Poor Support for Drag Show
Fantastic Frankie and Jonathan Davis Kruger waiting to see who will win Drag King.
By Andres Castro
“I hope there is a much better turnout next time. Doing shows like this spreads awareness for people that have been ostracized,” Journalism major and Drag Show competitor Jenni Culkin said.
The Gay Straight Alliance club of the Ammerman Campus put on their very own Drag show. A Drag show is where men and women dress up as the opposite sex and perform. Men who dress up as women and perform are known as Drag Queens and women who dress up as men and perform are known as Drag Kings.
Men dressing in drag has become very popular in the media and society, it could be due to the fact that there is a highly rated television show called “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” in which men compete on television to become America’s Next Drag Superstar. Women dressing up as men is not as popular as men dressing up as women but is growing throughout the bars and nightclubs.
The Drag Show was held on Monday, April 28th in the Montauk Point Room and was scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. and end at 8:00 p.m.
“The main reason for throwing the Drag Show is because the club wanted to have a signature event that the club would be recognized for in the future. Since the drag community falls heavily under the LGBT community we thought why not throw a Drag Show,” GSA’s Secretary and Drag Show Host Kevin Hill said.
The Drag Show was a fundraiser and donations were being accepted at the door. All the money gathered from the event would go to the Long Island Association for AIDS Care, Inc.
Unfortunately all that showed up to the event was about eight people, so it can be assumed that there was not a huge donation amount.
“The event was funded by out of pocket, because no club/organization has an actual budget. Meaning all money for club events, not fundraising, have to be requested. We are forced to pay for the prizes out of pocket to support the event,” Hill said.
There were only two contestants that signed up to compete in the Drag Show. Johnathan Davis Kruger played by Kristy Kruger and Fantastic Frankie played by Jenni Culkin. The contestants were judged on originality, crowd pleasure, performance, and their answers.
The judges were Assistant Academic Chair and Associate Professor of English Leanna Warshauer and GSA representative Alex Algeri.
For the talent portion of the competition Johnathan Davis Kruger’s talent was putting on makeup without a mirror and Fantastic Frankie performed an original monologue based off of the movie “Frozen.”
For the question and answer portion of the Drag Show, both contestants were asked a few questions each. The first question was, “how did you come up with your drag name?”
“I choose Johnathan Davis because of the lead singer of the band “Korn. He is constantly getting kicked down and he is my inspiration to keep getting up,” Contestant Johnathan Davis Kruger said.
“I choose Fantastic Frankie because it sounded like Magic Mike and that movie was awesome,” Fanatic Frankie said.
The next question was, “Why did you decide to participate in the Drag Show?”
“I am actually transgender female to male. I want to be the voice of reason. I want to make a difference in the world, even if it’s a small drag show I believe it can make a huge difference,” Kruger said.
“Well it’s something I wanted to do for a very long time. It spreads awareness that doing drag is not crazy its self-expression. It’s hard to find places that I can get in and do drag shows,” Frankie said.
After the questions, the judges deliberated and they decided who would walk away with the title of Drag King. The winner of the first GSA Drag Show was Fantastic Frankie!
The prizes were a Truth or Dare card game, a $15 ITunes gift card, Dirty Minds on the Go card game, a $20 Visa gift card, Every Ticket is a Winner sex scratch card, and a $35 Visa gift card.
The two contestants split the prizes fairly and equally. That is a lot of great prizes to split between two people. It pays to participate.
“It was a small competition, but it was nice to win something like this. Guys clothing is more comfortable than girls clothing, so I won in comfort,” Frankie said.
“It could have been better, the campus doesn’t seem to make this club a priority like other clubs on campus. I think the school should do more things like this. They can open up the eyes of the public. This is a big part of the community, I know there is so many judgmental people and that really needs to stop,” Kruger said.
Student Government Association Elections End With New Government Members
By Ariel Ransom
The campaign trail for several ambitious students on campus yielded astounding results, as the Student Government Association Elections, in progress April 14 to 17 online at MYSCCC, recently released the poll results via email and text messages to anxious candidates and inquiring undergraduates.
