M O N R O E C O U N T Y C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E

Tonya HuffmanPhoto Editor

The Michigan Department of Trans-portation (MDOT) recently changed the intersection of M-50 and Rais-inville road by restricting motorists from turning left from Northbound Raisinville Road.

Motorists wishing to travel West-bound M-50 must first make a right hand turn and then turn around using what most would call a “Michigan U-turn.” This is the sec-ond of two c h a n g e s made at this par-ticular in-tersection. The first placed a restriction on turning left head-ing South-bound on Raisinville Road.

Both re-strictions were done to improve operations and safety as motorists pass through the intersection. According to Janet Foran, MDOT spokesperson, changing unsafe left turns into Michigan right turns is a routine change for the department.

Many motorists were not aware of the new traffic change and therefore

broke the law unintention-ally. One of these motorists is Monroe County Com-munity College’s (MCCC) Shirley Wyatt, Student Ac-tivities Director.

“The whole situation made me really angry,” Wyatt said. “Yes, I did break the law but I had not done it intentionally.”

Wyatt was traveling home from work at about

5 p.m. on T h u r s d a y August 3, when she was pulled over by one of the six po-lice officers pa t ro l l ing the intersec-tion that day. The officer asked her if she had just turned left at the intersection and she replied with an honest ‘yes,’ not realizing what she had done became illegal two weeks prior. The officer then wrote her a

ticket for an improper turn. The fine for motorists who turn im-

properly is $115 and 2 points on their license. Wyatt fought her ticket at the magistrate and got her fines reduced to attending a defensive driving class which cost her $40. To Wyatt’s sur-prise, the magistrate was also unaware

of the recent Raisinville/M-50 inter-section change.

“I’ve never had a ticket in my life ever. I think I should have had a warn-ing,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt blames her lack of knowledge on improper signing that would allow motorists to become more aware of the new change. She offers that maybe if there had been bright orange flags or flashing lights warning motorists, the new sign might have been more noticeable.

Permanent signs are the last thing MDOT places up after working on a change in traffic operations. Once MDOT realized the original sign

posted wasn’t doing the job, overhead signs were installed between the sig-nal heads, according to Foran.

“I’m glad they put signs up now, but I still see two cars turning every morn-ing (and) every evening,” Wyatt said.

Many motorists are still turning left, even though the new signs have been posted. While observing the intersec-tion for about an hour, roughly twenty cars and a local school bus broke the law by turning left at the intersection. No one was ticketed.

“There is always a learning curve when any traffic change is made,” Fo-ran said. “In the end it will mean much safer travel for all motorists.”

Lisa GhigliazzaCopy Editor

The Monroe County Community College (MCCC) Faculty Asso-ciation has been working on a contract extension since August 27, 2006. Negotiations began April 6 in a Mutual Gains pro-cess, or interests based bargaining. The Mu-tual Gains process had worked for the non-mon-etary interests but once talks turned to wages and benefits, negotiations moved to the next level known as Collective Bar-gaining.

Then in an unexpected move authorized by the president of the col-lege, Dr. David Nixon, the district team - led by chief negotiator Randy Daniels, vice president of student and information services - requested a mediator step in, elevating talks to the next level.

“Both sides have agreed to go to a mediator at this

time to help in the negotia-tion process,” Nixon said. “A mediator is typically the next step in negotiations if either side feels it’s not moving fast enough or if you feel both sides have ex-hausted their ideas.”

Yet accord-ing to the chief nego-tiator for the faculty Dean Kerste, assis-tant professor of mechanical design tech-nology, both teams did not agree to go to mediation.

“ W e thought we were still at the table talking,” Kerste said.

“While it wasn’t a complete surprise that they filed for mediation, it was done on their own.”

Even though either side can request a mediator without the permission of the other side, “It’s not necessarily good practice,” Kerste said.

MCCC is reporting record enroll-ment this year and a surplus budget. At the September 25th Board of Trustees meeting, Tim Bennett, vice president of business affairs and trea-surer, reported expenditures down 3.5 percent from last year while increases were recorded in revenues from tu-ition, taxes, and state appropriations. The college currently has an excess of $1,430,000 in the 06-07 “fund bal-ance.” Nevertheless, issues of wages and health benefits remain unresolved between the district and faculty.

New contracts have been settled this year for the Administration, Maintenance Staff, and Support Staff in which raises of 3 percent each year for 3 years and continued benefits were given. The faculty want a fair and equitable contract without hav-ing to make concessions in wages and benefits.

So what happens next? According to Daniels and Kerste, no date has been set for meeting with the mediator and talks have been suspended until then.

AgorAOpinion, pg 2• Notice the new

look of the Agora? Learn more about the change

• One student tries to bring sports back to MCCC

Vol. 49, Issue 1 October 12, 2006

INSIDE Negotiations stall

Campus News, pg 3• Bible study now

held in the Cellar

• Find out more about the bathroom renovations around campus

Feature, pg 5• Crocodile Hunter

Steve Irwin remembered

• 20-year-old Nick Turner runs for district four County Commissioner

A & E, pg 6• iPod craze expands to other

markets

•Ben Wallace and Steve Yzerman leave Detroit

Feature, pg 4•Check out the latest fall fashion

• UT and MUO merge. What does it mean for students?

