Cas Haley, a well-known reggae singer and guitarist, gives a small show in the cafeteria Jan. 16. This finalist from season 2 of “America’s Got Talent” performed his own songs “Will I Find” and “Connection” as well as a cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry.” Photos by Daniel De Zamacona
Click for full images.
By Stephen Cook
Decades ago, if you wanted to listen to music you could either turn on the radio or put on a record. Fast forward to now, when there are more listening options than ever before: iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, Grooveshark, CDs and MP3s just to name a few. In addition to these, there is traditional radio and vinyl records.
Although the general popularity of vinyl records fell during the late ‘90s and ‘00s, an era when new technologies such as CDs and MP3s became widespread, records are once again becoming more prevalent. According to a report by Nielsen SoundScan, 4.6 million LP/Vinyl Records were sold in 2012 – a 17.7 percent increase over the 3.9 million sold in 2011.
Today’s selection isn’t limited to just vintage vinyl, either. Artists such as Taylor Swift and the Black Keys are releasing brand new albums on vinyl. Amazon.com has more than 1 million vinyl records for sale, ranging from Lady Gaga to Jimi Hendrix and everything in between.
Coleen Voeks, who works at the Kansas City record store Vinyl Renaissance, has been listening to records since she was a child. Over the past 10 years, she said she has come to the point where she won’t buy anything but vinyl.
“If I’m going to sit down and actually listen to something I listen to it on vinyl,” Voeks said. “It’s more enjoyable; it’s a full experience.”
Voeks noted that although there are plenty of people who like listening to music, not all take the time to sit and appreciate the music.
“There’s the casual listener of music and then there’s people who genuinely really listen to music,” Voeks said. “I think those are the people that really are into vinyl, because you hear so much more. It’s such a better sound.”
Listening to vinyl records is not just an audible experience, it is also tactile, Voeks explained. You have to care for your records and equipment as well as set them up to play.
Carter Lewis, student, also sees records as being something real you can collect and experience.
“I started collecting them and started listening to them,” Lewis said. “I got really attached to owning them. I started collecting them more. So the past couple years, I would search out and try to find better and better records and I really like it because it’s good to have something that’s physical in your hands.”
Lewis said he has spent about $1,500 to $3,000 on his collection of records. Currently, his collection is made up of about 300 records that he inherited from his parents along with about 75 to 100 records he has purchased himself. According to Lewis, it is worth it to invest in good equipment and good records.
“There’s a warmness to it that you really don’t get out of a CD or a MP3,” Lewis said. “Also it’s a higher audio quality than regular MP3s or CDs due to analog recording.”
Joel Nanos, who runs Element Recording Studios in Kansas City, explained the recording and production process can have an effect on the final sound quality of a song. According to Nanos, analog provides a more natural way of listening to music, whereas with digital recording, the sound must be converted into digital code before being played back.
“In the old days you recorded a record. You were recording with an analog microphone into analog equipment onto tape that was being cut to vinyl,” Nanos said. “It was being pumped through analog speakers into our ears, which are analog devices, and we like that warmth and that distortion — not distortion in a bad way, but in a good way that creates that warmth and fuzz.”
Additionally, Nanos said in order for music to be made into MP3s and CDs, the audio has to be carved down to size, meaning sound quality is lost in the process. This real, natural sound quality is why he believes the interest will continue.
“I don’t think vinyl will go away, I don’t think it’ll take over the digital world,” Nanos said. “I think that will be forever the dominant form of getting music.”
Instead of putting iTunes on random or just listening to one or two songs at a time, a vinyl record makes you more likely to listen to the album all the way through, Voeks explained, as the artist intended it to be heard. It’s not as easy to skip tracks.
Nanos said although many musicians who come through his studio hope to release their music on vinyl, he estimated only about a quarter of them are able to due to budget and public interest.
“Everyone always expresses frustration when they’re in the studio and they realize after all this is done that [people won’t] hear what they created the way it was intended to be heard,” Nanos said. “Hopefully at least that small percentage [of vinyl listeners] will still be out there.”
Contact Stephen Cook, copy editor, at scook35@jccc.edu.
By Malakki Matters
A storm swells within the cafeteria; the waters rise and Tsunami is gone, leaving in its place Sushi with Gusto. The old sushi establishment was surpassed by its chosen replacement beginning Monday, Jan. 7.
