Features

Welcome Days

Photos by Dana Lenckus

Anthony Rojas
Features Editor

American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski had a bluebird in his heart that he wouldn't let out. He kept it frozen inside. He would never have survived in a college setting.

College is where you go to get a big degree, big job, big house, and all that big jazz, but it's also a place for the wonderful creation of memories and friendships. Lame? Arbitrary? The answer is 'neither' because those are both nonsense. There's never been anything shameful about expanding your social livlihood and keeping up with what your school has to offer you. Thus came the Moraine Valley’s annual event, Welcome Days.

Welcome Days is an introduction to the clubs and organizations crafted by Moraine. This year it took place from August 24 to August 26. Its purpose is to lead first semester students, and even returning students, to the clubs sprouting up all over campus. It also aims to give students an idea of the tools they can utilize to ease their journey through their schooling.

One example is the PACE bus initiative, the 'Campus Connection Pass,' which is a card students can buy at the S building, or online at Pace Bus Online, which allots buyers unlimited rides on PACE buses. There are three buses that come to Moraine from around the Chicago area; they are the 379, 381, and 385 (for more information on transportation, go to morainevalley.edu/gen_info/transportation).

Two other employers joined PACE: UPS and the Cook County Clerk’s office, which is looking for election judges to operate polling houses during the upcoming election. To find out more, contact Mark Mesle at mark.mesle@cookcountyil.gov.  

But Welcome Days is about more than just job oppurtunities. Its entire purpose is to get students involved, socializing and having fun. This is why a landscape of activities was set up outside the U building, fitted with a basketball shooting game, bean bags, frisbees galore, loud music, and even a bungee jump. Student employees served as DJs while promoting the adjacent booths of employers and club leaders.

Students had the oppurtunity to stop by these booths and enroll in campus clubs such as the Ski Club or Ultimate Frisbee. You may have spotted Mike Wade, moderator of the Ski Club, walking around with a five-foot sandwich board with a picture of someone pulling off a huge jump from the side of a mountain.

The students themselves were clearly just there to have fun, but that doesn’t mean that the ploy didn’t work and no one joined a club. One student, John Calloway said the event was, “good stuff” and that he had joined up with the Art program. Another student, Beaussan Jerome, gave the event a 9 out of 10 and said he was planning on joining the Computer Graphics club.

The fun of it all even seemed to make more students feel at home.

“You get to meet new people and reduce some of the stress,” first-year student Zack Schleyer said. Welcome Days is one of those school events that come up and remind you that, yeah, sure, you’re in college and you have a bunch of classes with no parking and you don’t know anybody here, but it’s alright because all you have to do is get involved.

Anthony Rojas can be contacted at Anthonyrojas15@yahoo.com

Mastodon Information

Katie Baxter
Staff Writer

You’re taking the art classes and the writing classes, but you still want more out of your passion. How does the publishing of your writings and drawings sound? If this sounds like something you’d like, join the one and only Mastodon.

The Mastodon is looking for submissions of your poetry, prose, art, photography and anything else you’d love to submit.  While in the Mastodon, you’ll meet new people who, like you, have a passion and talent for poetry and art.

Need more experience to add to an application for an internship? This would be an amazing starting point. “Even if it’s just for college, you have to start somewhere,” says Mastodon Editor in Chief, Olivia Wolniak.  The next meeting will be held on September 15 at 3:00 p.m. in room U209.  It is strongly encouraged that you bring in any poetry, drawings or any type of artwork you are willing to share.

Graphic by Laura Joy

The Mastodon will be participating in the Skyway Writers Fest on Friday, December 3 at Morton College.  “The Skyway Writers Fest is a great way for creative writers to network with other creative writers at the community college in the area. They also get to meet the writers who judge them. This is something they can’t obtain in the classroom,” says Ted Powers, student publication advisor.

There is also a contest you can get into just by submitting your artwork to be on the back cover of the Mastodon! The winner receives a $25.00 gift card for the Moraine Valley Book Store and which can be spent on anything you want such as new art supplies, sketchbooks and notebooks for all your drawings and writings.

For more information on this amazing opportunity you can contact Editor in Chief Olivia Wolniak at owolniak@yahoo.com or Student Publication Advisor Ted Powers at powerst@morainevalley.edu

Katie Baxter can be contacted at baxterk@student.morainevalley.edu

Artist Visits Campus, Donates Art

Photo by Stacey Reichard

Laura Joy
Graphics Editor

Tom Lundquist, the artist behind “Poissons de Chant,” visited the campus on August 26 to speak about his prints, which are on display in the Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery. 

Lundquist is very passionate about what he does and is always willing to answer any questions one may have about his art. 