In the Mix, pg 7•Reader’s Voice:

What inconvenienc- es have you faced at MCCC this year?

• Concerts in our area

Spotlight, pg 8• Annual “Welcome

Picnic” hosted by the MCCC Student

Government

Agora photo by Lisa Ghigliazza.

Members of the Monroe County Community College (MCCC) faculty marched into the Administration building, all dressed in red, on Conversa-tion Day, which was on September 27.

M-50 left turn law changes

District seeks mediation to resolve contract disputes

Agora photo by Tonya Huffman.

A car makes an illegal left-hand turn at the intersection of Raisinville Road and M-50. He was not ticketed.

Agora photo by Tonya Huffman.

A sign on Raisinville Road that states it is illegal to make a left-turn onto M-50.

Ashley BradenEditor-in-Chief

In a world of botox injections and silicone breasts it only seems normal for everything in society to get a bit of “reconstructive surgery” at some point or another. So my friends, that is precisely why you are holding the first newly augmented issue of Monroe County Com-munity College’s (MCCC) Agora.

This semester’s staff and I (along with Jim Dom-browski from the Monroe Evening News) have spent plenty of time brewing ideas for everything from page layouts all the way down to the font size and style. We’ve added some new features, taken out some old ones, and beefed up our stories just

to make the paper more aesthetically, and intellectually pleasing to you, the reader. After all, the reason we’re here is to inform, intrigue, and most of all interest our patrons.

We hope that our new look is a step in the right direction of becoming not only a great source of info for every-

one on campus, but also a premier community college newspaper. Our goal this semester is to create a paper that we all can truly be proud of, so if you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments, please feel free to drop us a line or stop by anytime.

Enjoy the new look, everyone.

Nipped, tucked2 AGORA Opinion October 12, 2006

Blackboard wishesCharlene HuntCopy Editor

Community colleges are known for their compassion and versatility when it comes to understanding the lives of their students. College students feel the pressure of an overwhelm-ing school and work schedule and because of this pressure there are pro-grams and features available to them to help ease the pain. Personally, I was relieved a few months ago when I discovered the fantastic phenomenon called Blackboard.

Blackboard is a website that Monroe County Community College (MCCC) uses as a backdrop for its curriculum. From Blackboard, you can check your grades, read your syllabus, download handouts given during class and com-municate with other students. Instruc-tors sometimes choose to register their class with Blackboard in order to bet-

ter equip their students. “Blackboard makes it easier to keep

track of assignments and the status of your grade at any given time in a class,” Sarah Straub, MCCC student, said.

However, professors seem to ne-glect the site and disregard how help-ful it is for students. Some professors seem to think they just are not internet savvy enough to work the website, while others feel it is not necessary for their course.

“… [I] wish I had the time during the teaching year to learn how to put this into my classes,” Ann Orwin, as-sistant professor of English, said.

The convenience and helpfulness of Blackboard supplies MCCC students with another weapon in the battle for a great GPA. I only wish more instruc-tors took the time to implement the website into their routines and take advantage of this opportunity.

MCCC desperate for sports clubs

Douglas RohrFreelance Writer

The road to glory has been a golden one for the 2006 Detroit Tigers but re-gardless of how they finish the season, the players and coaches have plenty to be proud about.

No, I’m not talking about hold-ing the best record in baseball for the majority of the season or the fact that they earned their first playoff berth since 1987. I’m talking about how they have given Michiganders hope and a much needed distraction.

With the Michigan economy spi-raling, unemployment skyrocketing, and motor vehicle companies taking a huge hit, the Tigers put away vic-tory after victory. From Marquette to Monroe, baseball and non-baseball fans alike could tune in to see all-star caliber pitching and late 9th inning heroics lead their Tigers to triumph. With every inning passed, people

could divert their thoughts from job layoffs and plant closings to post-season aspirations and fantasies of a World Series return.

After two long decades, America’s favorite pastime has once again giv-en Michigan residents an avenue to tranquility. Whether it be led by Joel Zumaya lighting up the radar with one of his one hundred mile per hour fastballs or Craig Monroe delivering another tape measure blast toward Adams Avenue, Michiganders have once again remembered how to rally together. (But we need to learn how to carry those rally cries and optimism from the bleachers to the cubicles and assembly lines.) As a people and state, we need to take more away from this than just a great baseball season.

For years, everyone has complained about how the Tigers couldn’t step it up.

Well, they finally did…right when we needed them to the most.

The Agora is published by the students of Monroe County Com-munity College, 1555 S. Raisin-ville Rd., Monroe, MI, 48161. The editorial office is located in 202 of the Life Sciences Bldg., (734) 384-4186. agora@monroeccc.edu.

Editorial policy: Unsigned edito-rials represent the majority opinion of the Agora staff. Signed columns represent the opinion of the writer. All letters to the editor must include a signature, address and phone number for verification purposes. The Agora reserves the right to edit

for clarity, accuracy, length and li-bel.