The Student Government Elections sign in the Babylon Student Center
According to the Western Student Press, the “Student Government Association (SGA) is the top organization of each Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) campus that oversees the needs of the students and makes sure the student body is appropriately, fairly, and accurately represented with their voices heard; even through to the top echelons of the SCCC administration,”.
The SGA’s desire to ensure proper representation of students on campus is an ideal that resounded with several of the aspiring candidates in the Spring 2014 elections, for campaigning students emphasized their need to improve the experiences of their fellow campus goers and to better the college overall.
“I chose to run for the student government this semester because I wanted to become more involved with campus life and the student experience,” Steven K. Curcio, appointed Senator to the SGA and Honors Program student, said. “I’ve had a great time at Suffolk, and I’d life to pass that on.”
Curcio’s new position as Senator to the Student Government Association is highly anticipated by his supporters and by his fellow SGA members. Curcio’s determination to become a Senator for the college is not only emphasized by his need to help his fellow peers, but to hone his skills in leading others.
“I ran for the Senatorial position as it gave me an opportunity to practice and further develop my leadership skills,” Curcio said. “Had I ran for an Executive Board position, I might not have been equipped with the skills necessary to effectively lead.”
The Student Government Association is assembled with students that have a high regard for the campus, and members admire the influence the SGA has toward the highest levels of administration in the SCCC. Noting the benevolent power of the SGA, candidates want to be part of the Association and represent the student body.
“I moved here, came to the SGA, and had no experience with the student government in high school. […] I went to a meeting [SGA Meeting] for my freshman seminar and I liked how it worked, what we were talking about, and the influence they had on campus.” Alexander Alvarado, current President of the Student Government Association, said. “So, I applied for a Senator position, then a position opened up for Treasurer. The second I got to the Executive Board, I decided next year I should go for President.”
However, the SGA Election’s voting system, which is online and accessible through student’s MYSCCC accounts, has mixed reactions. Not many campus goers would have realized that voting was an online event if posters did not promote the voting format.
“I don’t know exactly when they started online voting, but it is somewhat new. They used to have paper ballots, but since we’re trying to be Eco friendly, we do it online. I believe we have a much higher voter turn out if there were both.” Alvarado said. “Vote online, and also during that week, have a section where you [the voter] could physically turn in a vote. People are more likely on campus to go bubble in a scan-tron than log on My SCCC and click the link.”
Despite having online voting for the SGA elections, there are positive outlooks to using the internet for Student Government elections. To help students decide on which candidates they wanted, only the online voting system had brief statements about each candidate and what they wished to accomplish.
“Online voting is certainly beneficial. I see no harm in voting online, as a majority of our students would be more inclined to vote online than they would in person,” Curcio said. “The statements of candidacy were posted online so that the students could make a more informed decision, and the Student Government even set up a table so that the students who wanted to vote on campus could.”
The SGA’s elections has inducted new faces into the Association, along with invigorating new ideas to better the experiences of students and to add volume to the voice of campus attendees. Anthony Cheslock, the newly appointed President, and Kaitlyn Altamirano, the new Vice President, start their terms in office June 1 to May 31.
The Student Government Association pride’s itself on the open meetings that any student can attend and present questions to the SGA members. The next Student Government Association meeting is May 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the Mildred Green Room at the Babylon Student Center, and the SGA enjoys seeing the students they represent sitting in on meetings.
Dover and Suffolk made an agreement that caused problems for students and professors
By Vincent Figalora
For the fall and spring semester, Dover and our College had made an agreement that leads to problems for both students and professors.
The agreement that was made from both public places was Dover was supposed to provide the food and beverages at the Ammerman and the Grant Campuses. As Dover is providing the food and drinks to the students, the money that’s being payed from Dover, its all going to our College.
Our College is receiving over $270,000 for every semester. “This is ridiculous, if this college is making this amount of money then where is this money going to”. Josh Blake 19, said this quote in an angry mood. This is also beginning to have questions on students that are attending at the college, and this is also leading into problems for students that are commuting to school.
Most students that are commuting are paying over $20 for food and gasoline. Some students are taking the bus and only spending one dollar and 50 cents. For those students that are taking the bus everyday of the week, are paying a lot of money for going there and back.