“Tom Lundquist is like the Willy Wonka of the art world," said Dan Jarvis, gallery assistant and Moraine Valley alumnus. “His impeccable creative genius is apparent in all of his work, plus his lack of pretense is refreshing and rare to see in an artist."

Lundquist is also incredibly generous, as he donated every piece in the gallery to Moraine Valley Community College.

Imagine if Salvador Dali had today's technology at his fingertips; that's more or less Tom Lundquist's style. “Poissons de Chant” (which translates as “Singing Fish”) started when he was working on rendering buildings in a surreal setting. He decided to create fish sculptures to place on the facade of one of his buildings to make it more interesting. When it worked, he held on to the idea and ran with it.

As for the invention of the singing troupe characters he uses in his art, he was inspired by a summer music festival in Montréal, “Les FrancoFolies de Montréal,”which is five times the size of Lollapalooza and only consists of French-language performers. The series is a sort of pictorial mockumentary, portraying the singing fish as a famous troupe that are known worldwide and have performed at this festival, and whose agents are always underfoot (or perhaps, fin).

He creates everything himself using several different rendering programs and works heavily in layers. Lundquist also mentioned that seven out of eight times an idea may sound great, but it doesn't work in the long run. 

"I'm a slave to making good pictures," he said. "If I don't make new models, it takes two weeks [to finish one piece]." 

He considers his method of working a "digital hokery pokery." Somehow everything seems to magically fall into place.

If you're interested in seeing more of Tom Lundquist's work, visit his website at http://mysite.verizon.net/resomh74/index.htm

Laura Joy can be contacted at LJoy827@gmail.com

Fall TV Preview

Photo courtesy of www.tvshowwallpaper.com

Liz Richardson
Copy Editor

Between classes, parties, and homework, precious time for television might be spread out a little thin. It’s best not to waste your time on bad shows or use up your DVR space on a bunch of duds. Hopefully, this list of the best new and returning shows should save you some heartache come fall sweeps.

As far as new shows go, there’s a lot of promise to be had. “Nikita” (September 9, 8 p.m. on the CW) is a great example. The world didn’t really need another spy drama or another remake of “La Femme Nikita,” but this show looks awesome. There’s shooting, angst, and the heroine is a sassy badass.        

“World of Jenks” (September 13, 9 p.m. on MTV) is at the top of the list. Filmmaker Andrew Jenks wanted to do a documentary about real people, but instead of following them around with cameras, he immerses himself into the lives of his subjects, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He lives like a rapper, a homeless person, and many others. It looks heartbreaking, horrifyingly real, and amazing.  
  
If you’ve got HBO, “Boardwalk Empire” (September 19, 8p.m.) could fill your “historically awesome show” quotient. This series is based around the Prohibition era, when alcohol was banned and being an outlaw was actually really, really cool. The previews show a fantastic set, with outfits from the roaring 20s and lots of Atlantic City’s insanity.   

“The Event” (September 20, 8 p.m. on NBC) is like a ridiculous mash-up between “Lost” and “24.” It starts out with a plane crash, stuff is going crazy, and there’s a government cover up. It’s mysterious and confusing and will grab audiences left and right.  

If you don’t feel like testing out new waters, go back to your favorite shows.

“Glee” (September 21, 7 p.m. on Fox) returns, boasting a Britney Spears episode and a rendition of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” to start off its sophomore season. Don’t be thrown by the fact that it’s musical-based: some of the one-liners will have you laughing for the rest of the week.

“Dancing With the Stars” (September 20, 7 p.m. on ABC) doesn’t normally belong in the category of “television,” but this season is a can’t miss just for the trash and drama content—rumored dancers include The Situation of “Jersey Shore” fame, Audrina Patridge of “The Hills,” and Bristol Palin, hopefully sans political drama.    

Back to good television. “Modern Family” (September 22, 8 p.m. on ABC) raked in awards at this year’s Emmys, winning enough statues to make “30 Rock” jealous. With a hugely loyal following, it’s worth a watch.  
“Chuck” (September 20, 7 p.m. on NBC) is a show that never gets old and never goes bad. It’s a fun, peppy joy in a world of lame television, and with guest spots from Olivia Munn and the Old Spice guy (I’m on a horse!) this season, “Chuck” will be a certified epic experience.

Catching the last half of this season of “Mad Men” (Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC) is a guaranteed good time, and watching just one episode will get you hooked. Experience the last half of the season before it gives up its time slot to “The Walking Dead.” This new series starts on Halloween, and there’s really no explanation needed: It’s a drama. With zombies. There’s no way this television season can’t be good with content like that.

Liz Richardson can be contacted at liz.richardson212@yahoo.com  

Tub Ring: The Mad Scientists of Rock are your neighbors!