Jay Glatz, manager, Dining Services, explained the future of Sushi with Gusto’s presence. Every year the college evaluates each representative within Dining Services. The previous sushi vendor Tsunami had been located in the cafeteria for six years. This year the decision was made to seek outside bids.
Glatz received four bids for consideration. He said the one that stuck out was the new vendor, Sushi with Gusto, because of the selection they had to offer and support from their corporate office.
“We are up roughly 30 percent in sales,” Glatz added.
Amongst students there has been a positive response regarding the new venue.
“There were days when [Tsunami’s sushi] was looking old and so I wouldn’t get it,” said student Amber Reed, “but [Sushi with Gusto’s sushi] looks more fresh.”
Students also enjoyed new options.
“It looked like a wider selection,” said Lisa Acevedo, student. “This place has better California rolls.”
Phillip Allen, a regional sales manager for the restaurant, compared Sushi with Gusto to going to a fine, quality restaurant.
Sushi with Gusto has gone beyond the traditional venue. The restaurant has expanded its borders and market without changing its physical location by moving its product in three additional locations around campus: Encore Espresso, Vibe, and the Convenience Store.
A final expansion for Sushi with Gusto is yet to come. Glatz met with representatives from Sushi with Gusto and Café Tempo on Thursday, Jan. 17. They sampled and discussed possibilities of carrying the product there as well.
In the coming weeks there will be a new line at Café Tempo with a rotating special every day. The details are sparse as the menu is still under construction, but there will be three or four different products that are new both to Café Tempo as well as Sushi with Gusto.
“It will be a nice addition to Café Tempo,” Glatz said.
According to the company’s website, Sushi with Gusto was formed in 1997 and has grown ever since. Currently Sushi with Gusto can be found in 25 states across the eastern shore and Midwest.
Contact Malakki Matters, reporting correspondent, at pmatters@jccc.edu.
By Joe Hofbauer
Just because you grow up around something doesn’t mean you will be good at it. But for Kent Shelley, head baseball coach, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.
With his recent induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), it’s easy to see Shelley knows exactly what he’s doing.
During his time at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kan., Shelley, then co-captain of the baseball team, was voted MVP. After his run at Pratt, it was only a matter of time until other colleges wanted to get in on the action.
Shelley received offers to play for KU, Oklahoma State University, Emporia State University and many other Division II colleges, as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
“It had always been a dream of mine to return home and play for the Jayhawks and graduate from the University of Kansas,” Shelley said. “Luckily I was able to fulfill that dream.”
Shelley played for KU for two years and was selected co-captain his senior year. Soon he was hired as graduate assistant coach. After a year of coaching he decided it was time to get a job in the “real world.”
“I let money be a main motivator, and I let the state of Colorado be the second,” he said. “After a short stint in sales I decided to return to my true love, and that’s the profession of coaching baseball.”
After returning to Kansas, Shelley was contacted by Johnson County Community College, Kansas City Kansas Community College and Fort Scott Community College and offered assistant coaching positions at all three.
“Luckily I chose the correct one,” Shelley said.
He became the first paid assistant coach in the college’s history. Shelley had the opportunity to coach under the “legendary” Sunny Maynard. The position of head coach opened and Shelley was offered the position.
Terry Calaway, college president, acknowledged Shelley’s award and commitment to the college at the Jan. 17 Board of Trustees meeting.
“[Shelley’s] just been one of the best of the best,” Calaway said.
Calaway then addressed Shelley directly.
“We are so, so honored to have the opportunity to work with you and to have this chance to celebrate this recognition of your great work both inside the classroom and on the field,” he said.
Shelley is in his 26th year here at the college and still going strong. He credits his entire success to his family, players and staff.
Contact Joe Hofbauer, reporting correspondent, at jhofbaue@jccc.edu.
By Mackenzie Clark
A subcommittee of the Board of Trustees selected representatives from various areas of the college to form an official presidential search committee charged with selecting the next president. Chair Melody Rayl announced the members of this committee at the Jan. 17 Board meeting.
Dennis Day, executive vice president, Student Success and Engagement, was selected as one representative of the administration.
“I have every confidence in everybody that’s in the committee that they will do an excellent job of representing their constituencies,” he said.
Deborah Williams, president of the Faculty Association, originally suggested David Krug, associate professor, Accounting, to serve as the sole faculty representative on the search committee. She said some faculty members raised concerns about having only one representative.
