Th u r s day, Ja n ua ry 3 1 , 2 0 1 3

The BeaconStudent Newspaper of Massachusetts College

of Liberal Arts

North Adams, Mass.

For more content,visit online at:

theonlinebeacon.com

Volume 77 ◆ Issue 1

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MCLA honors MLK through volunteeringStudents take day off from school to

give back to the community

News, page 2 Sports, page 8

NGWSD helping girls bring their “A” game

Return of the Funk (and Blues)

Event looks to encourage female participation in sports

Will perform Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Venable Gym

Arts & Entertainment, page 5

News 2-4Arts & Entertainment 5-7Sports 8-9Campus Comment 10Fun & Games 11Photo Essay 12

Upon entering the Parlor Café, a man with a Grateful Dead T-shirt and a bandana makes a bagel and a woman with silver earrings, shining underneath the few florescent lights makes a hot chocolate, inviting in comparison to the chilly winter air.

Owners Jason Morin and Elizabeth Osimo opened the Parlor Café (formerly known as the Elf Parlor) before Christmas, fall semester.

The Elf Parlor had closed down a few months before the reopening in late December last year. Morin and Osimo had been prior Elf Parlor regulars when they found out that the local restaurant was going to close. According to Morin, the name change to the Parlor Café was because they felt that the previous owners worked hard to make it the Elf Parlor and didn’t want to assume that identity, as well as the realization that the customer base will be a mix of new and old customers.

“We came [to the Elf Parlor] for Open Mic Nights every Friday, and we were friends with the owners,” said Morin. “We figured we want to pay homage to [the Elf Parlor].”

Morin felt that reopening the Parlor Café was a mix of both opportunity and skill that he and Osimo had.

“We missed it,” he said. “We figured we could do it. ‘Why not? Let’s do it.’”

Osimo and Morin kept many of the traditions that the Elf Parlor had, such as affordable food and drink, as well as the Open Mic Nights.

“We make sure that we are giving you guy quality foods. We can’t promise that every crumb in here will be organic, but we’re trying to do everything that we can that as much of it is as possible,” Morin said. “Our mentality is that we

want to seek out any local food opportunities first [that are affordable], then organic foods that are affordable. We’re careful to buy our breads to make sure we’re not getting high fructose corn syrup, but we’re also not totally free of it. It’s a balance.”

Joel Siskin, a senior, appreciates the customer service that the café has presented to him.

“Today, I’m a vegan, and I explained that to the owner and he was very accommodating,” Siskin said. “He made it a priority to find things or me to eat.”

Madelyn Gardner, a senior and an regular to the Elf Par-lor, also enjoys the Parlor Café.

“It really feels like the old Elf Parlor,” Gardner said. “The owners are great and really nice.”

Morin also said that they are “definitely planning to have more musical acts,” now on Thursdays and Saturdays. Information can be found on their website, as well as the Facebook page. He also commented that they have decided to leave the booking for Open Mic Nights up to the indi-viduals that are running the show.

“We do want to make it clear that we’re not the Elf Par-lor,” he said.

So far, student and local response has been “positive,” Morin added.

“We used to have a sign up that said that we wanted this to be your café, so if we get an overwhelming response of any suggestion, then we do what we can to make it hap-pen,” Morin said.

Students are able to use cash, credit/debit cards, Blazer-Bucks, and Morin and Osimo are working on getting a gift card program set for the near future.

In the future, they are hoping to get a beer and wine li-cense, as well as hire another person to help around the restaurant and are currently in the process of knocking down the back building to make more room for parking.

“Thanks for giving us a shot,” Morin added with a smile and nod. “And thank you to Abigail Egan, a Residential Adviser who came in before people returned and poster-ing and blogging about us.”

For more information about the Parlor Café, visit them at 303 Ashland Street (right across from the MCLA Fire Lane), access their Facebook page or their website at thepa-rlorcafe.com, or call at (413) 346-4279 for regular business hours.

By Aya LanzoniEditor-in-Chief

The Parlor Café: A homage to the Elf Parlor

After more than a year of debate, research, and training, the Public Safety officers now carry Glock 22s on their hips on schedule with a mandate from the College’s Board of Trustees.

On Dec. 14 President Mary Grant planned to announce that the Public Safety training was completed. That very same day the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary which claimed the lives of 26 students and staff occurred.

According to the Director of Public Safety Joseph Charon, the president chose instead to address the incident and postpone the announcement that Public Safety would be armed on Dec. 21.

The weapon is one of three “top choices” for use by law enforcement, according to the manufacturers website. Originally designed for the Austrian Army by Gaston Glock, it utilizes an internal hammer system and is one of the most versatile and durable handguns on the market today.

According to Charon, the North Adams Police Department carries the same make of .40 caliber handgun.

Though Charon admits most of the campus communities’ attention has been paid to the arming of public safety officers, he is also in the process of implementing all

27 safety recommendations made in 2008 by consultants’ Applied Risk Management (ARM) to help secure state college campuses in Massachusetts.

“The firearms issue was one of those recommendations that required careful consideration around implementing it,” he said. Though the firearms issue drew the most community attention, to Charon it is one of 27 issues to address. “We can check that box and continue to focus on the remaining ones in progress,” he said.

Other recommendations made by ARM include “early detection” for violence prevention including mental health services for students as well as physical security measure, of which the arming of campus police officers

is recommendation 10.For this particular issue,

the heavy lifting for Charon is complete. Now the officers must keep up to date on their certifications just as they do now to fulfill other law enforcement obligations mandated by the state.

“There are state-mandated annual certifications and training (for firearms)and the department has increased its own standards by including additional training throughout

the year,” Charon said.To Charon, the campus

engagement throughout the process of arming his staff is encouraging.

“As a community we take on the tough issues and we think through them respectfully and critically and try to make the best decision we can with the overall interest of the campus community, as the chief of Public Safety I believe that happened,” he said.

Charon is well aware of the fact that during the process of gauging campus feelings on the issue, the consensus was in favor of not arming officers. “That’s not to say people are always going to agree with the fact that we are an armed sworn campus police force, but I think the process spoke well of our community and how we approach things and work together.”

Campus Safety officially armedBy Andrew Hodgson

Staff Writer

Drawing by Marc Latour/Copy Chief

photo by Kacie Clark/ Beacon StaffElizabeth Osimo, one of the co-owners of The Parlor, rings up an order of vegetarian chili.

100 Hours Returns

See page 5

photo by Jack Guerino/Beacon staff

Artists from around the area come together for a marathon of art making and creative discussion.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 News theonlinebeacon.com2

Weekend Weather 1/31 - 2/3Thursday,

January 31Friday,

February 1Saturday,

February 2Sunday,

February 3

Rain/SnowHigh: 42°Low: 16°

Snow ShowersHigh: 22°Low: 11°

Snow ShowersHigh: 25°Low: 12°

SnowHigh: 28°Low: 11°

local.msn.com/weather

The Student Government Association (SGA) anticipates a record amount in club budget requests for the upcoming 2013-2014 fiscal year.

“We’ve added clubs over the last year, so I think [the amount requested] will perhaps be more than it has in the past,” said SGA President Jason Brown. While the SGA will not have a specific number of the amount requested until all clubs’ requests are submitted and processed, clubs requested over $600,000 last spring. Budget requests were due yesterday at 3 p.m.

Now that the requests have been submitted, the paperwork will be filed and copies will be made of each clubs’ request for members of the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) to review. Brown said this should take about a week, after which time the BFC, headed by SGA Treasurer James Wetzel, will meet individually with representatives from each club to discuss any questions about the club’s request.