Our college is part of the Suny system. After you graduate from this school, you will be able to transfer to a Suny school to earn your bachelor’s. Some Suny schools in Long Island and New York state are a two and a four-year school. But when you go to a Suny school that has a four-year degree will give you a lot of benefits that’s very grateful to have. One benefit is that students will be having a meal plan. This meal plan has three categories and they are Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gold is the best one to have because you will have a lot of points to earn a free meal and beverage in the cafeteria.
“On top of this money, the college takes commissions between 11 percent and 12.5 percent from the total sales of food services. Then, they take 28 percent commission from the many vending machines around campus”. (The College Reporter paragraph 5) said by Pamela Grindson a staff writer on the College Reporter. This quote explains very clearly on how much the percent’s are rising from the vending machines. 28 percent is a big issue on vending machines because including the vending machines is part of Dover; students are still in control on how much money they want to put in the vending machines. These food prices that are inside the vending machines should have a discount because were already paying money for their food in the cafeteria, there’s no need on why we have to spend more money on the vending machines.
Some of the students like the different food varieties that Dover has to offer. But most of them think that they should give out more choices of food. “If Suffolk offered McDonald’s or Wendy’s to our college, than Dover’s food prices would have a huge decrease”. Mr. Chacon an Accounting Major student said this quote by explaining to us that if our college had more foods to choose from, then more students would buy their product. This college would be popular because they would have the top two best fast food restaurants that students and teachers love to eat. Dover will start to realize that they feel sorry for ripping off students on their foods. Now if they put a fast food place in the cafeteria, than more students wouldn’t have to make a complaint about them.
Our college is one of the best college’s for an education. For your brain to earn you a great education, then your brain has to eat the healthy foods to make the mind work for you. Dover supplies all of the healthy foods that your brain would need to become strong and smart. For example, Dover offers an apple at both the Ammerman and the Grant Campus for a reasonable price. At the Ammerman Campus it only costs only two dollars and 50 cents, but at the Grant Campus it only costs two dollars and 25 cents. Both of these prices are very reasonable but most of the students would buy an apple at the Grant Campus because it’s less money to buy and it’s all also a cheap price. A cheap price is great because it won’t be that difficult to complain to the manager about the price that he gave for the product. For students that buy foods with a cheap price are saving a lot of money. Buying products that are very cheap will save you for the next five years.
Rose Tehan Memorial Writing Center Helps Students Improve Grades
At the Ammerman campus of Suffolk County Community College, the Rose Tehan Memorial Writing Center offers students the aid, support, and assistance required to help them become better writers.
It’s an obvious statement by college students world-wide that essays, writing assignments, and fact papers make up a large amount of the workload we must complete. In fact, most graded assignments in college for most academic majors require the student to present their information through a paper or article in writing form. Due to the heavy focus on standard essays, most students can agree that perfecting their writing skills and grammar will positively affect their work and result in a better grade.
SCCC students Kathleen, Joe, and Nick use the WC’s computers to write class essays.
The writing center is located in the Islip Arts Building of the Ammerman Campus and offers all SCCC students free individualized attention and tutoring services. The staff is made up of personal assistants as well as college aids, student tutors, and work-study students. With a secure and helpful atmosphere, the WC employees are known to help encourage students to explore different technological and human resources, and in turn incorporate them into their writing.
The Rose Tehan Memorial Writing Center is dedicated to Rose Tehan, an English professor at SCCC who unfortunately passed away due to cancer when she was quite young. The WC was then launched in the late 80’s in Professor Tehan’s honor, with her picture hanging on the wall above the sign-in desk.
Dr. William Burns, an English professor at SCCC and the coordinator of the WC, had much to say about the center and was very passionate when discussing the success it’s gained in recent years. As the coordinator, Dr. Burns supervises all the tutors, hires and trains new staff, deals with all necessary paperwork such as budgets and schedules, advertise the WC throughout campus and to SCCC students and departments, keep track of students using the WC, maintain the computers, assist in tutoring, and help out with the sign-in desk when needed. He also reports to the college dean and administration to discuss the funding and necessary needs of the WC. When asked about the growing success of the WC, Dr. Burns seemed nothing short of satisfied.