“I had some discussions with Trustee Rayl and others and they were receptive to the idea of having another faculty member serve on the committee,” Williams said.
Williams will serve as the second faculty representative. Bruna Iacuzzi, president of Student Senate, will represent students on the committee.
“Students that I’ve talked to have said they would like a president who is actively involved in the student body,” Iacuzzi said.
For example, she said, students told her they would like to see a president attending club bake sales or athletic events. Another concern students shared with her was promotion of diversity. She plans to offer an online survey to get additional feedback.
“If students communicate with me I can report what they think,” Iacuzzi said.
One concern Williams said she has heard from faculty members is the time of change at the college, with the retirement of several administrators.
“Knowing the relationships that we’ve had with these existing players – to have a new slate is of concern, or of interest, at least, to faculty,” she said.
Day is not as concerned and said he feels the transition will be fairly smooth and efficient.
“We’ve got some very senior executive management in place,” he said. “We’ve got a president who’s not going anywhere. He’s still around. We’re into a search process while the president is still here. […] We are in a very, very good position in many ways.”
At their December meeting, the trustees voted to approve a proposal from the search firm Gold Hill Associates in an amount not to exceed $40,000. Preston Pulliams, manager of the firm, led the search committee through their first meeting to plan a tentative timeline for the search process on Jan. 16 (see the information box along with this article).
Once candidates are narrowed to finalists, the search committee will “absolutely” seek comments from the community at large, Day said. If all goes as planned, the final decision will be made before the spring semester ends.
“Our most important piece is to get to some very good finalist candidates and to assure that the campus community and the community at large have exposure to those finalists,” he said, “because ultimately that’s where the real input comes from.”
Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.
By David Hurtado
Students driving by the College Boulevard entrance to the college may have noticed the gradual demolition of the old baseball field and subsequent rise of the new one.
The field, located on the north side of the GYM, began renovations last September and is expected to be completed by Friday, Feb. 1. The total cost came out to $1,613,596, with $249,735 going toward new lighting and $1,363,861 set aside for the field itself. Brown Midwest was the general contractor hired for the job.
Rex Hays, executive director of campus services, said the college decided to renovate the field due to maintenance needs and to attract more potential recruits for the sports program. Hays said the field had not been updated for at least 20 years and was suffering from drainage issues and a great amount of slope in the outfield.
“For our athletic program, we needed to be able to compete in terms of recruiting with some of the other colleges around,” Hays said. “To give you an example, all the high schools have turf fields. So a lot of the high schools that the recruits play on are coming off better fields at their high school versus what they were here at the college.”
Gabe Brown, owner of Brown Midwest, said the company demolished the entire field, doing away with everything that was there and leaving only the scoreboard intact. The company added a new fence, dugouts, turf, benches, storage racks and lighting. They also regraded, or leveled, portions of the outfield where the land was sloping.
Brown said the biggest advantages turf had over grass were maintenance costs and downtime.
“There’s no maintenance. You never have to mow it again. The lines are already in the turf, so you don’t have to reset the lines every time you play and they don’t wash away,” he said. “You can play on the field within 30 minutes of a heavy rainstorm because the field drains itself. Those are the primary advantages.”
According to Brown, it generally takes about six months to renovate a baseball field. He said the college’s took about five months to complete.
Carl Heinrich, director, Athletics, said the new field will allow for easier time management for student athletes.
“You can get 15 inches of rain and 20 minutes after it stops raining, you can be on [the turf field],” Heinrich said. “With a typical field, you can’t do that. [Student athletes] will be able to practice at a certain time of day that typically in the past, if it’s rained and it’s muddy, they haven’t been able to practice at that time and might have to practice later. It’s going to give to them a consistency in their time management.”
Heinrich added other sports facilities on campus were in need of renovations also, including the GYM floor and the soccer field.
Kent Shelley, head baseball coach, said he believes the renovations will greatly aid the college in terms of recruitment and the quality of the sports program.
“The past year or two, we have lost some top tier prospects to other programs which have improved their facilities to the point where we could not compete,” Shelley said.
He said this gives us the best facility in the Jayhawk Conference and one of the best in the country.
“So now we’re going to be able to go into the homes of those top tier student athletes and be able to look them in the eye and tell them that they’re going to be coming to one of the top ten community colleges in the country and playing in one of the top five baseball facilities in the country,” Shelley said.