“It’s just to get more supporting evidence and reason behind why clubs requested specific moneys,” Brown said.

“[We] look to allocate monies

based on activities planned in the budget and how they impact our college community,” Wetzel said.

Brown advised that clubs be as specific as possible regarding what certain funds will be used for, and that unorganized requests will be looked at more critically.

“The more specific the better; we like to see a real plan,” Brown said. “Be critical of yourselves when you’re requesting money. Be thoughtful and be creative.”

Typically, budget requests exceed the amount that the SGA has to allocate, Brown said.

“It’s important to realize that we don’t have unlimited funds,” Brown said. “Historically, [requests are] more than the amount of money we have.”

“The office of Administration and Finance provides a projection on attendance and student fees that are to be allocated to clubs and SGA activities,” Wetzel said.

To account for the difference between the amount requested and the amount the SGA can allocate, Brown said cuts are made to each club’s budget request to eliminate unnecessary expenditures.

“The last thing we want to do is a blanket cut,” Brown said. “We go through on a case-by-case basis first.”

“The fair approach is to take a

little bit from everyone,” he added.According to a document

released in April 2012 by former SGA Treasurer Peter Swain, budget requests for fiscal year 2012-2013 totaled a record $601,638, of which the SGA was able to provide $370,000. This past year also marked the first time in history that cuts were made to the SGA operating budget.

Once the BFC has met with each club they will present their recommendations to the SGA senate, sometime around the end of March or beginning of April, Brown said. The senate will then have a week to review these recommendations and will vote on whether or not to approve

them at the following week’s SGA meeting.

“I look forward to reviewing the requests for all of the clubs,” Brown said. “Thank you to the BFC in advance for your hours of hard work.”

The BFC is headed by SGA Treasurer James Wetzel and composed of non-senate members of the student body.

According to the MCLA web site, there are currently 53 clubs and organizations recognized by the SGA. Brown said that several new potential clubs will be decided upon in the coming weeks, but the status of these clubs will not affect the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget process.

Northern Berkshire County residents and students alike packed into Church Street Center to volunteer and celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The 20th annual day of service began with a check-in at 9:00 a.m. and ended roughly around 2:30 p.m.

“It’s a day on, not a day off,” Alex Daugherty said, chair of the Martin Luther King Day Committee and member of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition (NBCC).

During the holiday, while others were taking time off, shuttles were streaming from Church Street to various volunteer sites around the area.

Volunteers worked on jobs such as putting together care packages for soldiers, collecting food for food pantries, painting at 1st Baptist Church, winterizing homes, and more.

According to Daugherty, the turnout at the event was better than previous years.

“It looked like a 20 percent increase, there were at least 200 people volunteering,” he said.

Volunteers returned to Church Street for a lunch celebration with a number of speakers including, President Mary Grant, Mayor Richard Alcombright, State Senator Benjamin Downing, State Representative Gailanne Cariddi, and Rev. David Anderson of 1st Baptist Church in North Adams.

During the event, Anderson was awarded the 2013 Peacemaker Award for his work

in the community. “We all come with our flaws

and our gifts and abilities, and we make something beautiful in our city,” Anderson said upon receiving the award.

This feeling was pervasive amongst all of the volunteers.

“I haven’t volunteered a lot since I started college, but I had a couple of volunteer experiences in high school and I just wanted to volunteer again,” Macy Frederickson, sophomore, said. “I really liked it.”

She hoped that other students would understand the benefits, both personal and communal, that come from volunteering.

“During the MLK Day there was one Northern Berkshire resident that was in the same group as me, and when I said that I was at MCLA, she said [she

was glad] to see more students,” Frederickson said. “That made me feel really good, and glad to be representing the college there.”

Daugherty and the NBCC hope that they can build a base of volunteers from those that attended the event on MLK Day, and that the number of volunteers will continue to rise throughout the year.

“We’re looking to probably follow-up on some of the projects that we did today with a base of the volunteers,” Daugherty said. “That then gets back into the Northern Berkshire non-profits, so we hope that people who signed up today will be aware that there’s an organization [that needs volunteers]. We just hope to sustain this after today, this is kind of a kick-off to the year’s volunteering.”

Students honor Martin Luther King Jr. with day of service

By Nicholas ArenaStaff Writer

By Chris GoodellStaff Writer

SGA anticipates budget request spikesClub and organization activity budgets requests expected to rise in FY 2013-2014

photo by Dennise Carranza/ Beacon Staff

Police Logs1/20/13-1/26/13

Sunday, January 20

12:07 p.m. - Public safety jump started a vehicle outside the Flagg Townhouse Apartments.

Monday, January 21

12:25 a.m. -Public safety responded to a medical call in Berkshire Towers. Resident was transported to hospital.

Tuesday, January 22

8:13 a.m. -Public safety responded to a medical call for Berkshire Towers, A Tower. Resident was transported to hospital.

Wednesday, January 23

10:50 p.m. -Public safety jump started a vehicle in the Church Street Center Lot.

Thursday, January 24

2:07 p.m. -Public safety responded to a facilities and maintenance call in the Amsler Campus Center.

Friday, January 25

5:51 p.m. -Public safety responded to a sounding alarm in the Flagg Townhouse Apartments. The alarm was determined to be an accident.

5:58 p.m. -Public safety responded to a motor vehicle stop on Montana Street. Subject was warned and advised.

8:52 p.m. -Public safety responded to suspicious activity in the Ashland Street Lot. A citation or warning was issued.

Saturday, January 26

6:06 a.m. -Public safety responded to a weather related issue

5:04 p.m. -Public safety responded to a disturbance on Montana Street. No action was required.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 News 3theonlinebeacon.com

This semester’s Green Living Semi-nar Series focuses on reimagining Eagle Street starting with an upcoming lecture on New Ur-banism.The Strong Towns lecture will take place to-night in Murdock Hall, room 218 at 5:30 p.m. The series is free and open to the public.Students can register for the lecture series, choose what they want the lectures to accom-plish and can receive credit while participating in a service learning project connected to the theme of the lecture series. Environmental Studies Professor Elena Tra-ister explained the theme and goal of this semester’s series. New Urbanism promotes sustainability through financial, social, and environmental means. Traister explained what this means in detail. “This involves reducing urban sprawl and traf-fic congestion, and increasing the diversity of job and housing types, among other strate-gies,” said Traister.Charles Marohn, executive director of Strong Towns will be speaking. According to Strong Towns website, their mission is to “support a model for growth that allows America’s towns to become financially strong and resilient.”The students who registered for the series will

take part in a service learning project focused on revitalizing Eagle Street.“We’ll be learning more about new urbanism and how it can apply to planning for the future of North Adams,” Traister said.Traister believes North Adams has the poten-tial to adhere to the principles of New Urban-ism. “One thing North Adams has going for it is its concentrated, walkable downtown. Many families have lived in the area for generations, which contributes to a relatively strong sense of community,” said Traister. “On the other hand, much of the downtown business area was torn down as part of urban renewal in the late 1960s, and there is also a high level of un-employment.”Traister thinks that Eagle Street can be greatly improved.“Quite a few stores are vacant. The current de-sign of the street is not pedestrian friendly. I anticipate our project will address these chal-lenges, as well as others,” Traister added.The city government has acknowledged the project and is on board.“I just met with the Mayor and he will present at the seminar along with city officials. We are looking to reimagine Eagle Street and make it a more vibrant street,” Traister said. The lecture series is sponsored by The Envi-ronmental Studies Department and the MCLA

Berkshire Environmental Resource Center.Past lectures can be listened to on podcasts on the Green Living Lecture Series section on the College’s website.

