Soccer Team Goes to Nationals

harbinger@jeffco.edu
Vol. 80 Issue 2 November 13, 2015
the harbinger
The student newspaper of Jefferson College since 1964
Soccer Team Goes to Nationals
by Val Williams
Faculty Focus:
Prof. of Art Blake Carroll
by Christina Miller
Vikings Soccer Team (photo courtesy of Jefferson College)
The Jefferson College Soccer Team became regional champions after defeating East Central
Community College 4-3 on Halloween day. Winning this game
not only declared them regional
champions, but it also propelled
them to nationals. The team will
now fly to Martinsville, Virginia,
on November 14th where they
will compete in a tournament
with a bracket holding the top
12 Division 1 teams in the nation
from November 16 to 21.
If they make it out of the
group stages successfully they
will have a shot at gaining the
National Championship title. The
last time the Vikings won this title
was in 2006.
Overall it has been a very
successful season. Although early
on in the season the team took a
hard loss to St. Louis Community
College for the first time in Jefferson College history, they did not
let that discourage them. Taking
only two additional losses since
then, the team at one point held a
12 game winning streak.
The Vikings maintain a record of 15 wins and 3 losses giving them high hopes for success
at Nationals.
Sophomore defensive player
from Verrettes, Haiti, #3 Fritz Alexandre is confident in the team’s
ability and says, “I have no doubt
in my mind that we will win. Even
if we go down a goal or two, I
have confidence that we will end
up winning when the final whistle
blows.”
The entire team is looking
forward to this game and has
already begun to mentally prepare. They are taking every step
possible to ensure success at the
tournament.
Sophomore Captain from Jamaica #21 Akeem Richards says,
“This year a strong sense of unity
has been displayed among the
team. We are like a family. There
are no cliques and we never have
any major disputes. We even have
FIFA tournaments in our spare
time that serve as a form of team
bonding.”
The team is commonly seen
together whether it be in study
hall, on the field, at the dorms, or
even out in public at local restaurants. Richards actually attributes
the team’s success to the family
culture they have created and also
to their routine prayer before and
after each game.
“I’m very proud of our team
this year. Everything has come to-
gether really well,” says Richards.
Winning nationals would
mean so much to the team as a
whole, but also as individuals.
It is important to remember the
hard work that the team has put
into the season thus far. Winning
nationals would mean that the
team is #1 in the nation, a huge
accomplishment for everyone.
Sophomore striker from St.
Catherine, Jamaica, #9 Chevaughn Walsh says, “Winning
nationals would fulfill all my
goals and dreams for my career
as a Jefferson College student
athlete. It would be the platform
for my chance of playing for my
native country.”
Along with their astonishing
success on the field the following
players have been named the AllMCCAC 1st team: Chevaughn
Walsh, Akeem Richards, Fritz
Alexandre, and Jorge Chavez.
The following have been
named to the All- MCCAC Men’s
Soccer 2nd Team: Saiz Saenz,
Brayan Lopez, and Mauro Gelfusa.
The coaches and athletic
directors are all very proud of the
boys this year and wish them the
very best of luck.
Blake Carroll has been a
fixture at Jefferson College for
20 years, and an educator for 10
years before that. When asked if
he finds art in unexpected places,
Carroll said, “I can give you many
instances when I was in a museum
and moved to tears literally, but I
don't often finds things that really
excite me in unexpected places
visually. I don't expect to find
great art laying on the sidewalk,
so to speak, but I went to graduate
school in Boston and I remember
walking through downtown Boston and seeing some kids with
boom boxes on their shoulders
that were rapping just as they
walked along, and you know that
to me is what that is about. Not
that it should be recorded and
preserved for posterity but it was
just reflective of their life and
what was happening right at that
moment, and that kind of thing
knocked me out.”
Although he is a self-described elitist when it comes to
art in everyday life, he derives
his inspiration from the world
around him. "I see things all the
time that are not art in and of
themselves that inspire my art.
I am fascinated by trash dumpsters. There's one [painting of a
dumpster] in my exhibit. They
are not beautiful things, but you
know the way the light falls on
them and the different colors
and the varieties of shapes...that
inspires me.”