“I definitely have seen an increase in students coming to the WC over the past 4 years.” Says Dr. Burns. “Last semester we had over 7,000 visits! We have many ‘repeat customers’ who keep coming back because of the positive results they have gotten. I’ve also heard feedback from a lot of professors, saying their students’ writing has improved significantly and they are very thankful for all of the work that we do here.”
Although the WC is actively promoted throughout campus, is the message really getting across to everyone? When three SCCC students of different majors were asked this question, each response was quite different. Jimmy, a music major at SCCC, knew the writing center existed but never used it. “I’m a music major, so most of my classes aren’t anywhere near the Islip Arts building where the WC is located. I do get assigned a lot of essays though, so I would definitely like to get better grades on them. It’s just a haul to walk across campus in this cold weather to get my paper reviewed and fixed. I should probably just stop being lazy.” Jimmy said.
Another student, Hillary, majoring in liberal arts stated that she had “no clue the writing center even existed”. She also explained how since many of her classes don’t deal with creative writing and essays, her professors never even recommended it. She does admit, however, that if she were informed of its availability and benefits she would certainly use it to her advantage. “I don’t write many essays but for ones that I do, like western civilization or sociology, the writing center would definitely help me out since essays aren’t my strong point. I’m more of a math person” Said Hillary.
Ashley, a journalism and communications major at SCCC, explained she goes to the writing center frequently to help her become a better potential journalist.
“Journalism is my major and I plan to transfer to a four-year college and get a BA in it. Since I know I’m going to be writing in the long run, I want to get the most help I can to improve myself. The WC helps me a lot with each of my papers and I have seen myself improve when writing essays. I often find myself stopping mid-sentence and thinking, ‘oh, right! They taught me to not use that word as often. Let me fix that.’ It really does help.” Said Ashley.
Along with providing extensive assistance to any students willing to receive it, the tutors and aids in the WC are known to be knowledgeable, friendly, and show concern and care for the students and their writing. Along with helping others, there are also employment opportunities for students interested. Although there is a limited amount of student tutor positions, it is open to those who have gotten a B+ or better in their English classes. Currently this semester, there are four student tutors working at the WC that bring much enthusiasm, new ideas, techniques, and tutoring skills to the establishment.
The Writing Center is located in Room 101 of the Islip Arts building on the SCCC Ammerman Campus and operates Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am to 8:00 pm and Friday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Deception in Inception
By George Verity
On November 17th, Inception directed by Christopher Nolan, was presented on the Ammerman campus in the Babylon Student center at 8 pm. This blockbuster sensation that swept away all regions of the United States has now captivated students here on Long Island.
This all-star cast lead by Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, delivers a home-run performance into the eyes of all viewers. Each moment, from beginning to end, was packed with non-stop Sci-Fi action. However, the concept of deception and a dream-state-of-mind made this ironically a very open and honest movie. The director Nolan deliverer’s this to all moviegoers through a brilliant story line that requires spectators to observe a collection of rules, exceptions, locations, and specific jobs; to understand the overall picture.
To simplify a complex plot, this movie relies heavily on intertwine able personalities led by an “extractor” named Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who, through the use of a special device, constructs dreams for an assigned object. Those dreams implemented are ideas that will influence the object to make a decision beneficial to the individual who hired the team. The team is also made up of people that have particular roles like “The Architect”, “The Forger”, and “The Chemist” in order to pull off the job.
To create dreams, the characters use a unique keepsake called a totem; this informs a character whether he is still dreaming or not. Furthermore, dreams have rules: dying in a dream forces the dreamer to wake up, exploring too deeply into a mind can cause an eternal slumber called “Limbo”, using memories to construct dreams is dangerous because it can blur the line between dreams and reality. In addition to those rules, intruding in the dreams of another will cause the dreamer’s “projections” (human illustrations created by the dreamer) to attack the intruders.
Inception may be complicated, but to simply put it; it is one of the best movies of the year. It will twist your mind in ways your mind has never been twisted before with built-in possibilities and outcomes; that one may do anything to pursue and accomplish.