Contact David Hurtado, staff reporter, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.
We at The Campus Ledger consider ourselves lucky because our parents never hesitated to say “I love you” when we were growing up. That little bit of reassurance was amazingly reassuring to us in our formative years.
Perhaps the administration could take a lesson from Mom and Pop.
The college community suffered the sad losses of two very influential members, as well as several more to retirement, in recent weeks. Although colleagues who worked close by spoke highly of them, it is clear just by reading their obituaries that the administration failed to acknowledge how much their achievements mattered before it was too late.
This college is inundated with remarkably talented professors. Administrators should consider themselves lucky they stay.
Over the past few years, the college has conducted multiple salary studies in order to bring faculty pay up to the levels of similar schools. These employees are a cut above the rest and, therefore, should be paid above average. If they are going to be held to this college’s high standards, they ought to be compensated at the same standard. Pay raises here barely keep up with cost of living and inflation increases.
There are adjunct faculty members who have been here more than 10 years. That’s 10 years with no health insurance, nor benefits outside permission to use the lactation room.
If part-time faculty members teach advanced classes that tend to have lower enrollment, sometimes they are forced to choose whether to take a pay cut and teach the class because it’s their passion or cancel the class and wait for next semester.
Sure, occasionally there are special awards for faculty members. Does one award in 20 years of teaching really justify keeping up from day to day?
The original plan for the presidential search committee was to invite a single full-time faculty member to represent the needs of all faculty members at this college. The only word to describe this plan is preposterous.
And what about the hourly employees? They receive no representation on the search committee. Instead they’re required to man the student service desks or empty trash cans in the food court every half hour or so.
As one staff member told us, “I’ve never gone through that ceremony where they hand out 5- and 10-year pins to employees because I don’t want to shake their hands. I treasure my pins. I earned them. But I didn’t want to get a fake smile to go with them, so I pick them up from HR a couple of days later.”
It’s this kind of treatment that will eventually drain the zest from the amazing professors we have, or cause them to leave before their time. This lack of appreciation is toxic and it does a disservice to everyone on campus.
It’s no surprise when some of the college’s best employees take off for greener pastures while they’re still young. While this school and this area seem like ideal choices that any teacher would be lucky to experience, many of them quickly realize it’s not quite as perfect as it may seem. Subsequently, the wise ones take their talents elsewhere.
The time has come for the administration to rethink their methods of acknowledging employees for maintaining the standards that make this college what it is. Tomorrow could be one day too late.
By Jon Parton
The college is expected to increase spending in order to provide funding for provisions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The law, commonly referred to as Obamacare, introduces penalties for large employers who do not offer health insurance to those workers working 30 hours or more per week.
Although the provision will not go into effect for the school until June 1 of next year, Jerry Zimmerman, benefits manager, Human Resources, said college administrators are currently researching what actions the school will need to take.
“We have anywhere from 250 to 300 what I will refer to as part-time regular employees who are working 30 hours a week,” Zimmerman said. “Having said that, potentially the college has another 250 to 300 people for which we have to determine whether we are going to provide medical coverage effective June 1, 2014.”
Under the new provision, employers who offer insurance are required to provide coverage that pays 60 percent of medical expenses while costing the employee no more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums.
“Where that becomes a real challenge I think, for our Board of Trustees, is that we have a lot of folks who are students here who are part-time regular employees who aren’t making $30,000 or $40,000 a year,” Zimmerman said. “They become the lowest common denominator and it’s 9.5 percent of that amount. That’s sort of, if you will: the waterline which the premium can’t exceed.”
College officials may choose not to offer part-time regular employees medical coverage and instead pay a penalty.
“Realistically and culturally, I don’t think that’s going to happen at [the college] because I believe that offering the coverage to this group of individuals is going to cost us substantially less,” Zimmerman said. “I think it’s fairly reasonable to assume that we’ll be providing coverage at some level to these folks, I just don’t know what it looks like and it won’t be until June 1 of 2014.”
Don Perkins, associate vice president, Financial Services, said although paying a penalty may be cheaper for the college, he has not seen any research into the matter and thinks it will not be a driver in the decision-making process.
Bob Drummond, vice-chair, Board of Trustees, said college administrators are still researching the issue.
“It’s still early on,” Drummond said. “We’re looking at all the potential possibilities right now and hope to face the challenge.”
Contact Jon Parton, managing editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.