Green Living Seminar Series to openBy Jack Guerino

Staff Writer

MCLA Selected to Host Regional RPS Meeting

After running against two col-leges, MCLA was voted to host an annual North East

Affiliate of College and Univer-sity Residence Halls (NEACURH) meeting on Feb. 2 and 3 thanks to the efforts of Griffin Labbance, residence director of Hoosac Hall, and National Communications Representative Rhea Werner.

Lindsay Green, president of National Residence Hall Honor-ary (NRHH), noted what a big deal this is for MCLA.

“We bid against two schools and won,” she said. “It’s a huge ac-complishment.”

Labbance also expressed that he was extremely pleased with this accomplishment.

“I’ve seen MCLA come out of nowhere and play a big role in this regional organization,” he said.

The conference will be held in order for student representatives throughout the region to prepare and get acquainted for a confer-ence that will be held in March at Northeastern University. Student Representatives include NRHH members, Resident Advisors, and Advisory Board Members.

Labbance added that this con-ference is an excellent opportu-nity for participating students to learn about boarding and residen-cy at other colleges.

“I hope to help the region benefit from this, but I also hope MCLA students broaden their ho-rizons on college life and residen-cy from all of the other schools,” he said.

Participating schools will ar-rive Saturday afternoon. Then, students will introduce them-selves and eventually participate in a series of boardroom meet-ings, discussing residency and the

up-coming conference in March. There will be a powerpoint pre-sentation for everyone as well.

Green said that this will be a good time for everyone to get ac-quainted and also to see how hos-pitable MCLA is.

“We’ll have ice-breakers to get acquainted and show every-one how friendly we are here at MCLA.”

Throughout their eventful day, representatives will also vote on a Board of Directors for the up-coming conference. Werner said that all of this preparation will be very beneficial.

“This meeting is just a really good way to prepare for it,” she said.

Green added to that, saying that it is very important to keep each school updated on what is going on in their organization.

“It’s a chance to keep everyone posted on what’s going on in the region,” she said.

While this meeting will include a lot of productivity, Werner, Lab-bance, and Green noted that they do want representatives from other schools to have a fun expe-rience. In order to make this hap-pen, they will be taking everyone bowling during Saturday night.

Ultmately, Labbance said he is just really happy that other schools are interested in checking out his school, as MCLA was se-lected by vote.

“It’s exciting because other schools want to see what MCLA is all about,” he said.

Green also concluded by saying that she is really excited.

“I’m really looking forward to it because I think it’s a great op-portunity for both MCLA and NRHH to shine,” she said.

by Ryan FlynnStaff Writer

New Salinger book and film coming within next year

Associated Press

A new J.D. Salinger film and biography are being billed as an unprecedented look into the mys-terious life of the author of ``The Catcher In the Rye.’’

Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday that it had acquired “The Private War of J.D. Salinger,’’ an oral biography compiled by au-thor David Shields and filmmak-er-screenwriter Shane Salerno, whose screenplay credits include the Oliver Stone film “Savages.’’ Salinger’s own books have been published by Little, Brown and Co.

Salerno has been working for several years on his documentary, which PBS will air next January for the 200th of its ``American Masters’’ series. According to Si-mon & Schuster, the book and film draw upon interviews ``with over 150 sources who either worked directly with author J.D. Salinger, had a personal relation-ship with him, or were influenced by his work.’’

Salinger’s longtime literary agent, Phyllis Westberg of Harold Ober Associates Inc., declined to comment Tuesday.

Simon & Schuster’s announce-ment does not say whether the ultimate Salinger question is an-swered: Did he leave behind any unpublished manuscripts? Simon & Schuster publisher Jonathan Karp said he could not provide detail beyond what is in the news release.

Virtually nothing new has been learned about the author since he

died in New Hampshire in 2010 at age 91. No authorized biography has appeared.

“The myth that people have read about and believed for 60 years about J.D. Salinger is one of someone too pure to publish, too sensitive to be touched. We re-place the myth of Salinger with an extraordinarily complex, deeply contradictory human being,’’ Salerno said in a statement. “Our book offers a complete revalua-tion and reinterpretation of the work and the life.’’

“Both the film and book are an investigation into the cost of art and the cost of war,’’ Simon & Schuster senior editor Jofie Ferra-ri-Adler said in a statement.

“This is a truly revelatory work, and one that transcends literary biography to investigate the larger story of the legacy of World War II. Through the prism of Salinger’s life and his experience at war, the authors are presenting a personal history of the 20th century.’’

Salinger was reportedly deeply scarred by his service during World War II, when he interro-gated prisoners of war.

NY finds $665 M in unclaimed

life insurance

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ More than 89,000 people nationwide are getting shares of over $665 million in life insurance bene-fits that many didn’t know they were entitled to receive.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the payments are a result of a measure signed into law last year which re-quires insurance companies to try to find beneficiaries rather than wait for recipients to file claims.

Many didn’t know they were named as recipients by rela-tives or friends and so would have likely never filed a claim.

``It is only fair for families and individuals who lost loved ones to receive the life insur-ance benefits to which they are entitled,’’ Cuomo said. ``Life insurers are now responsible for proactively identifying pol-icyholder deaths and are mak-ing good faith efforts to find people so hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed bene-fits can be paid.’’

A probe involving New York-based companies turned up more than 18,000 New Yorkers who will now get $206 million in life insurance payouts.

State Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky said most of the ben-eficiaries of these ``lost poli-cies’’ were from middle class, working families. No state-by-state breakdown of recipients was available.

The state and insurance com-panies have developed a ``lost policy finder’’ system on the state Financial Services De-partment website at www.dfs.ny.gov .

Consumers can apply for a search for lost or misplaced life insurance policies and annu-ity contracts on the deceased. Companies would then begin paying benefits that are due.

The difference in the new system and the state law is that these unclaimed funds won’t go to state government, but to beneficiaries, according to the Cuomo administration.

The 2011 New York law re-quires life insurance compa-nies to regularly search their records to identify a policy-holder when he or she dies and to locate beneficiaries.

Associated Press

1/31: Strong TownsCharles Marohn, Executive Director of Strong Towns

2/7: Short-Term Action, Long-term ChangeAndrew Howard, Team Better Block2/14: Green Certification: The Sacred and the ProfaneR. John Anderson, Principal at Anderson Kim Architecture & Urban Design; and Stephanie Boyd, Director of the Williams College Zilkha Center

2/21: The Original GreenSteve Mouzon, Principal at Mouzon Design

2/28: The Agrarian CityAndres Duany, Principal at Duany Plater Zyberk & Company; and Jennifer Munoz, Director of the Growing Healthy Garden Program

Thursday, January 31, 2013 News theonlinebeacon.com4

The proposed club Artists As-sociation is holding a movie night called the “Stitch Flix.” This night will be a combination of a movie and knitting night and all are wel-come. The club president, Thamar Jean-Fedestin, encourages an open, accepting and enjoyable ex-perience for all interested parties.

Stitch Flix will be held on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in Murdock room 218. The event is scheduled to last until 9 p.m. but the club members are

seeking to extend that time until 11 p.m. If the club gets this exten-sion it will be able to show two movies rather than the previously planned one.

“We will be watching a hor-ror or action movie and all are welcome,” Jean-Fedestin said. “Something like Star Trek (2009) or Cabin in the Woods.”

She added that guys should feel welcome, as knitting is not just for girls.

“If you don’t know how to knit, the club leaders will teach you the basics. Yarn will be provided for

any who wish to take part,” Jean-Fedestin said.