The Agora is a student-managed newspaper that supports a free stu-dent press and is a member of the Michigan Community College Press Association, the Michigan Collegiate Press Association, the Michigan Press Association, the Community College Journalism Association, College Media Advis-ers, Associated Collegiate Press and the Student Press Law Center.

Mark Bergmooser, Advisor

The Agora Editorial Policy

Dr. David NixonCollege President

Monroe County Community Col-lege is working with the Higher Learning Commission on the col-lege’s re-accreditation process, and the first step – finding out “what mat-ters most” to the college – is under-way.

Recently, all MCCC employees were given the opportunity to par-ticipate in the HLC’s on-line Con-stellation Survey. The results were discussed September 27 at Conversa-tion Day – a daylong workshop that produced dialogue, compliments and constructive criticism. The survey provided 50 pages of data. The first of the results are listed later in this article.

The challenge now is to “mine the data” and move forward on consen-sus-driven opportunities. This will be done by taking the data to various committees so that all employees can be involved in solutions and new ini-tiatives.

According to the survey, the fol-lowing are high-priority strengths of the college:

• Students have convenient access to resources.

• Facility maintenance is ap-propriate.

• Students acquire needed knowledge/skills.

• Faculty/staff have common goals for student success.

• Teaching excellence is pro-moted.

• Faculty/staff are trusted to be effective.

• Support/student services ar-eas compliment curricula/learning.

• Student recruitment/admit-tance is effective.

In addition to strengths, the survey also identified the following high-pri-ority opportunities for enhancement or improvement:

• Effective communication • Employee partnerships• Visioning/planning• Budgeting • Employee training• Decision-makingAll stakeholders will continue to be

informed as MCCC moves through this process.

Agora undergoes facelift

Agora photo by Mark Bergmooser, newspaper advisor

Agora staff fall semmester 2006. From left to right: Assitant Editor, Brian Ready; Page Editor, Bethany Younglove; Page Editor, Robby Yensz; Editor-in-Chief, Ashley Braden; Page Editor, Danny Carmack; Reporter, Gary Knox; Photo Editor, Tonya Huffman; Page Editor, Kirk Stoner; Copy Editor, Charlene Hunt; Copy Editor, Lisa Ghigliazza; and Copy Editor, Kristin Booth.

Determining what matters most at MCCC

Danny Carmack Page Editor

It’s about time that someone did something about Monroe County Community College (MCCC) not having sports. The time is now and the person is me. I’m going to bring basketball back to MCCC.

People before me have written ar-ticles about it, wondering why they stopped and if they would ever get started back up again. The talk or hype of starting a club team has diminished over that past three years. The hype is back. It’s time for student athletes to make a comeback. Something they ought to be accustomed to, like com-ing from behind to win a game. Only this time it’s to come back from a long

dormant hiatus.As a sports writer I agonize over the

thought of having to rehash or make my own opinion of what the Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, or Lions are going to do this year or how bad they are playing.

I’d love to go to a community col-lege basketball game, cross country race, or hockey game and find the stars that stand out on that team or where they need improvement, talk one on one with the coach and see how he or she felt about a loss, or get their emo-tions and thoughts after a big win.

I’m thinking in the next ten years the enrollment of MCCC will dwindle down because of the stagnant clubs that have little or nothing for a ma-jority of the students to do. Even the

parents of college students like to get involved with their sons’/daughters’ school in some way or another. The more parents that show support in school the more they may also ben-efit the school by making donations. Hello? Doesn’t the college want more money? Cha-ching.

I challenge the students at MCCC to start a sports club of some kind. Go to the Administration offices and pick up a constitution from Shirley Wyatt. It takes five intercollegiate teams for a college to be considered to join the Michigan Community College Asso-ciation. Then the college would have no choice but to listen to what the stu-dents want and WE WANT SPORTS. Men’s basketball is already taken. What’s next?

Tigers provide faithDetroit sports fans hopeful

Gary KnoxReporter

Currently, renovations are being done on 18 bathrooms located in Monroe County Community Col-lege’s (MCCC) oldest buildings. The purpose of doing so is to be in com-pliance with guidelines mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“Our goal is to meet and if possible exceed ADA guidelines,” Jim Blum-berg, director of the physical plant.

ADA guidelines can be very strict. For example, these guidelines state that all bathroom doors should re-quire no more then five pounds of force to be opened.

“I hope entering the bathrooms will be made easier. I suggest making all the bathroom doors automatic,” Alan Lake, MCCC student, said.

Bathroom renovations consist of two phases. Phase one, which began on August 7 will take approximately 12 weeks to complete.

Renovations at this time include bathrooms on the first floor of the Campbell and Life Science buildings, the basement of the Campbell build-ing, main floor for the Administration building, and all bathrooms in the East Tech building.

The second phase will take ap-proximately 10 weeks to complete.

Renovations during this time include bathrooms on the second floor of the Campbell and Life Science building, as well as bathrooms in the West Tech building. According to Blumberg, all bathrooms should be in full ADA compliance by Christmas.

“I am happy the bathrooms are being reno-vated. I hope it makes life much easier for me,” John Burkardt, MCCC student, said.