By Mac Moore
Originally I picked the Falcons and the Ravens for the Superbowl because I really like birds.
Aside from mascot-based gambling patterns, I also think Ray Lewis, the greatest linebacker of all time versus Tony Gonzalez, the greatest tight end of all time, both playing in what would be their final game, would be one of the best Super Bowl Week stories ever.
Instead we will have to settle for something equally enticing: the Harbaugh Super Baugh to decide the best team in pro footbaugh. The Harbaugh brothers have both been dominating coaches in their time in the NFL.
Jim has won 76 percent of his games in his first two seasons with the 49ers and made it to the NFC Championship games both seasons. In John’s five years with the Ravens, the team has won a league leading 61 games. John, too, lost in the conference championship game last season. Both teams lost in the closing seconds of the game. One year later, both teams went into the victory formation in the final seconds and let the clock burn off to seal their place in the Super Bowl. I can dig it.
I like Jim Harbaugh. He is fiery, he is passionate and he will show it on the field. After winning in the closing seconds against the Lions last year, a boisterous Jim ran across the field in celebration, initiated an overly-aggressive slap-esque handshake with Lions coach Jim Schwartz. This sent Schwartz into a rage. Jim Harbaugh didn’t back down, didn’t apologize and it was great. When asked if he would apologize his response was, “Apologies always seem to me like excuses.”
Fast forward to the NFC championship game this year when Falcons wide-receiver Harry Douglas gets a reception on a ball that seemingly hit the turf. Harbaugh challenges, the refs uphold the ruling and Harbaugh jumps in the air, slinging his headset, his clipboard and any other possession he is holding in multiple directions, all while screaming to high heaven. Win, lose or draw (they literally ended a game with a tie this season), Jim Harbaugh will entertain.
Ray Lewis will try to end his 17-year career by shutting down Jim Harbaugh’s squad. 17 years ago, Ray Lewis registered his first career sack against the Colts. Their quarterback? Jim Harbaugh. The first postseason win for the Ravens this year was against the Colts. Their quarterback? Rookie Andrew Luck. Luck’s college coach at Stanford? Jim Harbaugh. Crazy.
Joe Flacco has won eight postseason games. Colin Kaepernick has only played in nine games total to this point. Flacco throws cannons down the field hoping the coverage breaks down and the Ravens steal big yardage. Kaepernick is running a fairly exotic college offense at the pro level and is still underdeveloped at passing in the pocket. This hasn’t stopped him from gouging teams through the air and on the ground. Did I mention this kid is a freight train?
The Ravens’ defense is a veteran-laden squad that is playing second fiddle to the offense for the first time in a decade. Of course there is still some bite in this old dog. If you don’t believe it, ask Tom Brady. He may have caught rabies from that last game.
The 49ers’ defense is unforgiving. While they have been prone to allowing some big plays like the Falcons showed in the first half of the NFC title game, they also beat teams into submission. Don’t plan to run; defensive tackle Justin Smith will eat you. Don’t plan to catch the ball over the middle of the field; Patrick Willis will hit you in the mouth. Don’t plan to get away from them; they will find you.
The game will come down to two things. One, how long will the Ravens’ defense slow down Kaepernick? And two, how much advantage will the Ravens’ offensive take while this is happening?
The Falcons came out to a blazing 17-0 start against the Niners. Then they neither started running out the clock nor kept a foot on the gas. They just sort of got stagnate while Gore battered the defense and Kaepernick exposed the holes containing the read-option causes. If they can keep putting up points even while this read-option does its damage, then the Ravens win.
I just don’t think they can. The younger QB has won all but three Super Bowls in the last 13 seasons: Peyton Manning over Rex Grossman in 2007 and Kurt Warner over Steve McNair in 2000. Trent Dilfer is about seven months older than Kerry Collins; his Ravens beat the Giants in 2001. Kaepernick is 25. Joe Flacco is 28. I will gimmick gamble whenever I can, so I pick the 49ers to win their record-tying sixth Super Bowl. Niners 30, Ravens 23.
Contact Mac Moore, sports editor, at mmoore82@jccc.edu.
By Jon Parton
As long as you make someone else a lot of money, you can get away with numerous crimes. Just ask convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky from Penn State. More recently, Lance Armstrong admitted to using illegal performance enhancing drugs for years alongside his teammates.