The physical scope of this movie is beyond belief. Worlds fall on top of each other, a freight train can burst onto a city street, hotels can lose all gravity, and everything that we know is impossible appears completely natural and ordinary.
To go along with the impossible; it’s an understatement to say that the cinematography is gorgeous, or that the sound design is sensational.
Inception also features one of the best fight scenes of all-time ever to take place in the movie world. The fight without gravity was simply mesmerizing. Unlike a comparable movie, The Matrix (1999), characters fighting in this scene cannot defy gravity if they choose to because there is no gravity to defy; it’s a dream state. All action scenes prior to and after the epic fight, are spectacular as well because they are equally visually lavishing and imaginative. The director is able to transform car chases into countdowns, fistfights into puzzles, and shootouts into other shootouts without taking away any value from the characters and the dialog.
Every character not only has a particular skill and task in Inception, but has a personality that mirrors and compliments their job description. Not only does that hold to be true but, the acting is superb and brilliantly acted.
With exception of the main character Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio, the audience learns about the characters of Inception not from long monologues about their past or dreams and memories but, how they interact with each other. Cobb’s relationship with his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) is the foundation of Inception. This is supported by their separation; causing unbearable guilt and suffering. Therefore Cobb’s character has a hard time handling the nature of reality and its surrounding environments.
In a movie where the dialogue is as precisely constructed as the rest of the film, the audience has to act actively throughout the movie. Unfortunately, if one does not focus they will lose a few lines that could unravel several other outcomes. In different to other films, the moviegoer has the opportunity to fantasize or interpreting different outcomes based on the dialog and scenery given.
Overall I give this movie two thumbs and a grand total of 5 captivating-glamorous stars. This movie is a movie like no other. Odds are one will never see anything like Inception again. Now and a 100 years from now, people all across the world will want to see this movie over and over again, still wanting more.
Charm of Downey, Strength of Iron Man 2
By Alexander Helisek
The first words that come to mind when Robert Downey Jr. is discussed, would be his boyish charm, and sweet arrogance, which is displayed yet again in his latest action-adventure-movie Iron Man 2. This being the second installation in what seems to soon be a series of movies, has more explosions, more machines, and more cleverly placed puns than its predecessor. With the addition of Samuel L Jackson to the already All-Star cast lineup, there is nothing but improvement in this feature film.
Robert Downey Jr. really fills the shoes of what an action hero should be in Hollywood, which is a tale as old as time. We can look back to the days of Sean Connery being James Bond, or Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones, all of which have the same likeable characteristics. Also, to many viewers they are attracted to them by their wit and charm. The special effects department of this movie has really outdone itself when it comes to visuals in this film, as some of them are so realistic it’s hard for the moviegoers to even see what is made with blue screen, and what was actually used in real life.
The new nemesis which was introduced, Mickey Rourke, can be seen as a man who has a dream in which is own mind could work within society, however it turns out that like many other villains, is just as psychotic as the rest. I believe a stellar performance was placed into this film and that people will be raving about it for this season.
The movie goes through a series of changes at it progresses, and just shows how billionaire Business man Richard Starks is able to maintain his suit, which he says he is“One” with, and will not sell the blueprints to the army who is desperately trying to get their hands on this manufacturing product. However, an alternative source comes about by Mickey Rooney, teaming up with Sam Rockwell (aka Justin Hammer) to create new machines that are somewhat like the Iron Man model, but of course without the power and technique as produced by Starks. Action packed, and fraught with witty commentary and explosive scenes, this sequel I do feel tries to top its predecessor with action which can seem a bit much at times, possibly even said to be a drag on for the movie, but in my mind it is a very thin line, and they walked it perfectly.
Don Cheadle, (aka Lt. James “Rhody” Rodes) plays a well done performance as Iron Man’s side kick in this film, which is always necessary when you bring out the sequel to a movie. Batman had Robin, The Penguin had Cat woman, and in this has Rhodes, although not as compatible as some of the others it still works in a somewhat humorous and serious way.