Lisa GhigliazzaCopy Editor

With higher enroll-ment numbers finding a parking space, wait-ing in line to get lunch, and classes filling up fast are some of the in-conveniences students are facing.

At the bookstore some students have en-countered problems in purchasing the required books for their classes as they found the book-shelves empty.

Sheri France, Eng-lish composition in-structor, said the book-store ran out of the two textbooks required for her classes.

“I had to change my class schedule because some of the students did not have the text-books,” France said.

For other teachers, like Dr. Bill McClos-key, professor of Hu-manities, this is not a new dilemma. He works around the situ-ation by not using t h e

textbooks much in

the first two weeks of

school, or has

students share their books.According to Jean Ford, director of

auxiliary purchasing & services, there

are numerous reasons the textbooks may not on the shelf.

“It may be the shelves need restock-ing, late text requests by the professor, students buying the wrong book, or

the bookstore may have been low esti-mating on the initial book order.”

Estimated enrollment figures, sales history, and class capac-ity being reached are a few are a few things that affect the book or-der.

Increased numbers of students are ordering on-line creates o v e r s t o c k at the book-store and causes the bookstore to be charged restocking fees.

T h o u g h this has been a frustrat-ing issue for some s t u d e n t s and faculty, working to-gether with the book-store can help ease the amount of students without text-

books. “Buy your books early, buy only the

required texts, and if you don’t see a book ask a bookstore staff member,” Ford said.

Bible study group Bethany YounglovePage Editor

If you walked down the Cellar steps on September 11, 2006 you would have heard a voice reading from the Gospel of Mark. There in the Cellar sat a circle of three young men. Their names are Joshua Thomas, Daniel Strimpel, and John Stegar.

They were reading the Bible, talking about what the Bible meant to them, and how it pertained to their lives.

Every Monday night from about 6 to 8:30 or 9 p.m. you can find this small Bible study in the Cellar.

The Cellar is located in the base-ment of the Administration building.

On September 11, Thomas began a Bible study for a few of his friends.

“I really want to read the Word,” Stegar, former Monroe County Community College (MCCC) student, said.

Strimpel, also a former MCCC student, was glad to hear about the Bible study and its purpose.

He said that he enjoys get-ting together with fellow Christians and studying the Word.

“I didn’t think it would be more than a few friends, but it’s open to anyone,” said Thomas.

Bathroom renovations underway

Agora photo by Lisa Ghigliazza

Workers continue to construction on bathrooms in the C-Building. Rennovations are being done all over campus in order to meet ADA guidlines and improve campus facilities.

Lack of textbooks

Agora photo by Lisa Ghigliazza

Matt Vittore a label next to an empty shelf where the books for his class use to be. Many books throughout the Campus Bookstore were sold out and students were unable to obtain the reading materials needed for their classes.

Agora photo by Bethany Younglove

Students meet in the Cellar on MCCC campus to read, discuss, and study the bible together.

areas required to meet ADA standards

held in campus Cellar

October 12, 2006 Campus News AGORA 3

long waits frustrate students

Charlene Hunt

Copy Editor

On July 1st, 2006, the University of Toledo (UT) merged with the Medical University of Ohio (MUO) and com-bined two excellent colleges into one turbo-charged university. The merge will lead to the school becoming the third-largest higher education facility in the state of Ohio.

Also affected by this powerful shift in academic curriculum is the school's

credibility. Catherine Kwapich, UT's director

of enrollment for transfer and inter-national students, explained that since the merger UT was one of only 19 institutions that have such a compre-hensive array of majors. Some majors include, Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, Engineering, Business, Education, Art and more.

So what does all of this mean to the students of MCCC?

Kwapich detailed that 98 students

transferred from MCCC to UT last year, making UT a large preference amongst MCCC students.

In correlation, the 2005 Student Profile Data, a school-wide analysis of MCCC students, determined that 55% of the students were attending MCCC to transfer to other colleges while the remaining 45% were here for certifi-cate or career based programs.

This equates to the fact more and more students from MCCC are branching out to other universities,

and because UT accepts almost all of MCCC course credits, the univer-sity becomes an appealing choice for transfers.

"I am going into nursing and with all of UT's changes, I can't wait to get over to the school once I'm ready," MCCC freshman Jessica Bondy said.

Local students who plan on trans-ferring to Toledo should keep their eyes and ears open regarding the merge and look forward to the up-coming, thriving reputation of our

Trendy fall fashion advice for girls

Heroes help others grow, mature

Bethany YounglovePage Editor

Another year of school and you haven't had time to shop for the fall essentials.

In fact you don't even know what the fall essentials are. What is a girl to do?

The most important thing to know is not necessarily what style of jeans are in.

What you should know is what is "in" and what is "out." According to Harper's Bazaar magazine, the Bohe-mian reign has sadly ended, and Elle magazine states that pea coats and military inspired coats are a hot com-

modity.Do you want to know

what other women around campus are buying?

Heather Compau, Monroe County Community (MCCC) student said that if she spent any money on anything it would be shoes.

"I don't like my toes be-ing cold," she said. Jessica Southerland, also an MCCC student, said that she abso-lutely had to buy jeans and shoes.