In the case of Sandusky, part of the coaching staff, as well as certain school administrators knew of the abuses taking place and decided to conceal that information from law enforcement officials.
The public response for these criminals has been either one of apathy or support for those who broke the law. We like our sports and we like it when our teams win. Unfortunately, some of us are willing to forget our ethics in the name of victory.
It is precisely this overlook that encourages athletes to continue this behavior. As long as you win, sports fans don’t care what laws you break. The NFL has become notorious for allowing players to continue playing despite facing legal troubles. The Kansas City Chiefs alone have had 25 players arrested between 2000 and 2010.
We Americans have to give up the idea of winning at any cost. Sports fans continue to make excuses for these players who break the law. In rationalizing the bad behavior of these athletes, we encourage this to continue.
Two football players from Steubenville High School in Ohio were charged in the rape and kidnapping of a teenager back in August 2012. Early in January, the hacktivist group Anonymous published a video of a witness joking about the crime. One player states in the video, “They raped her quicker than Mike Tyson.”
How many rapes are worth a championship? How many violent assaults can be overlooked before we say something? Why are we protecting these people? The answer is money. It always comes down to money.
The NFL alone makes close to a billion dollars between things like ticket sales, merchandising and TV deals. As a society, we’re telling the NFL that it’s OK to have felons on teams as long as they win games.
Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 charges related to child molestation. How many years did this go on? How many innocent children are worth a shot at a Bowl game? That depends. How long are you going to support this?
Contact Jon Parton, managing editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.
By Mackenzie Clark
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a nice house in an ideal, all-American neighborhood of Lenexa; a little subdivision where the streets fill with children in the summertime and Boy Scouts parade up and down the block to sell trash bags.
The houses on this street don’t seem to change owners often – perhaps every 20 or 25 years or so, once the kids have started their own families and it’s fairly apparent they won’t need to come back. (Of course in the past few years many more of us are staying home, but that’s another story.)
But, sadly, parents of younger children on my street have a particularly good reason to keep a closer eye on playtime and to lock their doors at night: our neighbor is a registered sex offender.
Nothing sets his house apart from the rest of them. To unknowing passers-by, he probably appears to be a perfectly friendly person; not the type to be charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a 12-year-old child at 44 years old himself.
Those of us who have lived here long enough know better. This man’s punishment: three years and five months in jail; not nearly enough. He has been home for several years now, igniting reasonable fear in the parents who live near me.
I called the Lenexa Police Department to verify that sex offenders are not required to post any sort of notice on their property. This is correct. On Halloween they are “encouraged to make their homes unavailable” to trick-or-treaters by leaving the porch lights off, et cetera, but aren’t legally obliged to note their status.
“I think they should be,” the officer told me, “but they aren’t.”
Thanks to modern convenience we have free services at our fingertips, like Family Watchdog (http://www.familywatchdog.us). But how many parents check their addresses on websites like this and actually make note of their surroundings? My guess is less than half.
Public information is readily available, but I’ve learned that most people don’t like to put the time or effort into seeking out this kind of knowledge. I’m not being critical – it’s not something we like to think about. However, parents need to be fully aware of what potential dangers are out there in order to properly educate their kids.
This isn’t just going to happen. I could rant all day about the stress my neighbors’ families face knowing this man is so close to home and preach that parents should put forth the effort to identify the dangers in their neighborhoods, but it would make no difference.
Prevention needs to be taken to the next level. We need to take a step back from “political correctness” and require registered sex offenders to post a sign in their yards, or even just identifiable signs in their front windows or on their apartment doors.
Children in public schools are taught from an early age to identify Safe Place or block mother signs in homes near their schools. They would be safer if they could identify threats just as easily. Lessons in “stranger danger” teach them that there are bad people in the world; they’re not new to the concept, as much as we may wish they could be.
Sex offenders know the moment they committed their crimes they forfeited the right to privacy. The fact that we have this information and aren’t using it to its full potential is practically criminal.
It is time to get serious about preventing crimes against those who can’t protect themselves if we ever want to see a change for the better.
Contact Mackenzie Clark, editor-in-chief, at mclark68@jccc.edu.
By David Hurtado
On Dec. 14, 2012, in the small town of Sandy Hook, Conn., Adam Lanza murdered 26 human beings. Since then, tens of thousands of Americans across the country have crusaded for stricter gun control laws, blindly ignoring the real problem.