When asked why art is important, Carroll explains that art
lasts and describes life as no written word can, saying, " What will
endure from today's time will be
the art that we make today. What
do we go to the museums for? Do
we go to museums to see what
the politics were 300 years ago?
I mean there's a little historical
background to it in that regard
but most of how we see that or
access that is reflected through
their art whether it be paintings or
sculptures or architecture...that's
what endures.”
Linda Fuentes and C.J. Santiago examine some of the artwork
in the Administration Building Exhibition Space. Discussing the
space, Professor Caroll said, “Select advanced students exhibit
work there at the end of the spring semester through the summer.
In addition to faculty and student work, we show outside artists of
merit as well. Work shown in the space is selected and coordinated
by myself and Associate Professor Nick Nihira. A reception for my
exhibit entitled Mostly Landscapes has been tentatively scheduled
for November 17th at 2pm.”
faculty focus
page 2
Nov. 13, 2015
A brief look at some of the instructors at Jefferson College
by Christina Miller
Mario Love
A Google search of Mario Love will probably point
you in the direction of a site that rates professors. What
you'll find there are many comments from students who
have thoroughly enjoyed class with this man. Love has
a M.A. in International Relations, his thesis done on
Revolution in Third World Countries, and his Doctorate
in History with an emphasis in African politics. Any
of his students can tell you his classroom experience
often includes YouTube videos to further explain and
flesh out the subject matter. Love says, "Students have
changed in terms of the ability to retain information,
so I think you kind of have to create new bridges to
reach them where they are and I think individuals are
often times visual so you have to readapt how you teach
to bring essential points home. In my opinion, reliance on text books and traditional
methods just don't work anymore, at least for younger generations.” Love, himself,
was inspired by a teacher in undergrad school at UMSL, Dr. Ruth Iyob, when Love
struggled through a class, "I stuck in and fell in love with international politics and
went to Webster's grad school and fell in love with it even more so it just was an ahha moment where the light bulb just turned on." Love often sends students out from
class with a positive thought or message, and when asked what advice he would give to
young people today said, “I suppose that no matter how bad things get it could always
be worse. You have to kind of put the tough things into perspective and not associate
them with being so unique to make it seem as if no one else is going to go through
similar things. There's always a new day, right?”
Christopher Bailes
Christopher Bailes teaches German classes as an adjunct
instructor at Jefferson College's Arnold campus in the
evenings. Bailes became interested in German as a
foreign language during his junior year in college. As
a history major, he was required to have four semesters
of a foreign language. Since Bailes was interested in
German history, as well as philosophy (of which there
are several famous German philosophers), his interest
was naturally drawn to the German language. As well
as being interested in the German language, Bailes also
finds German culture intriguing, saying "Theirs is sort of
a foundation culture to Western civilization, historically
speaking, where we are sort of the New World, so it's sort
of Old World vs. New World." And about the German
people, "I'm always impressed with how innovative and
creative they are. They are just tremendously productive
and innovative in science and music and the world of ideas." While technology and
travel makes the world a smaller place and mingles different peoples, Bailes feels
the global melting pot is not necessarily a bad thing, saying, "I think that everybody,
and cultures, seem to lose a little bit but also gain a little bit, too, in the process of
globalization." Bailes passes on advice to students with one of his favorite quotes,
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." -Bertrand Russell
The Harbinger is prepared by student journalists of Jefferson College - 1000
Viking Drive, Hillsboro, MO 63050 - and is published during the academic year. The
Harbinger is a class project of classes Journalism I-IV at Jefferson College, and has
been the student newspaper of the college since 1964.
The editorial opinions featured in The Harbinger should not be construed to represent the official position of Jefferson College, its Board of Trustees, administration,
faculty, or all students. All commentary pieces are property of their respective owner.
The Harbinger Staff includes Nathan Imlay, Peter Lewis, Alex Litterst, Christina
Miller, Ariel Swopes, Thomas Welch and Val Williams.
The Harbinger staff is advised by Susan Todd.
Amanda Burch
Amanda Burch, MA, LPE, a well-liked psychology adjunct teacher at Jefferson College, not only
teaches future generations, but pays it forward as well.