According to Cosmopoli-

tian magazine, sweaters are in, but not just any kind of sweat-

er. New sweaters simply decorated with furs and ruffles add flair to this fall fashion.

Other sweater fash-ions include belts around the waist. These are long

sweaters with belts along the waistline to

assentuate the curves of a woman.

Green, green, and more green says Michael Fink, se-nior designer of Sachs Fifth Avenue.

“It’s the color... from the dark-est greens of a dense, mysteri-

ous pine forest to the brightest, almost psychedelic greens flourishing in the rain forest,” Fink, said.

Skinny jeans are the new “in-style” for girls this fall. No more flairs and no more courdoroys.

How can a girl save money by wearing last

year’s fashions, and not look “so last year?”

That’s simple, just take some-thing like courdoroys and tapper the bottoms to become skinny legs, or accent them with this

year’s cowboy boots to create a West-ern look.

With a little creativity this year’s fall fashions can include years prior without making too much of a scene.

Don’t want to dress like the fashion magazine’s advise?

Ask a friend to help make a style unique and exciting.

Girls, want to know what guys like to see you wearing?

Matt Skeens wittingly said he likes sporty, recreational, jogging suit type of outfits.

Now that you know what the hot-test things on the market are, and what guys like to see on you, knock yourself out!

Kristin BoothCopy Editor

We have all had a hero, whether it was Superman, Wonder Woman, a teacher, a parent or a grandparent. Someone who has shaped us into the people we are. For Monroe County Community College (MCCC) student Spenser Ringel, that hero is Ben Wal-

lace. “He works hard to get where he

is at. He never gave up on his dream. That makes me want to never want to give up, even when no one believes in me,” he said.

Heroes are those who have always been there for us throughout our lives. They are the people who give you hope and teach you about life. MCCC sophomore Kendra Hatcher says that hero is her mother.

“She [my mom] has always been there for me and she has also taught me all of the values and morals that I have today,” she said.

So what makes a hero, a hero? Is it the way they have lived their lives? Is there a characteristic about the person that make you want to live like them? MCCC student Jill Philippon believes these are two important reasons.

“My mom is my hero. She is a woman of God and is always teaching

people about her faith. I admire her at what a good mother and role model she was. Now that I am out of the house I can see it,” she said.

Still, others believe that heroes are the people who encourage you and support you through life’s trials and tribulations. And even when you have doubts that it is not going to work out in the end, they always believe in you. MCCC student Anna Sawyer says that her parents are her heroes.

“They have challenged me to do better and pushed me to do more. Even if I didn’t think it was good enough, they always did,” she said.

A hero may not always be some-one who has changed the world or made a medical discovery. It is some-one who has made a difference in our own personal lives. Student Ellen Wolfe feels that her hero is her pastor. “He is an example of how a true Christian lives,” she said.

UT, Medical University of Ohio4 AGORA Feature October 12, 2006

Danny CarmackPage Editor

It is the 25th anniversary at Mon-roe County Community College (MCCC). No, it does not have to do with a teacher or administrator be-ing here for 25 years and it is not the 25th reunion of students that gradu-ated from here. It is the 25th birthday of MCCC doing away with intercolle- giate sports.

It has been ru-mored that a stipulation in a loan from the state to help build the Welch Health Educa-tion Building caused MCCC to not bring back sports.

“Nothing with the state would prohibit us in that, with the building agreement,” Timothy Bennet, Vice President of Business Affairs and

Treasurer, said. “There’s nothing in there that would prohibit that at all.”

An investigation was done in 2003 by Tom Ryder, the events and fitness activities coordinator for MCCC, to join the National Junior College Ath-letic Association (NJCAA)

“The problem of doing that is you can’t have just one team, you have to have five teams, the problem with having five teams is the added expense,” Ryder said. “I don’t know if we will see anything in the next couple of years but I would think if the college did anything with sports it would be a club team because of cost.”

Intramural teams in the past would commit to one night tournaments, rather than playing in a league that would stretch out to eight or ten weeks.

Everyday life is one of the weak-nesses of having a sports program. Students have either jobs, relation-ships or other commitments.

“I think if people don’t do anything about it, it will stay without sports for the next twenty-five years,” MCCC student Randy Spaulding said “even something like intramural would be a lot better than just coming to school

and leaving, it’s something to get involved in.”

The students that come here from high school would like to get more involved in the school. Underclassmen

that transfer to a four year university have missed out on

two years of eligibility by coming to MCCC.

“Like me being a freshman, I played three sports in high school now we don’t have any of that, so I think the underclassmen would try to get some-thing across.” Spaulding said.

MCCC lacks sports program for students Audrey M. Warrick Student ServicesAdministration Building Bldg A

Campbell Learning Resources Center Bldg C

East Technology Building Bldg E

Gerald Welch Health Education Building Bldg H

Life Sciences Building Bldg L

West Technology Building Bldg W

La-Z-Boy Center Bldg Z

Campus building map

announces combined merger

Kristin Booth Copy Editor

The holidays are rapidly approach-ing. For most of us, they are times of fun, fellowship and food, but there are people who are less fortunate. How can we help? Two words in answer to this predicament: pop tabs. The Ron-ald McDonald House sponsors the pop tab community service project, which is also sponsored by the 4-H program.