The proposed club’s full name is the MCLA Artists Association: Arts and Crafts Club. It will be meeting regularly on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., meeting place TBA.

The club’s stated goal is to ex-plore and master as many crafts and art styles as it can. The club can be contacted through its Facebook page: MCLA Artists Association: Arts and Crafts Club.

‘Stitch Flix’ with Artists

Students Taking Action for Gender Equality (STAGE) is holding open auditions for the play “Bitches, Bimbos, and Ball Breakers” Monday, Feb. 4, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Church Street Center Social Hall.

The auditions are open to everyone, and involvement in the club is not mandatory. Auditions will consist of cold-readings. Actors and crew members of all genders are needed.

The play is based on the book “Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers: The Guerilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Fe-male Stereotypes” by The Gue-rilla Girls. The book explores the history and significance of female stereotypes.

The play will be performed in Church Street Center on

Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m.

“We’re not trying to offend anyone,” Corinne Blake said, the president of STAGE. “We just want to throw some ex-amples of stereotypes out there and get people thinking.”

“Bitches, Bimbos and Ball Breakers” will use humor to show and explore the different stereotypes placed upon wom-en like Dumb Blonde, Trophy Wife, and Old Maid. These stereotypes will be conveyed through short skits.

“The script is so funny. I was literally laughing out loud while I was reading it,” Car-risa Sacherski commented, STAGE’s treasurer.

Anyone interested in joining STAGE can attend the meet-ings, which are held in the Campus Center room 324B at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Auditions for ‘Bitches...’

Payton VinceletteSpecial to the Beacon

Raanan Sarid-SegalSpecial to the Beacon

By Pat Eaton-RobbAssociated Press

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - Months before she was killed in a gunman’s ram-page, Sandy Hook Elemen-tary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung wrote a letter expressing her excitement over an effort to bring a children’s museum to New-town. At the time, the pro-posal was fairly modest: a building of perhaps 20,000 square feet would provide art and science programs for area children. Since last month’s mas-sacre, the plan has become more ambitious, with mu-seums around the country collecting donations and organizers looking to reno-vate a 52,000-square-foot building to host the new learning center. A capital campaign that was to begin in the spring will start right away, with hopes of raising $10 million instead of the original $4 million. “The need for the chil-dren’s museum, which ev-eryone thought was a great

idea before, became almost a necessity,’’ said Kristin Chiriatti, the museum’s president. ``People under-stood that the children will need a place to heal. We have so many children who are scared to go to school now and may have lifelong poor associations with learning.’’ It will still be a commu-nity museum, Chiriatti said, but it will also be a destina-tion point for southwestern Connecticut. The museum, first proposed in 2011, was to feature rotating exhibits on such topics as electricity, sound and outer space. Chi-riatti called it “Everwonder,’’ a play on the wonder the museum is meant to evoke and her question as to whether it would be pos-sible to build, she said. The group had been in-volved in hosting programs at the local library and envisioned a place for chil-dren to draw and conduct experiments. Hochsprung wrote to Chiriatti in March that she supported the idea to en-

gage students with hands-on, interactive experiences. “In order for students to learn, they must be invested in what we are teaching,’’ she wrote. On Dec. 14, Hochsprung was among the victims of the rampage that killed 20 first-graders and six educa-tors at Sandy Hook. The 20-year-old gunman killed his mother before driving to the school, opening fire and then committing sui-cide as police arrived. The museum building will include some type of memorial to Hochsprung and the other victims, Chi-riatti said. “These children were our children’s friends,’’ she said. ``We haven’t decided how it will be done, except that it will be done in a cheerful way that celebrates childhood and education. Because that’s what this is about: creating a cheerful place, filled with learning and enjoyment.’’ Architects and other professionals have agreed to volunteer for the project, which is tentatively planned

for the campus of Fairfield Hills Hospital in Newtown. And Chiriatti is getting help from other museums across the country. Robert Dean, the execu-tive director of a children’s museum in Grand Rapids, Mich., got involved the day of the shooting, after a 9-year-old son of his museum’s board president asked how they might help the kids in Newtown. He called a board meeting to brainstorm. “We talked a letter-writing campaign and other things, but when we learned they were trying to build a children’s museum, I just thought, `Wouldn’t it be great if they could have the same thing we have?’’’ he said. A dollar from each ad-mission fee collected at that museum and two others in Grand Rapids last Saturday will be donated to the Ever-wonder project. Dean contacted the Association of Children’s Museums, which launched a national effort. Muse-ums are being asked to set

aside one day this year and donate $1 from each admis-sion that day to Everwon-der. Chiriatti said she has already heard from four _ the Children’s Museum of Brownsville, in Texas; the Seattle Children’s Museum; the Tucson Children’s Mu-seum, in Arizona; and the Bucks County Children’s Museum, in Pennsylvania. She said they are hop-ing to raise all they need without seeking any money from an $8.5 million fund set up by the United Way to support the community after the massacre. “They need to identify where that money is really needed, what is most im-portant,’’ she said. “If they need a counseling center, that should be where that money goes. It would be great to get some help, but we’re certainly not going to be actively seeking that funding if it’s needed some-where else.’’ Chiriatti said they hope to have their museum opened by the end of 2015.

Children’s museum to open in NewtownMuseum will be dedicated to the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School

A poster collection taken from a Jewish collec-tor by the Nazis and only returned to his descendants in recent years has brought in approximately $2.5 mil-lion at a New York auction. Hans Sachs started col-lecting posters as a teen and became Germany’s lead-

ing private collector with 12,500 posters. The Nazis seized the collection in 1938. His grandson Peter Sachs went through a legal battle for several years to get what was left of the col-lection back. Just over 1,200 lots were sold by Guernsey’s over the

weekend in the first of three sales. A poster called “Kunst-salon Aktuaryus’’ by an anonymous artist dating to around 1900 sold for $57,950.

Rare poster collection brings in $2.5M in NYAssociated Press

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Arts & Entertainment theonlinebeacon.com 5Woodshed IV: creativity in action

Get in it: a sneak peak of SACWhile the weather has

finally turned into the signature Berkshire freeze, the Student Activities Council (SAC) has put together a primary list of great on-campus activities for everyone to enjoy.

SAC will feature more bingo nights, including the immensely popular Big Prize Bingo, where students will play for prizes such as iPads, televisions, and Keurig coffee makers. Bingo is hosted by Saturday Night spotlight chair, Tess Favini.

A variety of comedians are expected to ensue laughter, including Keith Alberstad. Due to the hurricane last semester, he was unable to perform for the Freak Week festivities.

Alberstad, presented by Comedy Stop chair, Brycen Waters, will make his debut in Sullivan Lounge at 9 p.m. on Feb. 30.

Students who want their younger siblings to visit them should plan ahead. Little Sibs Weekend, starting on April 6, features several fun-filled activities such as glow-in-the-dark mini golf, that students and their families will definitely enjoy. Coming up on Feb. 20, organized by Traditions chair, Allie Conlon, custom air

brush blankets will be avaliable for free in the Market Place. These events are called “Blue Plate Specials”, and are geared toward commuter students so they can participate in on-campus activities, though resident students are welcome to take part in the fun, as well. As of right now, SAC is still in the process of putting together a complete list of events for students.

To get involved with planning activities and events, or to give feedback or suggestions, SAC meetings are every Friday at 3:15 p.m. in CC324A, and are also open to all students.

For more information, questions, or concerns, please contact any of the SAC E-board members on FirstClass.

The community got an inside look at the artistic process of thirty artists from across the country at Gallery 51’s “Meet the Artists” event to kick off the first day of “100 Hours in the Woodshed.”