Burch has a Little Library outside of her home where
people can stop to take a book and leave a book, and
also operates a book bus. Burch has always had a goal
of pursuing psychology, not only in an educational
setting but as a counselor and psychological examiner.
Burch has been a psychology instructor at Jefferson
College for 10 years and says psychology class is
important for every student stating "Psychology is
everywhere, in every field, in every occupation. If
you can understand the way people think…react...
in certain situations, I think you're able to work with
people better." Many see psychology and psychiatry
as being basically the same discipline, however there
are significant differences. Burch says, "Psychiatry
is just treating symptoms with medication. You go to a psychologist for talk therapy
to find out why you're having the symptoms. You can't have one without the other in
my opinion. You go to a psychiatrist and they can treat your symptoms...panic attack,
anxiety...whatever you're having, but if you don't find out why you're having those
panic attacks or anxiety attacks it won't work.” Finally, Burch states that her ah-ha
moments don't necessarily occur in everyday life. However, she says, “I think in an
educational setting you can see when a student has their ah-ha moment and then that
makes me think Oh, Yes, I got it through to them. You know? They understand what
I'm trying to say!"
Aida Steiger
Coach Aida Steiger will enter her 9th year as
volleyball coach at Jefferson College in January,
2016. During the last eight seasons, her coaching
and guidance have led to a very successful
volleyball program, with the 2015 Lady Vikings
winning 24 and losing only 7 games. Jefferson
College is recognized as one of the premier
National Junior College Athletic Association
(NJCAA), Division One, colleges in the nation.
Steiger, shown here spotting college board of
trustees president Steve Meinberg, says one of the
things she loves about coaching is the relationships
and long-term friendships created over the years,
not only with her students but also with assistants.
"Each team has a special place in your heart", says
Steiger, "every single kid I had at some point I'm
engaged with them, and at some point they invite me to their wedding, at some point
they're on Facebook, at some point they will text me, so many times they will come
and watch a game, so it's like a bunch of grown up kids for me. I think that's special,
not everyone gets that." The students also find and form friendships that may very
well last indefinitely. Steiger said, "I think the friendships that they create over those
two years are something special for those kids. They live like sisters. You live, you
eat, you travel, you practice together and stuff like that and they get to know each other
really well." In addition to coaching volleyball, Steiger also teaches health and physical
education classes, such as Weight Training I and II and Aerobics, as well as Personal
Health. Although volleyball season has ended for 2015, soon the whole process will
begin again with recruitment of players and planning next year's winning strategy.
opinions
Nov,13 , 2015
page 3
Media Literacy: Read Between the Lines
by Nathan Imlay
The most important skill for
citizens to have in a democracy
is literacy. The Framers knew
this, which is why they insisted
on compulsory education for all
citizens. In our modern society,
traditional literacy is inadequate
preparation for citizens to participate in our cultural debate. Media
literacy has become crucial for
citizens who wish to properly
exercise their political and economic power.
When it comes to mass media, those who are not media literate are at a severe disadvantage.
They are easier to manipulate,
because they are not familiar
with how advertisers use appeals
to sway them. Those who are
not media literate may have difficulty distinguishing advertising
from content. With the advent
of DVR’s consumers have the
power to skip commercials, forcing advertisers to embed advertising within the content. Without
media literacy skills, consumers
have difficulty distinguishing
advertisements from the rest of
the content.
Media companies, especially
advertisers, are exploiting consumers’ lack of media literacy.
Native advertising, advertisements disguised as editorial
content (advertorials), are specifically designed to take advantage of consumers’ inability to
distinguish advertisements from
content. Native advertisements
are written and formatted exactly like real news stories, with
a small label that identifies it as
sponsored content. Advertisers
claim that consumers can tell the
difference, but studies show that
they cannot.
Native advertisements are
often labeled as “sponsored
content”, but as many as 50% of
consumers are confused about
what sponsored content means.
Does it mean that the advertising
company has had extensive editorial control, or not? The answer
is, it depends. Some sponsored
content is written by advertisers
and given to news organizations,
others are written by the news
organizations themselves. To
make matters more confusing,
some of the advertorials written
by advertisers are less biased than
some of the sponsored content
written by journalists.