The lifestyle of Starks is one that can be admired to many of the viewers, which was seen in the last movie as well. Being a billionaire there isn’t much that won’tmaking any viewer jealous anywhere from the beautiful house he lives in overlooking the bay, or his right hand girl (Gwenyth Paltrow) who is beautiful as always. Not only are the automobiles that he drives amazing to look at, the weapons which can be seen in the film will literally blow you away. I found it particularly cool when Mickey Rourke puts on his suit and he has created his own little improvements to the iron man suit, which I will not continue to describe, because I believe strongly against spoilers.
Iron Man 2, which was released on May 7th 2010, has made over 312.1 Milliondollars in revenue since it has been in theaters, to the new amount it will collect now that it has recently been released on Blue Ray and DVD video. Written by Justin Theroux and Stan Lee it has been placed with dialogue that is noticeably suitable for each of the characters to make an enjoyable action adventure flick. With Stan Lee at the helm of the ship, he being the creator of the iron man comics and character in the first place, was given the right direction by Jon Fauverux to lead the film into a non-forgetable experience for all viewers young and old.
Overall, with the action sequences tending to be somewhat drawn out, the likeness of Robert Downey Jr. and sinister acting of Mickey Rourke. This film in my opinion would have to be a sequel that was at the level, but falls just slightly short of its predecessor due to the material not being as new and fresh to the viewers.
I would rate this film 8/10. But this is just my opinion of course, go and check it out for yourselves, and enjoy the film .
Fantasy or Nightmare
By Jennifer White
Many Football fans around the world have been looking all their lives for new ways to get into the game. Besides just watching the game on television, listening to the radio for scores or going to the stadium; sport goers want to become even more involved in the game. So when Fantasy football came into the lives of many football fans over thirty years ago, it was the next best way to get into the game. Fantasy football really hit its peek and got its biggest fan base about 10 years ago. It is a very big hobby in today’s society. Everywhere you go you hear about it, from all types of people. Men, women, adults and kids, it is a hobby for anyone with a passion for football.
Are fantasy sports all it is made out to be? Is it really as entertaining and fun as it seems? Yes, I would say it was. I mean for many football fans it is what they spend most of their time doing. It is a pretty intense hobby; I mean it makes you feel like you’re really in the game. If you’re not setting line up’s and making your team as good as it can be you are trading players. This makes you feel like your apart of the game. It is a network of people acting as managers for their own hand picked teams. It starts out with a draft; this is where you each get a turn picking the players of your choice. This is the key part in the game, picking your favorite or best players. The only downside is sometimes someone snags your favorite player before you get a chance to pick. Other than that, you want to make sure you pick the best players with the best stats. I really was impressed how they had the stat’s listed next to each player. So if you don’t know much about football you still had a good chance of picking a descent player.
I liked how you could pick your own players and make your own team name and team logo. It makes it your own and I was fond of that. I think the fact that it is so realistic makes it really satisfying, the amount of points your players get in a game determines your wins or losses. So now when you watch the games you’re not only watching for entertainment, you are watching on to root for your players and hope they do the best they can in order for you to get points. Each week you go against another person in your league. You do this until the fantasy playoffs begin and that’s when the top teams compete to see who will win it all. Sometimes there are money bets and the winner wins all the money that was bet.
The only thing I personally didn’t like was the fact that you have to set your line up’s each time. I mean it’s not required but if you’re not going to set your line up’s why even bother playing. It’s just is too time consuming for my taste, I would prefer it to automatically put in the players that are playing. But, in the same argument, I have talked to fans that were a lot more into the games then me; who have said the line up setting is the whole point. It makes them feel more into the game, and that if it set’s its self, what’s the point. So that can be a positive or a negative depending on the person’s point of view. As well as depending on the amount of time they are willing to spend on the game.
There really isn’t anything negative I can say about fantasy football. If you like football and you like being in charge of a team; this would be a great hobby for you. I would give it 9 out of 10 for sports fans. I think it’s very interactive between the player trading, the chatting between players and the setting of line ups. It is competitive and is perfect for football fans. Not that you have to be a football fan to play, it is for everyone but if you have not been involved before it can be a little complicated. Overall, I think fantasy foot ball is a great invention for fans. It is also a fantastic way to unite fans all over the world and get them into the game.
The Lighthouse News 
