The Crier Thursday, March 20,2008 Issue 23 Spring 2008 1957-3007 It’s Election Time at CCC By Vazmenko Bondulic On Thursday March 13,1 had the privilege of hearing some of the candidates who are running for student government positions. The forum was held during the SAGA meeting which is held every Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Candidates had two-minutes to present their speech and one minute for questions. Positions that these candidates are vying for are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Audit Treasurer, and Secretary of Student Association, Student Trustee, and Deputy Speaker of the Senate. The elections will be held on March 25th and 26th. The first candidate for the Presidency was Mr. Joe Pitts, who is currently a Student Senator. He’s been here for a half of semester and his major is business administration. His forum was to work with students to encourage them to stay in school and to work with the student organizations in order to make things happen for the benefit of all students and their education. He is looking forward to perhaps getting elected and working closely with everyone at the school. The second candidate for the Presidency was Mrs. Connie Winant, a Human Services major. She has twenty-years of experience in leadership roles. She states that she has been involved in community service and has been a volunteer and done a lot of work while working for Harley Davidson in all aspect of business. Vice President candidate Ken Austin, a Liberal Arts major in his second semester at CCC, has an impressive resume. His credentials include outside experience in government work, such as a council member and a member of town board. He is approachable and easy to talk to and understand where he is coming from. The Student Trustee candidate, Networking and Computer Repair major Mr. Anthony Popkin, has been here for several semesters and has been involved in student affairs since then. He brings more than seven-years of military service, having been stationed overseas in Korea. He states that he fits well and works well with students, professors, and the faculty members. Story continues on page 2... Inside: Flashback Take a trip down memory lane with a reprint from a past issue of The Crier! Page 5 Letter to the Deans Read about the requests of transgendered students posed to the President and Vice President of the College in an October 2007 letter. Page 6 The Last Boy Scout Disappointed in Spitzer? So are we. Page 10 Due to the lack of material the Safety Synopsis will not appear in this week's issue. It will return next week. (Hey, at least we’re behaving.( Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 2 Joe Pitts, running for President of Student Association Ken Austin, running for Vice President of Student Associaton Connie Winant, running for President of Student Association Sandi Beam, running for Treasurer of Student Association Election Time at CCC Continued from front page... Running for the position of Auditing Treasurer is Miss Mindy Cassidy, who has been here since the fall of 2005 and is majoring in Nursing. She also has been involved in the student government for a number of semesters, as a Senator and Deputy Speaker of the Senate, and is current Auditing Treasurer for Student Association, therefore bringing a lot of experience with her for that position. For the position of the Treasurer is Miss Sandy Beam, a current Student Senator. For the position of Student Association Executive Board Secretary is Miss Jackie Preston, who has been here for two semesters and is currently one of the student senators. Her major is Fine Arts. Outside of school she volunteers her time to the Big Brother and Sister program. For the position of Deputy Speaker of the Senate is Mr. Brian Hargrave, a current Senator. Brians major is Fine Arts and Photography and he is looking forward to getting elected and serving CCC students. Also running for the same position is Mr. Will Schulte, who is also currently a Senator and started at CCC last fall; his major is Communications. He said he is very approachable and will serve as an advocate for the students. To me they all sound like great candidates - but its not my choice to put each one in their respective positions. You as a student let your vote count for the right candidate. If you have a question for anyone of the candidates, you can seek them out and find out more about them. Do not forget to vote on March 25 th and 26th; it’s your duty as a student to choose the right person for each position. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 3 Mindy Cassidy, running for Auditing Treasurer of Student Association Anthony Popkin, running for Student Trustee Jackie Preston, running for Secretary of Student Association Brian Hargrave, running for Deputy Speaker of the Senate Will Schulte, running for Deputy Speaker of the Senate Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 4 Upcoming Events Thursday, March 20 -ASK THE NERD Joe DeLeone 12:30 - 2:00 p.m., Triangle Lounge - Midday Concert 1:00 p.m., R004 Tuesday, March 25 - Intramurals & Recreation 12:30 - 2:00 p.m., Gym - Student Association Elections 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Commons Lobby Or vote online on MyCCC Wednesday, March 26 - Student Association Elections 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Commons Lobby Or vote online on MyCCC Thursday, March 27 “Daring Dialogue: Muslims & Christians Seeking Comon Ground” with George Dardess, Ph.D. 12:45 p.m., Triangle Lounge Free & open to the public Sponsored by Campus Ministry Need help? Need a roommate? Have something to sell? Introducing The Crier classifieds! Email notices to crierneewspaper@yahoo. com or call the office at (607) 962-9339 by Sundays at midnight for publication on the following Thursday No charge for placing classified ads! Do you like to write? Do you like to take pictures? Do you like money and pizza? (Of course you do, you’re in college!) Why not join The Crier? We pay $10 per published article and $5 per published photograph Our meetings are held every Tuesday at 12:40 in The Crier office in the lower level of the Commons. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 5 Flashback In honor of Corning Community Colleges 50th Anniversary, we will be featuring one or more reprints each week from past issues of The Crier. This can be a photograph, article, letter, advertisement, factoid - anything that we can dig up in the archives! Articles are chosen each week with the assistance of Cindy Maier in the Library. These materials have not been edited or otherwise altered from their original form. Advertisements appeared in November 9,1978 issue ofThe Crier What is the evolution of O.V. according to Darwin? First, there was the idea A brew with a hearty, fullbodied flavor. A quaff smooth and easy going down. A tankard with a head full of pride. That is the origin of the species O.V. Having adapted and differentiated itself, O.V. prospers and proliferates throughout the land, it 's a perfect example of the survival of the fittest And it's also because, "It's too good to gulp!' Would Newton gravitate toward O.V.? Like the apple gravitated toward Newton. 'ibu see, Newton was the beneficiary of a bump of enlightenment. Undoubtedly, he would have been amenable to other enlightening stimuli as well. For example, the hearty, full bodied flavor of O.V. The smooth and easy swallow The fascinating, long-lasting head. As thousands of others after him, it is virtually a mathematical certainty that he would have said, "It s too good to gulp" Thursday, March 20,2008 Editor’s Note: Page 6 This letter was written on October 5, 2007 and sent to the President and Vice President of CCC. It is being printed in The Crier by request of the author to bring awareness to the situation at hand. The issue has been placed in the 5-year plan for campus improvements._____________ Dear Drs. Dozier and Amann; As members of the student body at CCC, transgendered students and our allies have always been impressed with the diversity and openness of the staff and students who attend college here. It has been a great place for non-tra-ditional students to learn and grow throughout the years. As diverse as the population at CCC is, we ask that you please consider the following scenarios and recommendations: What if you had to think twice when trying to access a restroom to relieve yourself? What if you entered a bathroom most appropriate for your gender identity, only to be asked to leave the “wrong” restroom, or were escorted out by campus public safety personnel? Or even more traumatic, what if you had an accident because you could not comfortably and safely access the appropriate facilities on campus? All these examples and more are just some of the obstacles that gender-variant, disabled, and some not-so-stereotypical male or female people encounter when trying to do something as simple as using the toilet. Currendy on CCC campus, people of gender-variant, differently-abled, and traditionally- gendered individuals are very interested in creating safe, comfortable bathroom spaces for those who do not fit into the binary gender construct of female and male, or who have special circumstances that require a differently-gendered caretaker or aide to escort them to the toilet. We feel that even at CCC, some of these people do not have a safe, convenient place to go the bathroom or to change their clothes for recreational or sports activities. Many avoid the public gender-specific restrooms on campus altogether or are forced to marginalize their gender identity upon entering the traditional restrooms and lockers on campus. We understand that these conditions affect a wide variety of students and staff who identify as female or male (despite their biological sex), as well as masculine women and effeminate men. Therefore, we are asking CCC to establish “family use” or “multi-gender, single stall” restrooms for this population. We believe that all people, regardless of their gender identity or presentation, have a right to access safe and dignified restroom facilities, locker rooms, and showers, without fear of harassment, embarrassment, discrimination, or even violence. To that end, we are requesting that the executives of CCC allow all single-use (one stall) restrooms be converted to gender-neutral or "family use” facilities. Throughout many states, college campuses have established such restrooms to protect the transgender populations of their institutions. Brown University is one example of entire floors of gender-neutral dorms and restroom facilities. Even such public places as roadside rest-stops and Wal-Mart have created safe places for all users to access the restroom, labeling their single-use restrooms as male/female/handi-capped, or “family.” By keeping these multiple labels, rather than creating “transgender”-specific facilities, every person can have equal access to these bathrooms without being stereotyped into specific gender categories and further protect transgender peoples identity. Therefore, we ask you to please do such a simple, inexpensive, and progressive improvement on campus, such as changing the signs on the restrooms to reflect the many people who may benefit from gender neutral or “family” facilities. This action would greatly improve equal access to restrooms at CCC for those who fall outside the male-female dynamic, or who may need