We are bombarded constantly with advertising, yet many of
us are not aware of the types of
appeals being used. Advertising
appeals to our emotions, often trying to tweak them in the direction
the advertisers wish. Consumers
who are unaware of how advertisements use emotion are less
able to determine if the emotional
message is one that they wish to
internalize.
A prime example of this
is the fear appeals used to sell
everything from life insurance
to car tires. Everyone is afraid
of death, and advertisers play on
this fear to sell products that will
“keep you safe.” While this claim
may be true, one must analyze
it logically to determine if the
product will in fact help reduce
the risk of death. Without media
literacy skills, consumers will
have difficulty setting aside the
emotions engendered to make a
rational decision.
Advertisements are not the
only persuasive media to use fear
or other emotional appeals. Many
politicians and pundits use similar
emotional appeals to influence
the public. The Second Iraq War
was sold to the public using fear
appeals. Intelligence agencies
claimed that Saddam Hussein was
obtaining yellow cake uranium,
an extremely low quality uranium
ore, for his nuclear weapons
program. Nuclear weapons require very high quality uranium
or plutonium, which is nearly
impossible to achieve from a low
grade ore. Since most Americans
have little understanding of how
nuclear weapons are made, the
fear of Iraq with a nuclear weapons program was very real to the
American public. The threat of
nuclear weapons is so extreme
that it seems to demand immediate action, rather than deliberation
and fact checking. Citizens must
recognize this tendency to react
emotionally in order to control
their initial reaction long enough
to find out if there is actually
something to fear.
Media literacy skills are extremely important when watching
the news. Up to 90% of newsrooms use video news releases,
or VNRs. VNRs are prepackaged
stories delivered to newsrooms
by public relations departments.
Many news organizations will air
a VNR with little or no editing,
often just replacing the original
voiceover track with one of
their own. VNRs even come
with scripts if the newsroom has
difficulty writing their “own”
voiceover.
The non-profit website
PRWatch, has many great examples of VNRs. In 2005, KABC-7
in Los Angeles aired a report entitled, “Is Your Child Constantly
Sick?” Although the station did
not identify it as such, the content
originated with Quest Diagnostics, and was basically a commercial for a new blood test for allergies. The station made cosmetic
changes to the report, replacing
the graphics and voiceover tracks
with their own, but neglected to
do any journalism of their own to
balance the story. Since the report
was not attributed to Quest Diagnostics, consumers had no way to
determine the bias. Many medical
news stories originate with health
care companies, leaving consumers with little access to unbiased
information.
VNRs are produced to look
exactly like news stories, and
their provenance is often difficult
to determine. Some news stations
will identify the source of a VNR
as they air it, but many do not
provide attribution until the credits roll. This makes it difficult to
match the source with the content.
Media literate consumers can
recognize VNRs by what is missing. There is often on attribution,
no station personnel appear on
screen, visuals are from a nonlocal source, and the report airs at
a time dedicated to feature stories
and soft news. Without the skills
to recognize VNRs, consumers
cannot judge the bias of a story
properly. This can be a serious
problem as estimates from both
inside and outside the PR industry estimate that between 50% to
90% of stories consumers read
in the media originated with PR
operations.
With media exerting influence on consumers in every
part of their life, citizens must
have media literacy skills to
have any power, even over their
own minds. Without the skills to
recognize persuasion when it is
being used, consumers have no
way to protect themselves from
being influenced in ways they do
not wish.
If you’would like to learn
more about media literacy, sign
up for Mass Communications
class, COM 130, in the spring. .
Why Women Love Beyonce
by Ariel Swopes
It’s no secret that Beyoncé is
one of the greatest entertainers in
the world. Her amazing vocals,
and always on point dance routines are just a fraction of why
she is one of the greatest. Beyoncé
has many hits, but there’s a few
that will always stand out the
most to me.
Beyoncé is all about empowering women. Back in 2003,
Beyoncé released a song named
“Me, Myself, and I” and the message in that song was for women
to learn to love themselves first,
and the first step of doing that
is realizing your self-worth, and
understanding you are the prize to
a man. You don’t have to tolerate a
man’s foolishness when you know
how you want to be treated.
In 2006 a song called “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé was
released. Beyoncé expressed
strength and how she will not tolerate being taken for granted. This
song inspired women to stand up
for themselves, and kick that no
good guy to the curb if he does
not want to commit 100% to you.