We live in a society that glorifies violence to the point of religious fanaticism and harbors an absolute lack of compassion for human suffering. Combine that with how often our “forward thinking” society turns a blind eye toward people afflicted with mental health disorders and this is what we are left with; a monument to all our sins.
Yes, what happened at that elementary school is heartbreaking, but disarming or making it harder for law-abiding citizens to have a gun for personal protection is not the solution. It was already illegal for Lanza to murder people and bring a firearm on school property. What other law can you think up that would have stopped him? If you fail to recognize the problem, then no solution will work.
In 1927, a man by the name of Andrew Kehoe butchered 38 children, six adults and injured another 58 in an event known as the Bath School Disaster. In retaliation for losing a local election, as well as being under financial and personal stress, Kehoe detonated over 500 pounds of explosives under Bath Community School. The dynamite wasn’t evil; Kehoe was.
To be fair, I agree that we need some measure of gun control in these United States. Humanity has changed very little since man first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, and there is no need for people to be running around with guns if they are mentally ill and fail to pass required background checks.
That being said, no amount of paperwork will prevent each and every mass shooting. Everyone wants to blame this on guns. I get it. Really, I do. But that’s ignorance of the real problem.
Mental health issues are overlooked in our society. There’s a little pill for everything. Feel sad? Take a pill. Feel anxious? Take a pill. Feel hyper? Take a pill.
And if we’re not drowning the mentally ill in bottles of medication, we lock them up in asylums, ignoring their despair. That’s the problem with America. If an individual doesn’t conform to what society deems “normal,” they are ostracized and cast out. Freaks. Losers. Weirdoes. These are all labels that serve to increase the apathy toward the mentally ill.
While Lanza is ultimately responsible for his actions that day, we must take a step back and realize something. Had Lanza been properly treated and had people in his life who befriended him, it’s quite possible this never would have happened. However, I am in no way trying to justify his actions or come to his defense. Lanza caused this hellish bloodbath of his own free will.
But at the heart of Sandy Hook, there is an issue with far deeper roots in our society than gun violence or mental health issues. As I stated above, our culture has an unnatural fetish for violence, which is the result of an entitlement society, without respect for others or the property of others. It is the result of a lack of accountability and refusal to take responsibility for anything.
Our children are taught, from an early age, that it’s alright to fail and then blame someone else for that failure, so long as they feel good about it. They are taught that they are entitled to do what they want when they want to do it, with no regard for the consequences. From the womb of our depraved society, we have bred a generation of sociopaths.
Seneca the Elder, a Roman rhetorician and writer once said, “A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer’s hand.”
History repeats itself because no one ever listens the first time. According to an article in The Washington Post, Connecticut has among the strictest gun laws in the nation. But in the end, they meant nothing to Adam Lanza.
Contact David Hurtado, staff reporter, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.
By Gabrielle Fitzgerald
A recent addition to the Billington Library attempts to spark student interest in politics and the government.
A few four-sided whiteboards are scattered through the library with political questions at the top; dry-erase markers are attached to the side and students are welcome to write their answer on the board.
“We really want people to be able to express how they really feel and to think about what they really believe,” said Judy Korn, manager, Library Access Services, “so every week or so we try to change the question, so they have something else to think about.”
“Not only is it important for a student to take classes for their major,” said Jason Kovac, executive director, Academic Initiatives, “but it’s also important for that student to be exposed to ideas and participate actively and think critically in conversations about what it means to live in a democracy.”
The whiteboards are part of a bigger project called the Democracy Commitment, an initiative specific to two-year schools.
“The goal of the Democracy Commitment is try to get students to understand that you’re not in a bubble,” Korn said. “That whatever happens out there impacts you and whatever you do, impacts those around you. In order to be a productive part of your community, you need to be involved.”
As part of the Democracy Commitment program, the college will be participating in a number of different events.
“We’ve tried to promote things that the college was already doing, kind of in keeping with the spirit of the Democracy Commitment, including the Supreme Court of Kansas visiting the college last semester,” Kovac said. “This year we’re going to have a naturalization ceremony on campus.”
The whiteboards, just a small part of a bigger picture, are designed to prepare students for their future.
“Young people are going to be in charge,” Korn said. “They really need to be able to think critically, to make good decisions, and to look at things from all different sides. It’s something they’re supposed to be learning in college.”
Contact Gabrielle Fitzgerald, features editor, at gfitzge1@jccc.edu.