100 Hours in the Woodshed” features artists who spend as much time as possible in the following days after the “Meet the Artists” event, working on collages in the gallery until the opening on Monday, Jan. 29.

The project is currently in it’s fourth year, and was started in part by North Adams artist Daniel O’Connor.

“It’s the co-mingling and sharing of ideas that elevate the whole experience for everybody,” O’Connor said.

This is the fourth exhibition of “100 Hours in the Woodshed,” the Woodshed,” but the first to be curated by Gallery 51’s new manager, Ryder Cooley.

“I’ve been on both sides now so I know what I need to make a good show, and I hope I can make that happen,” said Cooley, a local artist and performer who has taught several workshops at the College as a visiting artist.

Among the participating artists was recent alumna of the College, Adriana Alexatos..

“I think it will be cool and interesting,” Alexatos said.

“I hope my work gets chosen, but I’ll be good either way,” she continued.

Alexatos’ main material for her collage was a pile of encyclopedias. She planned to use the old photos to create several small dreamlike, surreal scenes. The graduate also intended to spend most the Woodshed,” but the first to be curated by Gallery 51’s new manager, Ryder Cooley.

“I’ve been on both sides now so I know what I need to make a good show, and I hope I can make that happen,” said Cooley, a local artist and performer who has taught several workshops at the College as a visiting artist.

Among the participating artists was recent alumna of the College, Adriana Alexatos..

“I think it will be cool and interesting,” Alexatos said.

“I hope my work gets chosen, but I’ll be good either way,” she continued.

Alexatos’ main material for her collage was a pile of encyclopedias. She planned to use the old photos to create several small dreamlike,

surreal scenes. The graduate also intended to spend most of the following day on her work, taking full advantage of the 100 hours.

“No one knows what their [collage] is going to turn out like, but it’s going to be interesting,” Alexatos said.

“100 Hours in the Woodshed” will be on display at Gallery 51 until Feb. 24.

the Woodshed,” but the first to be curated by Gallery 51’s new man-ager, Ryder Cooley. “I’ve been on both sides now so I know what I need to make a good show, and I hope I can make that happen,” said Cooley, a local artist and performer who has taught several workshops at the College as a visiting artist. Among the participating artists was recent alumna of the College, Adriana Alexatos.. “I think it will be cool and interesting,” Alexatos said. “I hope my work gets chosen, but I’ll be good either way,” she contin-ued.Alexatos’ main material for her collage was a pile of encyclopedias. She planned to use the old photos to create several small dreamlike, surreal scenes. The graduate also intended to spend most

By Michael FeloniA&E Writer

by Haley CostenA&E Writer

The SAC E-board is always looking for new members to help out with planning campus events.Photo by Kayla Degnan/Beacon Staff

The fourth installment of “100 Hours” will be on display until Feb. 24.

Concerts chair, Dan O’Connell hard at work.Photo by Kayla Degnan/Beacon Staff

Photos by Jack Guerino/Beacon Staff

SAC’s logo courtesy of their Facebook page.

Thursday, January 31, 2012 Arts & Entertainment theonlinebeacon.com6

The contemporary art revival resulted in an explosion of opportunities for students at the College to develop skills and become active within the artistic community.

The College established the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC), a non-profit organization affiliated with the City of North Adams, Mass MoCA, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Jonathan Secor is the director of the BCRC, and organizes several performances, including MCLA! Presents.

He provides many students with unique and professional opportunities pertaining to artistic involvement.

Secor enthusiastically expressed how his employees and students are able to work alongside established artists.

“It’s a real opportunity,” he said. “We’re sitting in a cultural mecca.”

Secor also gives students the ability to experience art all around the world.

Recently, some students went to the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference in New York City, and another group experienced full cultural immersion in Haiti.

Secor said the arts have the ability to bring everyone together, regardless of academic focus.

“We do not want to isolate students, but make them an integral part of the art scene,” he said. “I think the college has done a good job at beginning to embrace [the arts], but now it needs a bear hug.”

Secor said the arts are -transformative and reflect more than just skill and creative expression.

“The arts can and should play a role in the direction of our society,” he said. “Change comes through arts and culture.”

MCLA! Presents brings back the Blues and Funk Festival for its eighth year.

The party starts on Feb. 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Venable Gym.

The artists this year include returning favorite Maya Azucena, a unique, genre-blending artist and Khris Royale, a newcomer to the Blues and Funk Festival, who plays an electric saxophone.

Jonathan Secor, administrator and head coordinator of MCLA Presents!, has worked with Azucena before and has seen her perform at other venues. She was here four years ago, and blew everyone away.

“She is truly a diva in the best sense of the word... the Aretha Franklin end of divahood,” Secor said about Azucena. “This powerful artist writes her own material, incorporates R&B,

Hip Hop, funk, blues and more.”

Azucena recently played at the Apollo theatre in Harlem, New York, and in Hollywood, California.

Khris Royale is the

second of the two artists performing at the Blues and Funk Festival.

“I saw Khris Royal and Dark Matter last May at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with a group of arts management students and they were amazing,” Shannon Costello, a recent MCLA graduate and coordinator for MCLA Presents!, said.

Costello added that their

music is really fun to dance to and that MCLA should not miss the opportunity to see them.

“Overall, the festival is a blast. First of all, it’s free for students and there’s a ton of room for dancing,” Costello said.

Secor said that, unlike last time where the festival was held in Church Street Center, people will be able to dance unrestrained by pews and aisles in Venable Gym.

Return of the funk n’ blues!

Art = Opportunityby Shannen Adamites

A&E Editor

Tyson Luneaumusician, leader, future educator

by Kaylie WarnerA&E Writer

Tyson Luneau, a senior history and secondary education major with a minor in political science, sat in the achievement lounge wearing a black beanie and a grey sweater with his leg crossed, resting on his knee.

His achievements and passion for academia remained with him throughout the course of his college career.

Luneau is a natural born leader. He is the president of photography club and education club. He also works in the admissions department as a senior ambassador.

Luneau said he is very fortunate to be a part of a small campus community with so much opportunity.

“I feel it was easy for me to get involved and take on challenging leadership roles where if I went to another school I probably wouldn’t have had the same opportunities,” he said.

He is also an active musician and has played in

many bands over the years.“I was in a band called

Think Again and we toured all over the U.S. and Eastern Canada,” he said. “I am currently playing in two bands called Medicine Man and Misfortune but these bands do not consume as much of my time as they once did.”

Luneau is also heavily involved with the College’s radio station, 91.1 FM WJJW. As station manager, he played a crucial role in its running for the past two years.

He said that he is very proud of how far the station has come since he started working on it.

Luneau aspires to further his career in the field of secondary education. He teaches history for high school juniors and seniors at Bart Charter School in Adams, MA.

Luneau reflected positively on his coligate career, and said he felt ready to persue other endeavors.Luneau hosts his radio show, “The Big Takeover”on 91.1

FM WJJW every Thursday night from 9 p.m. - midnight.

Above: Genre-bending diva, Azucena, headlines

on Feb. 1

Right: Khris Royale & Dark Matter headline on

Feb. 2

“She is truly a diva in the best sense of

the word.”

-Jonathan Secor

Add us on Twitterfor more updates and A&E

news!

@BeaconMCLA_AE

by Michael FeloniA&E Writer

Featuring:

photo by Jess Gamari/ Beacon Staff

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Arts & Entertainment theonlinebeacon.com 7

Two Mainstage performances courtesy of The Fine and Performing Arts (FPA): Theatre program are scheduled for the semester.

Theatre students are ecstatic to work on and perform in “Agememnon”, directed by Laura Standley, and “A Delightful Quarantine”, directed by Doug Jenkins.

