistake people make when they are set on moving out and trying to find somewhere fast.

I scrolled through hundreds of pages of apartment listings, showing locations ranging from Southgate to Ypsilanti, and everywhere in between.

The average rate for a onebedroom, one-bathroom apartment was at least $600 a month.

The sickly feeling in my gut began when I realized how many expenses I have to juggle on top of trying to cover the rent payment.

Car insurance, lease payment, Internet, gas, tuition, and food all clouded my mind at once.

How on earth am I supposed to do this without going insane?

The biggest tip I can offer for trying to save money and plan ahead is to apply for as many scholarships as you possibly can.

There are many scholarships available for students to use that never even receive any applicants. There are basically large sums of money collecting dust because students are too lazy to compete for them.

I recommend you spend a chunk of your time applying for free money to help cover the cost of school, and search long and hard for the right place for you.

The FAFSA alone can be a huge help toward covering your educational expenses, and it is completely free to apply for.

Do not be afraid to ask others for help.

Ask those who have moved out what to look for, red flags, and tips on saving money and time when searching.

It helps to remember that there are students everywhere who are stressing out over the same issues, and eventually everything will fall into place.

The connection between Easter and Passover Leigh Cole Agora Staff

The term “Judeo-Christian” is often heard and often quoted, usually in reference to the laws and culture of the United States.

Still, how many people actually taken the time to consider exactly what that means?

There is probably no better time of year to actually ponder that question than the time of Passover and Easter. They have more in common than you might think.

Both fall at nearly the same time of year. The difference is the calendar dates.

In America and in the West, Easter is dated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. This falls somewhere between March 22 and April 25.

Passover, on the other hand, is based on the Jewish calendar, a lunar calendar that has twelve 28-day months. But the difference is much greater than the dates.

The Jewish faith is celebrating the Book of Exodus. This where the Pharaoh refused Moses’ demands, as God told Moses he would, to set the Hebrew people

free from bondage.

What followed were the plagues, such as hail, frogs, the Nile turning to blood, and culminating in the Angel of Death coming for the first born in Egypt.

In order that the Angel would pass the Hebrew people by, God told the Hebrew people to select a lamb for each family.

The lamb had to be unblemished, in perfect condition.

After 3 days of caring for the lamb, the family then had to slaughter it and roast it, but were also instructed by God not to break a single bone of the lamb.

But first, the blood of the lamb had to be smeared around the door posts. The Angel seeing this, would not visit death upon them. That is what happened.

At this time, the Pharaoh let the people go, but then he changed his mind, and ordered his army to track them down.

When the people were stopped by the Red Sea, God instructed Moses to put his staff into the water, and then God parted the Red Sea, permitting the Hebrews to cross.

But when the Egyptians attempted to

cross, the waters closed and destroyed the Egyptian forces.

Hebrew people still cleanse their houses of any leavening agent, such as yeast or baking soda, because God told the people not to use yeast, and to make their bread flat in order to save time.

Yeast became a symbol of sin. Hence, at this time of year, no leavening is to be found in Jewish homes until the end of the season. This is how Matzah bread came to be. The Bible tells us in Leviticus 23, to keep the Passover season holy.

So how did Easter happen to fall at the same time?

Because Jesus was crucified during the Passover season.

The Easter festival came about by the Catholic Church at the Council of Nicea in the year 325 AD. The main issue of the time was the desire of the Catholic Church to rid any elements of “Jewishness” in its faith.

There was also the theory that is still debated today, whether the Church wanted to reach the Anglo-Saxon pagans of the north, by incorporating the names of pa-

gan gods and goddesses, and their traditions, but this cannot be proven conclusively.

In any event, people today are not celebrating the pagans, but Easter is to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So why are more and more Christian churches today holding Passover Seders?

The Passover Seder is often called “The Last Supper” today. This is in reference to the Passover meal Jesus held with his disciples. Being all Jewish, they gathered to celebrate the Passover, and it was here Jesus told them this would be their last supper together.

Judas would betray Jesus later that evening.

Here is what many Christians, and Messianic Jews (Jewish believers in Jesus) see.

They believe Passover is a prophecy of the coming Messiah over 1,500 years later.

The lamb that God told the people in Exodus must be unblemished and “not a single bone broken.” This is exactly the state of Jesus. He was perfect, unblemished, and despite the horrible torture and crucifixion, not a single bone in his body was broken.

In Exodus, the blood of the lamb was shed to save the Jewish people from death.

Jesus, who is called “The Lamb” 29 times in the Book of Revelations, represents the Passover lamb.

Christians believe Jesus fulfilled this same sacrifice for the entire world.

It is through his blood they believe they are saved.

They also note Jesus, being Jewish, celebrated the Passover. Why shouldn’t Christians?

The separation between the Jewish faith and the Christian faith is not as vast as many believe it is. In fact, you cannot have Christianity without Judaism.