Beyoncé lyrics in her 2013
hit “Flawless” expressed a phenomenal message to women. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (African
feminist writer) sampled talk was
featured in this song.
She says, “We teach girls to
shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller
We say to girls: “You can
have ambition, but not too much
You should aim to be successful, but not too successful
Otherwise, you will threaten
the man
Because I am female, I am
expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my
life choices
Always keeping in mind that
marriage is the most important
Now, marriage can be a
source of joy and love and mutual
support
But why do we teach girls to
aspire to marriage
And we don’t teach boys the
same?
We raise girls to see each
other as competitors
not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be
a good thing
but for the attention of men
we teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way
that boys are
Feminist: a person who believes in the social
Political, and economic
equality of the sexes.”
In my opinion this was the
most powerful message in the
song, just think about it and let
it sink in. Beyoncé will always
be one of the greatest to do it,
her lovely vocals, and powerful
lyrics will always entertain and
encourage her listeners.
Letter to the Editor
To whom this may concern,
My name is Rex and I just wanted to let you know that me and
many of my friends thoroughly enjoyed reading your October 9th
2015 Habinger newspaper. The article "Finna Netflix and Chill"
made its way to the University of Missouri-Columbia and we got a
kick out of it! Thank you so much for the great article and laughter
that it brought us! I sincerely hope that you continue to publish such
relevant and intriguing material that will catch the eyes of other
college students in Missouri!
Best Regards,
Rex Wright II
University of Missouri-Columbia
Sigma Nu (Rho Chapter)
Mizzou Outreach Student Recruitment Team
Email us at harbinger@jeffco.edu. We
may publish your comments as a letter
to the editor. We reserve the right to
edit for length and grammar.
Nov. 13, 2015
sports & culture
So You Think You Know Gamers?
by Christina Miller
The last time I attended college, Doc Brown had just modified a DeLorean, Marty traveled
back in time, the Cubs were set to
win the World Series in 2015, and
PacMan was still in its early years.
Flash forward to now...2015...
and I'm back in college again to
finish what I started (and the Cubs
still haven’t won that World Series). To immerse myself in the
college experience, I thought the
cafeteria would be a good place
to start. I sat near the windows,
because that's where the high
concentration of students hung
out. If I wanted to be amongst a
talkative, boisterous, interactive
group of college kids, I chose
correctly.
If you walk into the Jefferson
College cafeteria around lunchtime and see a group of students
congregating around the window
area, chatting with each other,
some on computers, perhaps a
card game going on, you've found
the gamers.
Although gamers might be
very diverse in whether they are
trading-card players or video
game players, they share a common hobby and pastime that
brings them together as a group.
In addition to the mental and
strategic common ground of their
hobby, there is a strong social and
life experience connection within
the gaming culture. Many gamers
have been bullied as they grew up,
and find a relatability and sense of
camaraderie amongst other gamers due to this shared experience.
Nolan Luhm, President of
Jefferson College's Legion of
Gamers Club, offers that the gaming culture is a group unlike others. In some other groups, there is
often certain level of natural talent
required to fit in, whereas in the
gaming culture, gaming itself is
the common thread. The possibilities of ways to fit in is endless due
to the variety of games. Luhm
also says, "the adversity that
many gamers faced growing up
creates a stronger bond amongst
one another."
LOG member James Dixon
was introduced to Super Mario
Brothers at the age of three by
his dad. Dixon says, "People can
come from completely different backgrounds but if a certain
game has a story or character, or
even game play, that speaks to
the player and you can make that
connection with someone even
though you have literally noth-
ing else in common." In video
games, you can be anything you
want to be.
Dixon enjoys card playing as
well because "there are no boundaries like in most video games.
What you put into your deck is
completely up to you."
Wesley Wisdom, another
LOG member, says, “the entertainment world is influenced by
gaming now. We see that with its
rise in popularity, that it is not just
the young and reclusive members
of society that play video games,
but people from all walks of life
are able to enjoy gaming.”
Far from being the stereotypical anti-social adolescent
boy, I found the members of this
group to be very friendly and
gregarious, and the ratio of male
to female almost equal.