Standley said she picks plays that demand interpretation and possess a high impact on the theatrical arts.

“Agamemnon”, adapted by Steven Berkoff was chosen for the spring show because of the student’s interest in Greek mythology.

“I actually met with the students last spring and presented a group of about

five plays I thought would be good options for the course,” said Standley. “We read bits of the text out loud and had lively discussions about their interest and ideas.”

“Agamemnon” tells the story of the king of Argos returning home from the Trojan War. Standley focues on contact improvisations, where physical dialogues are done spontaneously. She said this method makes actors to rely on their basic instincts.

Senior Thomas Leidenfrost was cast as the role of Agamemnon. He feels the Theatre Lab course is a great way for students to freely express themselves.

“One great aspect of the theatre lab is that everyone has a say with how this production will be constructed and performed,” he said. “I feel this is what makes great theatre.”

Leidenfrost said that though he is not as familiar with the Greek drama genre, he is still very excited for this performance.

“The only other work comparable to such an experience would be ‘Lysistrata,’ a Greek comedy I performed in my sophomore year for Main Stage,” said Leidenfrost.

Jenkins uses the theatre lab performances as training vehicles for his students in not only acting, but in theatre tech and arts management as well.

“We are offering our students with the

experiences they will need to transition to a professional career or life-long cultural pursuit,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins feels that “A Delightful Quarantine” will be extremely relatable to both his cast and the audience.

“I selected this play due to its contemporary situations and unique style of staging. We will present seven different stories in one play, but with one large overriding problem: space aliens.” Jenkins said.

The dramatic comedy uses humor to communicate awkward situations, like strange room mates or uncomfortable first dates, faced by the characters in the play. Jenkins feels that the situations presented in the production will be familiar to any college student.

Senior Lizzy Mullen is thrilled to be a part of this production.

“We just had our read through the other night and I absolutely love my cast mates each and everyone one of them are bright and we make a fantastic team,” said Mullen. “I could not be more pleased with what is going on.”

Mullen is also excited for“Agamemnon,” as she always looks forward to the Theatre Lab productions.

“’Agamemnon’ is a show that I personally enjoy and I could not be more pleased with who is working on the production,” she said.

“Agamemnon” and “A Delightful Quarantine” come center stage

By Katlie WarnerA&E Writer

“I actually met with the students last spring and

presented a group of about five plays I thought would

be good options for the course.”

-Laura Standley

Photo By Dennise Caranza/Beacon StaffProfessor Laura Standley, director of “Agememnon”

Haiti: A Diamond in the RoughBy Natalie Pozzetti

Special to the Beacon

Photo Courtesy of Melanie MowinskiMCLA students with artist Belo in Haiti

When I found out I had been accpted to visit Haiti by the Fine and Performing Arts (FPA) department, I could not believe it. I never expected to travel to a developing country I knew nothing about as my first international experience. I was thrilled to immerse myself in a country with a unique and rich culture.

I could hardly contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to the trip. Finally, on Jan. 2, I, Jonathan Secor, the coordinator of the trip, Assistant Professor of Art Melanie Mowinski, as well as Helena Kemper, Andrew Cross, Emily Minns, Rachel Nichols, Lauren Feeney, Jessica Wheeler, and Jessica Jean-Charles, were ready to leave.

We boarded out 10 a.m. flight to Port au Prince. The second I sat down, I began to feel nervous. I had never flown before and expected the worst. After a very turbulent flight and a few anxious though, we finally arrived Haiti.

We were greeted by warm sunshine and music, followed by a swarm of people. I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed, and diligently guarded my bags as some men tried to help us with our luggage.

As we drove to our hotel, our eyes were glued to the window. Stray animals wandered the streets. There was livestock for sale. Some people even tried to wash the van’s windows when we stopped. Jessica Wheeler saw a man with his legs amputated, walking around without any assistance.

The Karibe Hotel was far away from the impoverished and chaotic streets. We entered a tropical palace, and we were the

princes and princesses. The next day met Regine from the

United States Embassy. She helped us plan our trip and ensured us our safety.

Our first stop was the National Pantheon Museum, where we met renowned Haitian artist Philippe Dodard, who graciously offered to be our tour guide.

The museum was incredible: from artifacts of the Taino tribe, to Santa Maria’s anchor, to a Haitian king’s crown. Phillippe explained everything passionately.

After a lunch of traditional Haitian cuisine, we visited the poverty-stricken area of Grand Rue. This place was home to several artists who made sculptures from found object.

What surprised me the most was the amount of happiness that radiated from the poverty. The emotion was contagious, and for the first time on the trip, I felt truly conent.

The next morning, we went to Philippe’s home in the mountain for coffee. His home was like a museum; every piece of art he owned had a story.

Later, we continued up the steep, bumpy roads. Our van couldn’t make the full jouney to Saint Soleil, so we piled in Phillipe’s truck. Despite holding on for dear life, i admired the countryside’s beauty.

Everything abou Saint Soleil was heavenly. I had never seen anything more vibrant. I fell in love with one particular piece at an artist’s home. When I inquired about the cost, he looked at me and said it was a gift. I was overcome with emotion.

The next day, we visited a dance studio. I’m by no means a dancer, so I felt self-conscious. A few stretches calmed my nerves, but that was the easy part. I kept bumping into my partner during the session. Despite my struggles, I had a great

time.We met up wtih BeLo, a renowned

Haitan musician who performed at the College last semester. He loved his time in North Adams, and was thrilled we took the time to see him. He took us to the Croix-des-Bouquets, the home to dozens of artists who work with iron. The city’s work and people were diverse and beautiful.

Later, BeLo invited us to a concert of musicians from his own organization. Singer Jessica Jean-Charles delivered a beautiful surprise performance for everyone as well. We danced all night, ignoring our aching feet, exhaustion, and thirst.

On the last day, we learned how to barter and interact with the street vendors. They followed us closely, knowing we were willing to spend money.

After, we went to a beautiful beach called Club Indigo. I found enough sea

glass to make a necklace and watched the sun set over the ocean. No one wanted to leave the beach, or the country for that matter. We returned to our hotel for a press conference and shared our art and experiences.

There’s a Haitian saying, “Bonne soleil” which means “A good sun to you.” It’s an endearing phrase said to both the closest of friends, family, and even complete strangers.

The Haitian community taught me the importance of living my life to the fullest and to appreciate everything I have every day.

Visiting Haiti was an incredible experience. While there is poverty and violence, it’s still a country of both spiritual and natural beauty.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Sports theonlinebeacon.com8

Girls and women from all over Berkshire County will be gathering at the College for National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

From 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, activities such as golf and pickle ball will be held in the Amsler Campus Center Gym, after which there will be doubleheader basketball games starting at 3:30pm.

“We try to get girls exposed to sports and athletics to get them moving and maybe even inspire them,” Assistant Athletic Director Dorothy Houston explained. “If we inspire one, then we have done our job.”

At this year’s event there will be a new group showcasing an option other than just traditional sports. NeXXus will make its first appearance this year, their goal being to teach participants a few new moves and really get the girls moving.

NGWSD is celebrated in all 50 states with community-based events and activities that encourage the participation of

girls and women in sports. The College has been a host to these events since 1989.

When the program was first introduced at the College there was only one clinic offered, but now most of the women’s athletic teams are involved. The teams now run multiple clinics to show the participants basic skills within the sports offered at the College.

NGWSD began in 1987 as a day to commemorate Olympic volleyball player Flora Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work for equality in women’s sports. After Hyman’s death, NGWSD has evolved into a day to acknowledge past and present sports achievements and the positive influence of sports participation.