Laura Joy
Graphics Editor

The best rock band in Chicago right now is Tub Ring. Of course, narrowing the genre to rock is kind of an insult. Their music spans so many genres it's both mind boggling and amazing. 

Tub Ring has evolved a lot over the past 18 years, losing some band members, gaining others, and struggling with life in general. But that never stopped them from striving to be better and performing the most energized show you will ever see. Tub Ring's songs cover things like love, science, life and robots.  Who doesn't like a great song about robots?

Their music is chaotic in the best possible way.  Some songs may sound as though all the instruments are convulsing, but the chaos always serves a purpose, especially when performed live. They are as intense in concert as they sound on their albums. Rob Kleiner proves this quite eloquently as he exuberantly manhandles his keyboard at every show.

Speaking of Kleiner, he was recently on WGN's segment, Chicago's Very Own.  He discussed his musical career and how he was able to write the song "What Part of Forever" for the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is probably the only great thing to come out of that series. The song itself is quintessential Rob, and would fit his voice perfectly.

Photos by Laura Joy

This isn't the only break Tub Ring has had.  They were in second place in MTV2's Dew Circuit Breakout in 2005, where they competed against Hellogoodbye. If you ever decide to review the footage, Tub Ring was obviously the favorite. They won the most challenges and were a hell of a lot more talented than the other band. If you're a fan of Hellogoodbye, shame on you. They cheated.

Tub Ring frontman Kevin Gibson, as well as Kleiner, are currently in the band Super 8-Bit Brothers as well. They perform songs about video games and the gamer culture to a techno-rock sound. Tub Ring and Super 8-Bit Brothers are currently touring simultaneously.

Newly signed with The End Records, Tub Ring officially released their new album “Secret Handshakes” on August 31.

To find out more info about Tub Ring, you can find them online:
Official Website
Myspace
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Laura Joy can be contacted at LJoy827@gmail.com

Pay for Play After Pay

Graphic by Mike Giba

Michael Stocks
Distribution Manager

In June of this year, EA Sports, the acclaimed makers of multiple sports franchise games, began making customers pay for a code to enact online play for a game they had already paid $60 for.

Starting with “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011” gamers will have two options to obtain their online fix. They can either buy the game new, which will cost anywhere from $55.95 to $59.99, or pay $10 for an activation fee if they purchase the game used.

This has annoyed and angered a lot of video game fans who are already paying a hefty sum for the game itself, along with using $300-$400 gaming systems and then having to pay another $10 for the code if they want to try save money by buying the game used. Many people in the industry say it’s not that big of a deal. Gamers, on the other hand, feel they are being nickel and dimed.

Part of the reason for this change is that game sales are dwindling. According to a report by the NPD Group, video game sales went down 15 percent in June. They cite the rise of online gaming as a reason. Online play results in a longer time period the game will be played by the consumers. So why buy another game?

Analyst Michael Pachter was recently quoted by IndustryGamers.com, saying: “...we think that the overall decline was due to a very large number of people playing multiplayer online games for free on the Playstation Network, and for an annual fee with unlimited game play on Xbox Live………….[this] has sucked the available time away from what would otherwise be spent playing newly purchased games.”

With another big game on the way, “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” many are speculating as to whether or not Activision will charge for online play, as that game, along with “Madden,” are the two biggest annual online multiplayer games.

Change is looming in the video game industry, and there are lines being drawn. Some think it’s unfair to have to pay for online play after already spending a good chunk of money on a game.

But at the end of the day most gamers will begrudgingly pay the ten dollars to kill a Soviet.

Michael Stocks can be contacted at mstocks19@hotmail.com 

One Book: One College-One Cell: Changed the World

Photo by Alexandra Dean

Cassandra McEllen
Staff Writer

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has been chosen as the book to represent Moraine Valley this semester. Posters have been hung and events scheduled beginning late September, but none of these so far has done this story justice. 

The author, Rebecca Skloot, has spent years, beginning in early high school, infatuated with HeLa: the name of the cells that revolutionized the scientific field and replaced the life of Henrietta Lacks.

The book is a compilation of several stories.

Henrietta’s story is developed through out the book and explores how she lived and grew up. Skloot demonstrates what kind of women Henrietta was through family stories and gives such compassion to her painful death from a world that was indifferent.

The story of the HeLa cells is shown from discovery to production. Such detail is given about how the cells were taken from Lacks, while she was dying of cancer and without her permission, and why these cells are so important to the world. The details given are so in-depth, but written in a way that anyone could understand it without a biology background.