Jesus himself never said he was coming to create a new religion. He said, “I come to fulfill and not destroy the prophets and the writings.”

Whichever season, or both seasons, you wish to celebrate, you can. For believers of both Judaism and Christianity, this is the most Holy and beautiful time of the year.

Happy Easter or Chag Sameach (Happy Holidays)!

8| mcccagora.com •

The Agora

Arts & Entertainment

April 17, 2017

All My Pasts Remembered Reassessing the most divisive Spider-Man film

tal effects for Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, Sandman is a worthy successor, visually speaking.

Spider-Man already has the best rogue’s gallery in Before the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes, all of Marvel Comics, so it’s a welcome treat whenthere was Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy.

These landmark films dominated the superhero ever live-action lives up to the skillful illustrations.

One standout scene is Sandman’s birth sequence. landscape for much of the 2000’s. Breaking box office records and heaped with critical acclaim, the first After Flint Marko is transformed, he struggles to littwo Spidey flicks revitalized a dying subgenre. For erally put himself back together and grab onto the locket given to him by his sick daughter. a while, Marvel’s company mascot was unbeatable.

This scene is comprised of solely music and viAnd then “Spider-Man 3” arrived.

The film premiered on May 4, 2007 as the biggest suals, and it works wonderfully. Everything hits its film of the year. In typical Spidey fashion, it broke intended mark. But this scene just makes the weak execution all the more disappointing. many box office records.

It’s at the hour mark that the film starts to buckle However, the critical reaction noticeably differed from the previous installments. The film fell far be- under its panoply of plots. It is around this point that low expectations. Outcry over Peter Parker’s emo an alien symbiote bonds with Peter, turning his cosdemeanor and dancing scenes still echoes throughout tume black.

With this new black costume, Peter’s abilities are the internet to this day.

Fans of Venom, a beloved Spider-Man villain who further enhanced. The downside is that it amplifies made his cinematic debut here, were aghast at the the negative aspects of the host’s personality. Eventually, Peter discards the symbiote and it ends up character’s portrayal and lack of screen time. bonding with his rival, Eddie Brock, turning him into Everybody else took issue with the film’s messy, Venom. overstuffed plot, overabundance of villains, and an Even before this, Brock makes up for the lacking unsatisfying culmination of the trilogy’s storylines.

Sandman and proves himself an effective foil for Pe“Spider-Man 3” tried too hard to please everyone, ter. While this version differs from the hulking meatand ultimately pleased no one. head from the comics, he is able to stand on his own I was 12 years old when this film was released. by basically being the Peter Parker who couldn’t.

To me, Raimi’s “Spider-Man” films are much what Whereas Peter is good-natured at heart, intelligent, Richard Donner’s “Superman” and Tim Burton’s and selfless, Brock is none of those things. He uses “Batman” were to their respective generations. A his talent of sweet-talking and deception to get what year-and-a-half before the film was released, I ab- he wants. Seeing Topher Grace flex his acting mussorbed all the information I could about it on the in- cles like this is an absolute delight. ternet.

But Eddie Brock, the black suit, and Venom didn’t For better or worse, I would not be as intensely need to be in this film at all. invested in the film medium if it wasn’t for “SpiderThough the symbiote does force Peter to confront Man 3.” that even a superhero isn’t infallible, we certainly For the first hour, “Spider-Man 3” is a surprisingly didn’t need yet another villain to get that point across, solid film. The story builds on the previous install- and the pieces were already there in the forms of ments, economically places its players, sets up the Sandman and Harry Osborn, making Venom’s inclustakes naturally, and finds time for great comedic and sion all the more superfluous. action beats.

With Harry specifically, we had the story of two Had the film remained this tightly-paced for the re- friends, who over the course of three films, have a mainder, I doubt it would have the reputation it does tragic history of unintentionally hurting each other. today.

The film is at a loss with The first significant how to use Harry and satisstoryline established is "For better or worse, I would not factorily resolve the conflict Peter feels like he is on between him and Peter. top of the world, and un- be as intensely invested in the film At the start of the film, fortunately that success medium if it wasn’t for 'Spider-Man Harry attacks Peter and the is making him become two fight along the New full of himself. After be- 3.'"

York City skyline, culmiing a punching bag in nating in Harry suffering a Sawyer Jackson both his dual lives for Agora Film Reviwer near-fatal injury that leaves too long, Peter is unable him with no memory of his to process his newfound grudge against Spider-Man. success as it all hapThis subplot goes on until deep into the second act pened so fast. when Harry recovers his memory. Unfortunately, it’s Mary Jane, on the other hand, has only known suc- during a second confrontation that Harry is dealt with cess. After scathing reviews of her Broadway perfor- yet another near-fatal injury, leaving his face permamance diminish her prospects, she seeks solace in Pe- nently scarred and sidelining him until the climax. ter, but he’s too caught up in his own bubble to notice.