The pop tab project is quite simple. The more pop tabs the Ronald Mc-Donald House receives, the more families that stay at the facility have sufficient meals.

4-H, a program that teaches chil-dren and young adults about impor-

tant lessons from baking to raising animals, has been collecting pop tabs

for two years. Judy See, the Director of Monroe County’s 4-H program comments.

“They [Ronald McDonald House] collect two 30 yard dump boxes of tabs each year to pay for the food that

is consumed by the families who stay at the house.”

Audrey Kutz, Monroe County Community College (MCCC) student thought the fundraiser was a good idea.

“The fundraiser can be a great way to benefit both the environment, through recycling, and the commu-nity,” she said.

Glass containers will be located in the school’s cafeteria for anyone inter-ested in donating pop tabs. This is an extremely easy way for people to help their community.

English professor, Lori Jo Couch has been involved in 4-H for seven years.

“It is really nice that college stu-dents can learn about service to the community,” she said.

Helping the Community with Pop Tabs

Gary KnoxReporter

On November 7, 2006, a fresh face will be included on the ballot for the position of County Commissioner of district four. Nick Turner, a 20-year- old attending the University of Tole-do, will be running on the republican ticket against democratic candidate Floreine Mentel and write in demo-cratic candidate Patricia Kasonovich.

“A goal of mine, if elected, would be to encourage the creation of new jobs in Monroe County," Turner said.

Turner's passion for politics began at a very young age. He recalls watch-ing the 1992 presidential election and coloring all the red and blue states on the map. Turner soon became in-trigued by how much good political involvement can accomplish.

The ultimate goal of politics should be to help people. We have a responsi-bility to help make this world a better place. Politics is a means of achieving

that goal," Turner said.Despite being only 20, Turner has

taken the proper steps toward forming strong, well- informed political opin-ions which have his impressed fellow candidates pursuing political office this November.

"It's encouraging to see young, energetic, and informed people like Nick Turner running for office in local politics. He has a real heart for service and is educated and prepared way be-yond his years,'" Randy Richardville, Michigan Senatorial candidate for the 17th District, said.

Although Turner is running for po-litical office, doing so is not the only way someone can become politically involved

"No matter what, the most impor-tant thing is to become informed. Work to understand the issues. Attend a board meeting or help out on politi-cal campaigns. Read everything. The most important part of politics is un-derstanding the issues," Turner said.

Brian ReadyPage Editor

He became universally known as the crocodile hunter and was famous for his eccentric behavior, Australian accent, and his unmistakable desire to live his life on the edge. Unfor-tunately, it was that thrill to live that would ultimately cost Steve Irwin his life last month in a freak accident with a stingray.

“Steve Irwin was the man. Its too bad he had to die at a young age,” Monroe County Community College (MCCC) student Jake Luthy said.

According to biggeststars.com, Irwin first hit North American households in 1992 when his croco-dile-hunting adventures, while on honeymoon with his wife Terri, were shown on the Life Channel in Canada. It was this appearance that led to the first “Crocodile Hunter” shows be-ing released to American audiences. The show became the most popular program on Animal Planet and at its

peak it was shown in more than 200 countries.

It was this world-wide exposure, along with his increasing popularity which allowed Irwin to make an even bigger impact on the enviroment. Ir-win and his crew generated $40 mil-lion for the Australia Zoo at Beewah, which had been started by his parents in 1970. The zoo is now one of the state’s premeir tourist attractions.

According to news.com, Irwin and long time manager, John Stainton, had dreams of opening up a second Aus-tralia Zoo in Las Vegas within the next couple of years. Stainton speculated the venture could have netted as much as $50 million a year for Irwin and his family.

Perhaps, the project will still come to fruition in Irwin’s honor. Regardless, millions of fans will be left to wonder what else the Crocodile Hunter would have had in store for them if his life had not been ended prematurely.

(Agora photo courtesy of CompuServe.)

Brian ReadyPage Editor

We have all been told by our par-ents, teachers, and even P. Diddy how important voting is today. But why is it that teenagers and people in general fail to vote despite having a privilege that many others around the world would love to have?

“If people want a good country to live in then they should participate in the election. We cannot take our free-dom for granted,” Brad Gakenheimer, Monroe County Community College (MCCC) student, said.

Not everyone shares Gakenheimer’s beliefs. America currently ranks

139th out of 172 democratic nations in voter participation and according to the United States Election Project in the 2004 Presidential election, only 60.3 percent of the voting-eligible population participated in an election that was decided by 2.46 percent.

In the 2000 election, six states - Ida-ho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hamp-shire, Wisconsin and Wyoming - al-lowed voters to register and vote on Election Day. These states had consid-erably higher voter participation than the national average: 68 percent voter turnout for the EDR states compared to 60 percent nationwide. There have been talks that Election Day Regis-tration (EDR), also known as “same-day voter registration,” could become

more widespread across the U.S.Other possibilities to improve voter

turnout, according to pbs.org, include allowing citizens to vote via the inter-net or by mail. Others have also de-bated whether or not the U.S. should adopt a compulsory voting technique in which all voting-eligible citizens are required to vote, although that is purely speculative for now.