“Our hope is to inspire young girls to be lifelong learners of good health,” Volleyball Coach and Assistant Athletic Trainer Amanda Beckwith stated, “With volleyball not being a popular sport in the Berkshire County, the clinic brings along the opportunity to expose the sport to fresh new minds.”

NGWSD aims to involve girls

who may never have played a sport before. The influence of both coaches and actual players presents the opportunity for learning not only the game, but how to be a team player.

“This is a great way that we get to share our college’s atmosphere with the community that surrounds us,” volleyball player Jacqueline Paluilis shared. “It is great that we are showing young girls what our athletes are

all about and maybe help them establish goals to strive for.”

NGWSD is jointly organized by the National Girls and Women in Sports Coalition which include the organizations Girls Incorporated, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports, National Women’s Law Center, and the Women’s Sports Foundation. These organizations have been in existence for 432 years, and collectively they have

gained a membership of 5.5 million girls and women.

To find the planned events for women and girls grades 3-8, or to find information about past National Girls and Women in Sports Day at MCLA, please go to our website: http://athletics.mcla.edu/information/NGWSD/index

NGWSD HELPING GIRLS BRING THEIR “A” GAME

Since the spring 2013 se-mester has started, the women’s basketball team has a 0-6 record in conference play. The team’s overall record is 8-11.

“We have not given up, even though we have had no wins in the conference play, but we will keep trying,” point guard Mari-ah Brown, said.

The Trailblazers recently fell to the Bridgewater Bears 90-61. However, there are still six more games and a tournament in the season for the team to improve.

“Each game has at least one good half, where we work to-gether as a whole, but then there are little points when we get dis-couraged and now we are work-ing to fix that,” guard Danielle Beauchamp, said.

The team needs to try a dif-ferent approach, or change rhythms in order to come out of this negative streak, according to Beauchamp.

Considering this will be the final season for some graduating seniors, Coach McGovern ex-plained, a lot of effort will need to be put forth in a final push to better those senior’s personal re-cords.

“The team is working toward

better communication and de-fense which will contribute to buying into the ‘togetherness’ concept as a whole,” McGovern said.

The team has time to im-prove, practicing three to four times a week, on top of compet-ing in their games. McGovern stressed team work and stabil-ity between the teammates as a sense of encouragement to help the Trailblazers succeed.

By Justine CozzaSports Writer

Women’s basketball working toward improvements

By Nicholas SwansonSports Writer

Scores, Schedules and Standings

Scores

Womens Basketball Mens Basketball1/29 @Salem St. L, 69-57 1/29 @ Salem St. W, 92-81Schedule

Women’s Basketball Men’s Basketball2/2 Worcester St. @ MCLA 2/2 Worcester St. @ 3:30p.m. MCLA 5:30p.m.

2/5 Westfield St. @MCLA 2/5 Westfield St. @5:30p.m. MCLA 7:30p.m.

Standings

Women’s Basketball Men’s Basketball CONF OVERALL CONF OVERALL

Bridgewater St. 7-1 16-3 MCLA 6-1 10-10Westfield St. 6-2 14-7 Westfield St. 6-2 16-4Worcester St. 6-2 10-11 Salem St. 4-4 12-8Framingham St. 4-4 11-8 Worcester St. 4-4 10-9Fitchburg St. 2-5 9-10 Bridgewater St. 4-4 9-10Salem St. 2-6 9-12 Fitchburg St. 2-5 10-8MCLA 0-7 8-12 Framingham St. 1-7 8-13

Beacon Archives.Sophmore Dominique Bostick goes for a free throw aginst Fisher College.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Sports theonlinebeacon.com 9Ray

Lewis: Retiring or not?Ariana Tourangeau

Sports Editor

It’s that time of year again, so gather with your friends and break out your football attire, wings, and beer because Super Bowl XLVII will be an interesting one.

As a Green Bay Packers fan, I am a little disappointed that we didn’t make it this year, but as a football fan I am still excited to see this match play out on Sunday.

This year the AFC champions, the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) will face off with the NFC’s champions the San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1) on Sunday February 3rd at 6:30pm in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This Super Bowl has been named the “Harbowl,” because Jim Harbaugh, coach for the 49ers and John Harbaugh coach for the Ravens, are brothers. Looks like a bit of a family feud until after that game. I’d hate to be their parents on Sunday.

That isn’t the only interesting thing about these years Super Bowl. For the 49ers, this is their first Super Bowl in 18 years and for the Ravens, linebacker Ray Lewis says this will be his last game after 17 seasons. These reasons prove Sunday will be interesting, as both teams will bring their “A” game.

Ray Lewis announced before the playoffs that this season would be his “last ride,” and now fans are skeptical if Lewis is sticking to the decision or not. According to NFL.com his teammate, Ed Reed, told reporters not to be so sure of his decision and that he could play 10 games next year.

I think he will stick with his decision to retire because of the plans he and his family has. Lewis already has a multi year deal in place to join ESPN as a studio analyst and his son, Ray Lewis III, is already expected to follow in his footsteps.

Lewis’ son plans to play as a freshman running back for the Miami Hurricanes in 2013 and this, according to NFL.com, outweighs Lewis’ desire to play another season.

Although we may be losing one Lewis after 17 seasons, it looks like we’ll soon be getting another one in the league within the next 4 years.

The second half of the game immediately had fans screaming when John Jones assisted Richard Johnson for an early dunk, leading the team out of a halftime deficit and to a 77-66 victory over Fisher St.

The excitement continued when Jones dunked his rebound from a free-throw by the Trailblazers. Not long later, Ramon Viches nailed two back-to-back 3-pointers and a deep field goal for 2 all in consecutive plays, totaling 11 points in the second half.

“We’ve been playing strong and well, we want to keep this going,” Coach Jamie Morrison, said. “Our seniors have stepped up as leaders. When they play well, everyone plays well.”

The Trailblazers currently hold the number one spot in MASCAC and hope to hold onto that spot as MASCAC games continue.

The team began conference play beating Salem St. 77-72; they won their next four games against Worchester St. 75-71; Westfield St. 64-43; Framingham St. 67-64; Fitchburg St. 66-60; before losing to Bridgewater St. 89-80.

Their season has been a success so far, and in their game against Fisher they dominated the court. They did so without their starting point guard, Bilal Shabazz, who will be returning from an injury soon.

Shabazz’s injury is a loss to the team for now, but it has allowed Anthony Barbosa along with freshmen Lee Turner and Paul

Maurice to shine on the court and get their practice in. Maurice scored a whopping 19 points against Bridgewater.

“As a team we realize conference play is big for us and being MASCAC champions is what we wanted since the off season,” said junior, James Hunter. “It all starts in practice with the hard work to the team bonding off the court.”

The Trailblazers now have to defeat

Worcester State at home on Saturday to maintain the top spot.

“I feel optimistic,” Morrison said. “The league is tough and everyone is comparable. We want a big crowd on Saturday. The guys need a lot of support from their fellow students as the season gets deeper.”

Men and women’s basketball will both play a doubleheader against Worcester State, Saturday beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Trailblazers hook victory

By BARRY WILNERAP Pro Football Writer

No Tom Brady. No Aaron Rodgers. No Ben Roethlisberger. Not a Manning in sight.

Super Bowl has a pair of fresh faces at quarterback, bona fide nobodies as far as the NFL title game goes. One will leave New Orleans as football’s newest star.

For Colin Kaepernick and Joe Flacco, this is new territory. And, of course, exactly where they want to be.