an assistant in using the toilet. Therefore, we are specifically requesting that the singleuse (one toilet/one stall) restrooms on campus be converted to include all students and staff who fall outside traditional gender roles. These would include the current individual staff/disabled men’s and women’s restrooms near the nurse’s office in the Commons Building, and the facilities downstairs in the same building near Student Disability Services, as well as the single staff-use facilities in the Library and Classroom Buildings, and any other single stall bathrooms throughout CCC. This alone would be very inexpensive to do: simply change the current signs to reflect that these places are for all men, women, or disabled persons on campus. In addition, we would please ask you to consider further improvements by creating a safe and comfortable chang- Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 7 ing room with locked doors for any gender-use, or for the disabled on campus. This would protect the gender-variant population from discomfort, embarrassment, or harassment when accessing the current gender-separated locker rooms and showers. It would also provide a convenient, safe, handicapped accessible space for the disabled on campus to change or shower (as in an installed shower seat and handrails). We believe that these simple changes will improve campus safety for all CCC students and faculty and make CCC a better-accessible place of learning for all. It will allow CCC to embrace the underserved transgender and disabled community in an open and non-discriminatory way, and make the campus much more attractive to these populations. Please, if you would like to have an informal meeting to further discuss the options open to CCC, your concerns, and the varying needs of these populations, contact us for more information. Consider, please the many benefits these improvements will make for all students and staff at Corning Community College. Sincerely, Maverick French & CCC Transgendered Students and Allies 5 October, 2007 TO: Dr. Richard Dozier, CCC Vice-President/ Dean of Student Development Dr. Floyd “Bud” Amann, CCC President FROM: CCC Trangendered students and allies RE: Gender-Neutral Bathroom Facilities George Dardess, Ph.D. CM Forum: “Daring Dialogue: Muslims & Christians Seeking Common Ground” 12:45 pm, CCC Triangle Lounge & 7:15 pm, EC Hamilton Hall What does‘passing over’ to another faith mean? How does this journey dare us to face ourselves? How does it offer new levels of understanding? Can Christians learn about social justice from Muslims? On Thursday, March 27, 2008, Author George Dardess, Ph.D., will explore questions of “Daring Dialogue: Muslims and Christians Seeking Common Ground,” at 12:45pm in Corning Community College’s Triangle Lounge and at 7:15pm in Elmira College’s Hamilton Hall. Both presentations are free and open to the public. At CCC, Dardess will examine what happens when a Christian meets Islam today, the obstacles and the promise of that encounter, as well as Islam’s essential teachings. At Elmira College, he will examine what learning from a faith tradition, often labeled “enemy,” involves. Dardess will highlight Islam's creational understanding of social justice rooted in The Qur’an. A chanting of "The Opening” (Sura al-Fatiha), will focus each of his presentations. Ample time will be given to discussing participants’ questions. George Dardess currently chairs Rochester’s Commission on Mus-lim-Christian Relations. Recently, he published Meeting Islam: A Guide for Christians (Paraclete Press) and Do We Worship the Same God?: The Qur’an and the Bible Compared (St. Anthony Messenger Press). He and his wife, writer Peggy Rosenthal, are presently collaborating on a new book tentatively entitled Reclaiming the Beauty for the Good of the World: Muslim & Christian Creativity as Moral Force. Dr. George Dardess’ daytime lecture is co-sponsored by CCC Campus Ministries and the Divisions of Communications/Humanities & Social Science/Social Services. The evening lecture, a collaboration of CCC and Elmira College Campus Ministries, is co-spon-sored by Corning Vicinity Faith Communities, Elmira Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), The Islamic Association of the Finger Lakes, Pax Christi Elmira and The Southern Tier Interfaith Council. Both events are made possible by a generous grant from the Swenson Endowment Fund. For more information, contact Chaplain Peter Ladley, 607-962-9413 or ladley@corning-cc.edu Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 8 The History of St. Patrick’s Day -Separating Fact from Blarney! By Elise Eberhardt This past Monday, many of us celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, whether celebrations included drinking a pint of green ale at the local pub or going to your relatives’ homes for corn beef and cabbage. This is the one day of the year when everyone becomes Irish, regardless of one’s own heritage. But what does Saint Patrick have to do with drinking and having a good time? It's time to separate fact from blarney. What many of you don’t know is that a young lad of 15, Patrick was captured by the Irish and forced to be a slave for five years. He then had a vision sent to him from God to escape his imprisonment and flee back to his homeland of England. Once there he had another vision telling him to help the people of Ireland, the same people that enslaved him for years. Shortly after, he returned to Ireland as a priest to convert the Irish rebels to Catholicism. Due to all his work in western and northern Ireland he was deemed a saint and hero to the motherland. The holiday to celebrate St. Patrick in Ireland is a religious feast day and the believed