Nothing is definitive as of yet, but change could be in order to increase the voter participation in the U.S. However, if no change is made, Amer-icans could always rely on P. Diddy to solve our problem, right?

U.S. voter participation at lowAgora photo courtesy of Nick Turner

20-year-old Nick Turner puts up one of his signs in front of a house in Monroe County. Turner, who is a student at the Uni-versity of Toledo, will be running for the position of County Commissioner of District four against two other candidates.

Crocodile Hunter killed in freak stingray accident

Operating hours for fall semester 2006

*note: Fitness Center closed on Mondays and Wednesday from 11 AM - 12 Noon.

Library: Mon - Thurs: 8 AM - 9:30 PM, Fri: 8 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat: 9 AM - 1:30 PM

West Tech Computer Lab: Mon - Thurs: 8:15 AM - 10:00 PM, Fri: 8 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat: 8:30 AM - 3 PM

Cafeteria: Mon - Thurs: 7:30 AM - 6 PM, Fri: 8 AM - 1 PM

Fitness Center: Mon - Thurs: 9 AM - 9 PM*, Fri: 9 AM - 6 PM, Sat: 9 AM - 1 PM

October 12, 2006 Feature AGORA 5Political passion not limited by age

iPods evolving with music

Kirk Stoner Page Editor

Detroit sports fans everywhere will

not forget July fourth, 2006. It will be a date that stands out to all who fol-low Detroit sports. Two of Detroit’s

professional teams the Pistons and the Red Wings, each lost one of their team leaders, impact players and the faces of their respective franchises.

The endings were the same for both Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman and Pistons center Ben Wallace, they aren’t playing in Motown anymore. However, the way they ended their Detroit careers was different.

Wallace played six solid seasons for the Pistons leading them to an NBA title in 2004. He also helped the Pis-tons to four straight Conference Finals games in his tenure.

So when Wallace’s contract ended at the end of last season, everyone expected the Pistons front office to quickly re-sign the face of their fran-chise. This was not the case, though. The Pistons offered Wallace a four-year, $48 million contract. Wallace declined and the Pistons were not willing to renegotiate. This was their only offer.

The Chicago Bulls counter offered with a four year $60 million dol-lar contract with a starting salary of nearly $12 million dollars a year and Wallace accepted.

“I wasn’t going to leave Detroit to go to a team that wasn’t going to be a contender,” Wallace said in an ESPN..com article.

Monroe County Community Col-lege (MCCC) freshman, Tyler Helms comments on Wallace’s departure.

“The Pistons are going to lose out on the defensive side because Wallace was the three time defensive MVP, but they gain on offense because, Nazr Mohammed [Wallace’s replacement] can at least make a free throw,” Helms said.

Steve Yzerman played all of his 22 seasons in a Red Wings jersey. He had worn the captains C for 19 of those seasons. Yzerman retired from the NHL after the 2005-2006 playoffs, leaving a void in the Red Wings ros-ter.

Yzerman helped led Detroit to three Stanley Cup victories. He has scored 692 goals and has accumulated 1,755 total NHL career points. It’s very rare to see any athlete stay with their origi-nal team for their entire career.

Regardless, the loss of these play-ers is going to hurt their former teams and leave awfully big shoes to fill for the upcoming 2006-2007 NHL,NBA seasons.

Big bucks bring Ben to the Bulls,

Nick VanderpoolFreelance Writer

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke may be treading similar ground on his first solo album “The Eraser,” but as usual Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich strive for quality and succeed.

Despite its beat oriented nature and experimentation, “The Eraser” sounds less “ Kid A” and more “Hail to the Thief.” Very similar to tracks such as “The Gloaming” and “Backdrifts,” many of the songs remain rooted in beats and help to carry Yorke’s voice, which floats beautifully to the top all throughout the album.

Unlike the experimental tracks on “Hail to the Thief,” the beats are usu-ally accompanied by either Yorke on guitar, piano, or working with loops and minimalist beats, helping to vary the albums’ songs substantially. Though at only nine songs, I can not help but wish it was longer.

On the title track, piano notes bounce and dissipate, mimicking Yorkes’ pauses in a surreal manner while infectious beats only develop the song further. As one of three songs to combine Yorkes’ haunting piano seamlessly with experimental elements, there is never an apparent sacrifice in musicianship for experi-mentation. While mostly true, tracks such as The Clock could have bene-fited more by not being driven by just beats and loops. It is pleasant, but not concrete.

Still, that is only one of a few flaws. With at least two other songs that could have easily been solid Radio-head tracks, “The Eraser” as a whole is surprisingly diverse and scarcely too experimental, at least no more experimental than one should expect from one fifth of Radiohead.