The scientist and doctors who used and discovered the HeLa cells are exposed: their attempts to cover up who the cells came from, releasing the wrong name, and then years later releasing private medical information. The book goes on to intertwine revolution of ethics in the medical research field after the Nazi concentration camp medical tests, and how several tests done in the states resembled the carelessness and bigotry of the Nazi doctors. 

The book also covers the lives of Lacks’ children and the hardships they faced with her gone, as well as the media storm when they realized part of Henrietta was still alive. Skloot highlights the struggle by the family in a daily life filled with poverty while a medical industry makes millions by selling their mother’s cells, as well as how they have suffered over the years from scientists misinforming them.

The history of segregation is shown through the school system, doctors, biases, way of life shown, and has the power to chase away the belief that segregated people did not suffer.

Rebecca Skloot’s story is also told as she goes through such hardships trying to get Henrietta’s story told, and her desperate passion to get Lacks’ story rather then HeLa’s story told.

Skloot artfully intertwines the lives and events over eighty years to portray an astounding truth that no one knows, but everyone has benefited from. Anyone interested in biology, medicine, history, human rights, humanity and anyone who has benefited from modern day medicine or had a polio shot should read this book. This book truly amazes by demonstrating how someone few people know all people are connected trough and indebted to. I am glad I got to know Henrietta Lacks, and I hope everyone decides to get to know her too.

Cassandra McEllen can be contacted at mcellenc@student.morainevalley.edu

Ski Club

Photo courtesy of the Ski Club

Katie Baxter
Staff Writer

Are you not the type for your normal club? Maybe you are not into writing, anime or any club that involves you being indoors. Maybe you love being outside and taking adventures. What better choice than the ski club?  Ski club is also a great way to get involved with your college.

The Ski Club meets in B200 Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00pm-1:30pm. The club is also going on two trips to Park City, Utah and Steamboat.  At Utah, the Ski Team will be staying at downtown Park City. It’s close to the slopes and the exciting old town. Not only is the Ski Club going on two trips, but they also compete in competitions. “Every ski trip we like to race in the NASTAR course. This is like a mini ‘downhill’ like you see in the Olympics,” says Michael Wade, Ski Club Administrator.

Well, perhaps this club sounds awesome and you’re really interested in joining, but there’s still one problem: you don’t have any experience in skiing.  Not to worry, because Mike Wade tells us “you can join the club while taking lessons at Wilmot on your own time. We also work closely with Snowcrest Ski/Board Center in Crestwood. They give indoor ski and board lessons on a special ‘Mogul Slope’. They also sponsor day bus trips up to the Wilmot that many previous members have intended. Leave the driving to the bus driver!”

This club is absolutely free to join. All you have to do is sign up and you’re part of the club. Not to mention the offer of a pizza meeting. What college student can say no to adventure, new friends, free to join and, of course, free pizza? If you need any more information you can contact Michael Wade at wade@morainevalley.edu or you can also call his office at (708) 974-5594.

Katie Baxter can be contacted at baxterk@student.morainevalley.edu

An Interview With A Counselor

Photo by Zandro Zafra

Amal Saleh
Entertainment Editor

If you’re a student who needs help coming to a decision on what to major in, there’s a department for that. If you’re a student who needs to talk to someone about your current financial standing, there’s a department for that. If you need help with a certain situation and don’t know who to talk to, (yep, you guessed it) there’s a department for that and it’s all in the same section: the counseling department. Here’s everything you need to know about services that these dedicated and hard working individuals provide for us.

First things first, they are located in an office on the upper level of the S building that’s called “Career Counseling” for the most obvious reason given; they help students who are undecided with choosing a career to land on or stick with. This year they welcomed a new member to the staff, Teresa Hannon. We have a total of twelve counselors who are available to assist those who have an appointment scheduled. However, they are also available to those who are dealing with a devastating situation and are on call for whatever crisis a student might have between the hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursdays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays.  The easiest way to reach a counselor is through an appointment, but they’re also there for you via email or phone. If they feel as though a student may need further assistance, many of the counselors are licensed and some even have their PhD and can refer the student to another source of help.

It’s encouraged for you to utilize everything this school provides for you because some people are not as fortunate to be in such a place. Don’t be afraid to walk in and make an appointment and express yourself if you are facing a difficulty of any sort or if you truly are indecisive about what career you’d like to pursue in the future. Souzan Naser explains what she enjoys most about being a helpful counselor.

“I like being able to assist students on many different levels which includes helping them achieve their goals, whether it be academically, socially, or personally. These counselors love what they do and they wish to help you by finding the same goal.”  “Each student needs to be heard. I value the interaction and relationship with the students and moving them toward their chosen goals,” says Gloria Starkey. Feel free to accept the help if you ever need it.

Amel Saleh can be contacted at amel.saleh19@yahoo.com