``To be AFC champs feels good,’’ Flacco said Monday. ``We move on now to this challenge.’’

Flacco, the only quarterback to win a playoff game in each of his first five NFL seasons, will lead the Baltimore Ravens into Sunday’s matchup against the NFC-winning San Francisco 49ers and Kaepernick, a backup for most of his two seasons.

It’s the first time in a decade that the big game doesn’t feature one of the big five household names in the glamour position.

You can’t get much fresher than quarterbacks who never have gotten this far before.

``At the start of the season, I was just hoping to get on the field some way, somehow,’’ said Kaepernick, the backup for Alex Smith, who took the 49ers to the conference final last season.

He got that chance after Smith sustained a concussion on Nov. 11, and hasn’t seen the bench since.

Win this one and he’ll have a

piece of history, joining a heady quarterback club that includes Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young, who guided the 49ers to five NFL titles _ a victory every time they played. No. 6 would tie the team with Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers _ a record for most Super Bowl wins.

A second-round draft pick in 2011 out of Nevada _ not exactly Alabama _ Kaepernick has the shortest pro resume of any Super Bowl quarterback. It’s impressive, nonetheless. His legs (181 yards rushing against Green Bay, a record for the position) and his arm (105.9 passer rating in the postseason) are the main reasons San Francisco is in its first NFL title game in 18 years.

`Anybody that is out there on the football field, you want to see them produce and get results,’’ left tackle Joe Staley said. ``With Colin, his first couple of starts, you did not know what to expect because we had not seen him out there as a starting quarterback. He did amazing and he has all season, as well as the playoffs. I think it was one of those things where we saw him in practice and we just wanted to see how he was going to handle the situation in the games. He has done that.’’

Still, he’s new to this envi ronment and that hardly seems to faze Kaepernick.

`One thing I’ve always said about him from the start is he comes off as a guy that has a lot of confidence,’’ said center Jonathan Goodwin, who won a Super Bowl snapping for Drew Brees and the

Saints three years ago. ``I’m not just saying that. You can feel it by the way he acts and talks.’’

Flacco has that air of certainty, too, but at least it’s built on a more substantial foundation, including an 8-4 mark in the playoffs, with six road wins _ the most for any quarterback, Montana and Young included. That goes for Baltimore’s John Unitas, too.

Nobody is comparing Flacco to them just yet, except for the self-belief he brings to the job.

``You naturally become more of the guy when you spend a number of years in the league,’’ he said at the Ravens’ first Super Bowl news conference Monday. ``As a quarterback, it’s my job to lead from Day 1.’’

As a five-year starter, that’s exactly what Flacco did after Baltimore drafted him out of Delaware _ yep, not exactly Alabama.

As has become the custom in the NFL, Flacco represents the high draft pick who steps behind center early in his career and, usually, stays there. Both Mannings did it, as did Roethlisberger. Just this season, the top two picks in the draft, QBs Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, were anointed starters at the outset and played sensationally.

Now Flacco and Kaepernick try to join those big-name quarterbacks who own all those Super Bowl rings.

“We try to pass tests every day,’’ Flacco said.

That’s how you become a Super Bowl quarterback.

Who are these guys at QB in Super Bowl?

By Chris OxholmSports Writer

Photo by Shauna Dacus/Beacon StaffSophmore Dominique Bostick goes for a free throw aginst Fisher College.

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Campus Comment theonlinebeacon.com10What did you do over winter break?

“I hung out with friends and fam-ily. I spent time with my boy-friend. We went out to dinner and watched Rugrats and Hey Arnold on Netflix.”

– Nicole Ngoon, 2015

“I live on the Cape, so my friends and I went to the beach every day. I dipped my foot in at like 1 a.m., it was freezing and the sand was frozen.”

– Emily Lennox, 2016

“I read a lot of Harry Potter. I also caught up on sleep and caught up with my friends and talked about our colleges.”

–Kiki Kim, 2016

“I didn’t do too much. I worked whenever my boss gave me hours.”

–Brittany Galipeau, 2013

“I took my MTELS for the first two weeks of break, and I also celebrated my 21 birthday.”

–Kaitlin Straut, 2014

“I hung out with friends and family. I also went to New York for sightseeing.”

– Amanda McField, 2016

Compiled by Jess Gamari/Beacon staff

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Thursday, January 31, 2013 Fun & Games theonlinebeacon.com 11

Weekly HoroscopesAries: March 21-April 19Just listen and all will be explained. Today brings a test of your pa-tience and your ability to handle emotional truths, so make sure that you’re really paying attention. Your mate needs you more than ever!

Taurus: April 20-May 20Grab a buddy and hit the gym! You could also try a hike or some other physical activity -- even dancing can get your blood working -- but you need to socialize and you need to get fit.

Gemini: May 21-June 21Your energy levels are sky-high today, and you feel a lift in your spir-its to accompany it. Make sure that your people get a taste as well, as this is something that is much better when it’s shared!

Cancer: June 22-July22Conflict is almost a given on a day like today -- so try to keep it from causing too much trouble in your life. You may find it easier to give in a little in the hopes of reaching a compromise later.

Leo: July 23-Aug. 22Focus on other people today -- they hold the keys to success for you. That could mean listening carefully to old-timers, checking in with old friends or even calling on favors from family.

Virgo: Aug. 23-Sept. 22It’s time for teamwork -- especially when it comes to making big life decisions. It may be your mate, it may be a good friend or it may be a business partner, but you’ve got to move forward together now.

Libra: Sept. 23-Oct. 22Try to speak up today – you’ve got some deep issues that need reso-lution, and they aren’t going anywhere without some serious com-munication. It may be a family thing or it could be work-related, but it’s vital.

Scorpio: Oct. 23-Nov. 21Your passive side comes out now and then -- like today -- and it sometimes throws your friends for a loop. Let them make the big decisions and see where you end up. It’s sure to be fun!

Sagittarius: Nov. 22-Dec. 21Now is a great time to crack jokes, tickle your kids, and generally inspire laughter in all its many forms. Your great personal energy helps you lead others out of their dark places.

Capricorn: Dec. 22-Jan. 19It’s finally time for you to deal with that jerk of a boss -- or anyone else in authority who thinks their position makes them better than you. Show them firmly but politely just how you feel.

Aquarius: Jan. 20-Feb. 18Today is all about you, so focus on your own issues and see what you can do to wrap at least one problem up before going to sleep tonight. Things should get even better in the morning!

Pisces: Feb. 19-March 20Debt is an issue for many, but for you it may feel a little tender. Try not to do anything drastic, but this is a good time to take positive steps to move away from the red and into the black.

Horoscopes courtesy of Yahoo.com

Cartoon by Jackie Coughlin

Snow reactions through the years...

ACROSS4. An illegal play where a player strikes an opponent across the face or neck with an extended arm.5. Who is performing at halftime?6. One of the teams: “Quoth the ______, nevermore.”8. A pass that is caught by a defensive player, giving his team possession of the ball.10. Where is the super bowl this year?11. Another team: 7X7+ “ers”.

DOWN1. This will be the ____ super bowl.2. Quarterback for 49ers.3. The side opposite the direction a player is facing needs protecting.7. Linebacker for Ravens.9. The selecting of collegiate players for entrance into the National Football League.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Photo Essay theonlinebeacon.com12

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

by Dennise Carranza

Both students and residents of North Adams joined together to make cards and decorate handmade goods.

Students and other volunteers create care packages for soldiers overseas.

Volunteers also made mittens to add to the care packages.

The finished care packages completed by volunteers.

Children from the community craft cards for soilders in the Army.

MCLA students crochet gloves and scarves.