anniversary of his death. It was originally a day to go to church in the morning to pray to Saint Pat and repent and in the evening celebrate. So how did what we Americans know as Saint Patrick’s Day come to be? Saint Patrick’s Day falls in the season of the Christian lent and therefore Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast. The people saw this day as a last chance to celebrate with feasting and drinking for quiet a time. The potato famine of 1845 forced many Irish Immigrants to scatter to other countries. Many came to the United States and settled on the east coast, stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia. And with them they brought traditions, but it was Americans who established the firm traditions St. Patty’s Day that we know today. Corn beef and cabbage was not the traditional holiday meal for the Irish; instead it was bacon and cabbage or bacon and potatoes. Corn beef was only brought into the picture when Irish immigrants living in poverty discovered corn beef as a cheap meat product from their Jewish neighbors, compared to bacon. From the wonderful smells wafting from the Irish towns, the association made that this was the traditional Irish meal for celebrations. The wearing of the green is another blarney tale. The native Irish never celebrated by the wearing of the green, or for that matter the wearing of the orange, which if you don’t know are the colors of the Irish flag. Along with the wearing of the green, as many of you lads and lassies might know, is the popular tradition to pinch those who don’t wear green on St. Patty’s Day. But that also originated in America and was never practiced in Ireland. Today in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is still considerably celebrated as a holy holiday. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick’s Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. However, times are changing and Ireland is beginning to celebrate as America and other countries such as Australia, Canada, and Mexico do. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland‘s St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows. I don’t know about you, but it strikes me as entertaining and ironic that we American’s are influencing the traditions of a holiday for the people in which we are celebrating. So now all you lads and lassies know how St. Patrick’s Day came about and the man that started it all, even though he has no real connection to modern-day traditions. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 9 Hip Hop’s Lost Roots By Anthony Popkin There was once a time in history when Hip Hop meant something. It represented a culture and there was a passion and a message that gave hope to the youth of urban communities nationwide. It was once a voice of the urban community that in the past decade has lost its message and no longer stays true to its roots. Though there is much debate, many would say that Hip Hop originated during the 1970s in New York City. Hip Hop became a new form of music with its sound developing from funk; it started out being more focused towards having a good time, partying, and meeting friends. As Hip Hop continued to develop throughout the years, it was credited with helping to tone down the violence between inner city youth. Throughout the 80s Hip Hop evolved into battles, but instead of fighting with fists and weapons, people began break dancing, rapping, and mixing to prove their toughness to other crews. Somewhere in the late 80’s and early 90’s Hip Hop lost its focus. Gangsta rap emerged, turning rap in a 180. As major record labels began paying attention and realizing that Hip Hop was not a mere fad, they scooped it up as quick as possible. Thus, began the commercialization of Hip Hop. No longer would the likes of Kool Here, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Rakim, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, and The Sugar Hill Gang be the leaders of Hip Hop. The corporate giants of the music industry turned towards the most appealing of personality and entertainment. Soon violence would be the forefront of Hip Hop as a new standard of values and appearance set in. Rappers such as N.W.A, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. would emerge as the leaders of new school of rappers. While a message was still present, Hip Hop took a more violent turn towards being heard. While it infuriated many it was widely accepted by the youth. By the mid 90’s, the turn hip hop had taken it’s toll on some of the most important names in Hip Hop; Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G, Big L,Jam Master Jay, and Freaky Tah were just some of the numerous members of Hip Hop that have been killed due to the rise in violent lyrics and the image that is currendy portrayed. Since major music labels have opened their doors to Hip Hop an image has been developed and molded since the early to mid 90’s. That image seems to include a prerequisite of being shot and selling drugs. The thought in lyrics has declined and it's hard to buy any Hip Hop album today that you can listen to from start to end. With nursery rhyme styles artists such as Nelly and 50 Cent that lyrically are barely satisfactory, image reins supreme in their careers. To say they are wrong in their journey of a better life would be wrong, but to conrinue to be puppets for large corporations that care not of the Hip Hop culture and roots, but of the money in their pockets is something that is eating away at a culture that is worth so much more. Though there are artists that stay true to Hip Hop roots, such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Nas, Jurassic 5, and KRS One, Nyoil, and Dee-Nyce, the numbers are steadily on the decline. Is it possible that there may one day be resurgence in politically motivated with a message or has it already seen its days of glory slip through the cracks? It's a debatable subject, but as long as the large music labels control Hip Hop’s image its doom seems nothing but inevitable. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 10 The Ironic Tail of Client Number Nine By Michael Coates It came as a shock to almost everyone in New York State when the story broke on Monday the tenth that our governor, Eliot Spitzer, had been implicated in a prostitution scandal. This was a man who had been heralded as “the future of the Democratic party” by no less a personage than Govenor Bill Richardson; a man who had been named Time magazines “Crusader of the Year” in 2002. This was the man who was supposed to lead our state into a new and more ethical era, the same zealous man who, as Attorney General, had sued the Bush administration for policies that contributed to acid rain. This was the flinty-eyed warrior who took on the mob, took on Wall Street, and won. It was a shock - but it was only the last in a growing list of idiocies. Eliot Spitzer- the same man who proposed that we give drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens; the same man who proposed cuts to the Tuition Assistance Program and a tax on ‘illicit drugs.' Over the course of a decade or more, Governor Spitzer, it turns out, has spent over eighty thousand dollars on prostitutes, at five grand a fling. Spitzer, who rumor has it planned to use his resignation as leverage against criminal charges, had the decency to resign his post as Governor on Wednesday without entering into any plea bargains with prosecutors. But that gesture, really, was too little, and it came too late. A more honest man would have resigned at the press conference on Monday without first dragging his wife in front of the world to admit that he had left her bed for that of a whore. A more honest man, for that matter, would likely have avoided the whole mess by simply asking his wife for sex. A more intelligent man would never have been caught, especially in light of the fact that the bank transfers and phone calls that caught him were exactly the sort of evidence the Spitzer himself employed time and again during his crusades as New York’s Attorney General. It must have occurred to at least a dozen students by now that there are myriad ways around bank transfers - like paying in cash - and such simple ways of avoiding a wire tap as buying a prepaid cellular phone. The question on everyone’s lips since Spitzer’s resignation has been a simple one: was it stupidity, or was it the simple arrogance of a powerful, privileged rich man that led to our former governors downfall? Perhaps it was both; certainly, the man’s judgment has been less than stellar since he took office, and given the price he was willing to pay a prostitute (regardless of what level of freakiness was involved) strong arguments might be made about his grasp of market values, if nothing else. As for the question of arrogance, there isn't really much to say. The son of an incredibly wealthy man, a lawyer whose tactics often extended not only to criminal prosecution, but to the systematic ruination of the lives and careers of those he pursued, there are few who would argue that Eliot Spitzer is in any way a modest or a humble man. In the long run, his motives are irrelevant, as is his infidelity. What matters is that as the Governor of our state, he was caught breaking federal laws. Spitzer's career in politics, and likely in law, is over, and there is an element of tragedy in that, because as A.G., the man did his job with a fervor seldom equaled by real men. Had circumstances been different, Spitzer may have gone on to become the President of the United States. As it stands, he may instead spend years in a federal prison - because no man is above the law. There is, however, one tiny scrap of silver lining to be harvested from the cloud of disgrace our departing governor has left us. On Monday, when Governor Spitzer officially leaves his office he will be succeeded by Lt. Governor David Paterson, who will be New Yorks first African-American governor; there can be little doubt that Mr. Paterson will prove at least a more consistent leader than his predecessor, and there is also the hope that, from this debacle, we in New York might salvage some shred of our dignity through the actions of our new, historic governor. Congratulations are in order to Lt. Governor Paterson; hopefully, his administration will fulfill some of the hollow promises made by Mr. Spitzer in his increasingly ironic inaugural address. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page H The Easter Bunny greets children of students, faculty, and staff at the Easter egg hunt sponsored by Student Senate on Saturday, March 15. Thursday, March 20,2008 Page 12 • • • • • • • • • The Crier Staff Editor Lindsay Woodruff Assistant Editor Amanda Morse Treasurer Elise Eberhardt Secretary Meagan Marsh Student Association Representative Vazmenko Bondulic Reporters Vazmenko Bondulic Michael Coates Elise Eberhardt Maverick French Anthony Popkin Photographers Vazmenko Bondulic Alexander Coates Anthony Popkin Advisor Paul McNaney MID-DAY MEDITATION: listening in silence WEDNESDAYS 12:15 - 12:45 pm ROOM: R213 BEGINS JANUARY 16, 2008 CONTINUES THROUGH MAY 7TH ALL CCC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF WELCOME refresh body, mind and spirit! Sponsored by CCC Campus Ministry Shouldn't the water be inside the sewer? Ths is just one of the potholes that can be found on Chemung Street that students run over daily while approaching Spencer Hill.