Harry’s arc is illustrative of almost everything Seeing Peter and Mary Jane essentially trading roles wrong with “Spider-Man 3.” It was supposed to be is one of the most interesting choices the film makes. the culmination of several years of carefully-conAt the end of “Spider-Man 2,” Mary Jane makes the structed relationships and themes, yet it is constantly decision to be with Peter, knowing there will be risks bending over backwards to service narrative-breakand sacrifices to make. “Spider-Man 3” is about the ing retcons and uninteresting, unnecessary villains. consequences of that decision, and it’s the one aspect “Spider-Man 2,” by comparison, wears its underI can confidently assert the film handles deftly. standing and love for the source material on its sleeve.

What doesn’t work as well is one of the most criti- That’s not to say that those making “Spider-Man 3” cized aspects of the film: the villains. didn’t love the character, but sometimes people with Sandman is quickly established in the narrative. behind the scenes foist their own agendas on a film, While there is an emotional core to Flint Marko, he’s to its detriment. missing a vital component that made Willem Dafoe’s That was the case here. The production turmoil Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus is worthy of its own article, and Raimi himself has so memorable: personality. openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the finished Sandman doesn’t connect on an emotional level. product.

Although he does tie in thematically to Peter learn“Spider-Man 4” never saw the light of day. it ing forgiveness, it only facilitates what is perhaps the seemed Raimi, aware of the misgivings over the third most egregious retcon in recent memory: Sandman installment, wanted to get back to basics and focus killed Uncle Ben. on what made the first two films so great. Of course, Considering how deeply Sam Raimi understood there have been more “Spider-Man” films since, but the Spider-Man mythos, it makes this decision all few understood him like Raimi. the more baffling. The reason Peter becomes a hero For many people, seeing Peter Parker with emo is because of the extraordinary guilt he feels for self- hair, doing “Saturday Night Fever” struts down the ishly letting the thief he thought murdered his uncle streets of New York, and dancing in a jazz club is slip away. ultimately what killed “Spider-Man 3.”

Not only does this absolve Peter of any wrongdoThey could handle the convoluted narrative and ing, it negates the very foundations of his origin.

Venom’s lack of screen-time, but seeing a superhero This is a more offensive slight against the character break out into a dance number was crossing lines unthan any dance scene could ever be. crossed since the reviled “Batman & Robin.” But I The one upside to Sandman is what a technically would say these scenes are actually brilliant. impressive feat he is.

Going back to black-suited Spider-Man, the reason The film was released in 2007, but the digital ef- some people wanted to see Peter affected by the alien fects of Sandman stand up today. After the incredible symbiote is because it would make things “darker and almost seamless integration of practical and digi- and grittier.”

Sawyer Jackson Agora Staff

There are many reasons why doing that is a terrible idea, but chief among them is that it doesn’t work with light-hearted characters. It’s not that it can’t be done, but why would you want to?

Thankfully, Raimi understands this, using blacksuited Spider-Man to reject the notion that superheroes can only be taken seriously when they’re moody and tortured.

It works because it works with Peter’s character.

He is, and always will be, a dork.

Underneath the charismatic superhero identity is still that unimposing nerd dead last in the pecking order. There is a scene where Peter is strutting down the sidewalk, trying to impress the various women. Most look at him with disgust or indifference.

Peter has never known what being cool means, so the man we see when under the influence of the black suit is what Peter’s idealized version of cool. It rings false because it just isn’t him at all.

It’s shocking that so few people pick up on this, especially as it plays to Raimi’s strengths as a storyteller.

Going back to his horror roots with “The Evil Dead” franchise, Raimi’s style has always been one that effortlessly and playfully bounces between tones. His movies can have you screaming in terror and laughing with glee within a beat.

On top of all this, it provides some of the funniest parts of the film. There is a scene where Peter takes Gwen Stacy (another wasted character) on a date to the jazz club Mary Jane works at. It’s during the ensuing dance sequence that Peter takes off his jacket with such force that it blows Gwen’s hair back.

Is it campy? Yes. But given the established tone, it passes with flying colors. It’s also evident Tobey Maguire was having the time of his life filming these scenes.

In conclusion, “Spider-Man 3” is a heavily-flawed film, yet it remains fascinating to watch. Would it have been better-received had it come out today?

Unlikely. The flaws would still be glaring no matter what the release date.

What can’t be denied is the genuine heart it possesses. This trilogy was created with the belief that it could usher a cultural icon to the big screen in a way that would resonate with audiences. “Spider-Man 3” didn’t end things on a high note, but its place in film history has been cemented.

Much like Peter Parker, the “Spider-Man” franchise endures despite setbacks. Deal with the tragedy, pick up the pieces, and carry on with life stronger and smarter than before.

An expanded version of this story and a review of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" can be found at mcccagora.com.

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