Multiple player games and
Role Playing Games (RPG) rely
on fellow teammates, their collective strategy, and intelligence
to win. Those games are anything
but solitary. Luhm says, "games
provide me with an outlet for my
competitive nature and a sense
of connection through the social
Gaming
isn’t gender
based, although men
and women
tend to prefer different
games. Benji
Francis, a
Freshman
from Herculaneum, offers
that women
might prefer Perry Sleeper, Nick Sparks, Zach Maddox, and
games such as Dennis Kite
Final Fantasy,
Pokemon, and Animal Cross- gamers tend to enjoy the reactive
ing, while the guys might prefer and interactive visual action of
games such as Call of Duty, Halo, the games, trading-card players
and Gears of War. Francis feels enjoy the mental challenges,
if there is a gender preference of tactical strategies, and aspects of
one game over another, it’s more building their deck to outsmart
of a marketing issue than an inter- their opponents and plan for every
conceivable outcome.
est issue.
Gaming is very enjoyable
Francis states that his gaming
and
consuming. Dixon says, "I
has also improved friendships,
can
get
so into what I'm playing
saying he's "met people all over
that
I
alter
my breathing and my
the world that he wouldn't have
heart
races,
beating so hard I can
dreamed of talking to [without the
feel
it
in
my
neck. It's pretty
games]." Luhm also adds, "I can
intense
at
times.
That's mostly
think of several other friendships I
when
I
play
fighting
games,
created and strengthened through
though."
Of his choice of
characters when gaming, Luhm says, "I always play through as
a paragon [a person or
thing viewed as a model
of excellence] because I
like to try to be as kind
and compassionate as I
can to those around me.
I make some of the characters' actions go above
and beyond the level of
kindness I could see myself doing because that's
who I strive to be one
day. Eventually these
actions will become a
part of who I am."
The Legion of
Gamers club meets
Members of the Legion of Gamers Club
Wednesdays at 3:00
p.m., in ASI, Room
gaming as well." LOG member
115.
According
to club advisor,
interactions that they entail."
Nicole Smith says, “Gaming has
RPG's seem to be the most not only given me many valuable Matt Price, the club's nature is
popular games for most gamers, friendships that I wouldn't trade to promote an environment that
especially if they include rich for anything in the world, but it does not exclude anyone, and
storylines and the ability for a has also given me a soul mate. I no special skill is required to be
character to develop and grow. met my husband in a video game. a member. In addition to social
interaction between gamers, the
This quality can be comparable He's like my other half.”
to a person becoming invested
Regardless of your gaming club is very active in multiple
in a favorite TV series or good preference, you're more than wel- charitable events in the commubook because of a favorite char- come in the gaming group. More nity, including the Adopt a Family
acter. Dixon says, "Most GOOD than likely you'll find a bunch Program, as well as a program
RPG's have absolutely amazing of kids that are very articulate, that gives toys and games to
storylines that makes them more friendly, and happy to talk about children's hospitals.
To leave you with words
like fully interactive novels with what gaming is and isn't.
from
Wisdom: “To all my fellow
fantastic game play."
While computer and video
gamers out there, Game On!”
page 4
What Are You
Listening To?
by Valerie Williams
Released on October 23,
2015 “Hello” by Adele has hit
record charts. According to
the Global Charts on Spotify
“Hello” is ranked #1, played
an outstanding 5,941,338 times
a day.
The Wall Street Journal
reports, “the video has been
viewed more than 90 million
times. According to YouTube,
during the first 48 hours, it
was played one million times
per hour, making it the biggest
video debut of the year.”
The attention the song has
gotten has literally broken records. Hello has sat at number
one on Spotify, iTunes, and
Vevo for at least a day or two.
The second ranked on the
Global Charts on Spotify is the
single by Justin Bieber titled
“Sorry” with 4,349,769 daily
plays. This song was released
as a single shortly after, “What
Do You Mean” was released.
Bieber is expected to drop his
new album, “Purpose” on November 13th of this year.
Sitting at number 3 on the
charts is Drake’s very own,
“Hotline Bling” is getting
2,865,691 daily plays. The song
itself was released awhile back
but it was on October 19th that
the music video was dropped
and it has since then resparked
the excitement for the song.