Robby YenszPage Editor

Usually by the time that September rolls around, the Detroit Tigers are long since out of any talk of a pennant race. Fortunately, for Tiger fans, that has changed. For the first time in 19 years the Tigers will be playing in the postseason after finishing second in the American League Central Division. Now the Tigers will move on to the American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics after defeating the heavily favored New York Yankees in four games. Stellar pitching performances by Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman, in games 3 and 4 respectively, clinched the series over a team that featured 9 current or former all-stars. “I’ve been watching a lot more of the Tigers this season and they have shown that they have the potential to be a world series contender, mostly because Jim Leyland has brought

a fire to the Tigers that has not been seen in a manager in many years,” Brad Perry, an avid Tigers fan, said. While pitching was the Tigers biggest strength before the All-Star Game, after the Midsummer Classic none of the Tigers starting pitchers have earned run average’s as good as

the ones that they had in the first half of the season.

The Tigers pitching staff recently took a big hit when they received news that Zumaya missed a few games, in-cluding the recent series against the Texas Rangers, due to tendonitis.

“These two games will be real big

games for us, and I’m upset I can’t…be out there throwing when they need me to,” said Zumaya (John Lowe, De-troit Free Press).

The Tigers power statistics have also dropped in the second half of the season.

“Before the All-Star break, the Ti-gers had a .458 slugging percentage. That was the fourth-best mark in all of baseball. Since the All-Star break, the Tigers’ slugging percentage has dropped to .419. That’s the eighth-worst mark in the majors,” said Mi-chael Rosenberg (Detroit Free Press).

The Tigers struggled to finish the season as they lost their last five games, including a three game sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Roy-als, who finished last in the American League

“I was hoping that the Tigers will finish the season as the AL Central champions because of all the games they had against the Royals,” Perry said.

Tigers in playoffs, miss division title

Tonya HuffmanPhoto Editor

Music has made a breakthrough in the electronic industry during the past few years and on top of the music market are iPods.

According to Apple, maker of the iPod, the company shipped more than 14 million mp3 players during the first quarter or first 3 months of 2006.

Created by Tony Fadell and signed by Apple, the first iPod was released on October 23, 2001, and since then has made its journey from the size of a large wallet to that of a stick of bubble gum.

“It’s more convenient, smaller; it’s like the sweetest thing ever. You can watch movies, listen to songs, down-load pictures, and use it as an orga-nizer, too. What would normally take

five different gadgets, it’s all in one,” Kim Harmsen, Monroe County Com-

munity College (MCCC), said. iPods can hold anywhere from ap-

proximately 200 songs to as many as 20,000 songs, depending on the hard drive capacity. The prices reflect stor-age capacity by ranging from $79 for an iPod shuffle to $249 or more for an iPod that has the capabilities of stor-ing not only songs, but movies and more.

“It’s easier than carrying around a lot of CDs, convenience, I can put all of my music on one device,” Trevor Robinson, MCCC student, said.

The marketing world has also picked up on the music frenzy and has begun to create nearly everything to reflect it. Not only are there extra speakers, microphones, and wireless remotes sold to accompany iPod us-ers, but jackets, backpacks, pillows, and dancing stuffed animals as well.

In addition to the above luxury items, some car dealerships are mak-ing vehicles iPod compatible by in-stalling built-in steering wheel con-trols or radio controls. Some of these car dealers include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Ferrari, Acura, Audi, Honda, and Volkswagen among others.

A vehicle not installed with iPod ca-pabilities can still become compatible with an after-market radio. There are several radio companies that provide these, including Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, and more which offer controls for cars the are not already equipped with them.

As the music world evolves, iPods may become more advanced or fade out as just another fad. One thing is for sure, though, iPods are no longer just songs in your pocket.

Photo by Tonya Huffman

Trevor Robinson listens to his iPod while studying.

Agor photo courtesy of www.nba.com

Ben Wallace turns in his Pistons jersey for a Chicago Bulls jersey.

Photo Courtesy of www.DetroitTigers.com

Detroit Tigers celebrate after earning a playoff spot for the first time since 1987. The Tigers will play the Oakland Athletics for the American League Champion-ship in a best of seven series starting in Oakland for games 1 and 2. Then they will shift to Detroit for games 3 and 4. Detroit will also host game 5 if needed

Thom Yorke“The Eraser”

Agora photo courtesy of www.nhl.com

Steve Yzerman walked away from the game after spending 22 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

6 AGORA A&E October 12, 2006

Upcoming Events

Comedian Steven Wright

Thursday, October 12 7:30 p.m.

La-Z-Boy Center, Meyer Theater

Reserved Seating: $25 VIP Seating: $35*

Note: This show may contain mature language

Academy Award winner and Grammy nominee Steven Wright brings his profoundly funny, con-ceptual stand-up comedy to Meyer Theater this season. Wright’s comedy – a slow, deadpan, monotone delivery of ironic, witty and deeply philosophical jokes and one-liners – was recently tabbed as “sheer comic perfection” by the New York Post. The New York Times said of Wright: “Where his mind lives…confusion, ambiguity, absurdity, irony and paradox grow like mold.” Wright’s 1985 comedy album, I Have a Pony, was nominated for a Grammy. He had a recurring role on the 1990s television sitcom Mad About You and later won an Academy Award for his short film, The Appointments of Dennis Jennings.

Student Government Blood Drive

Tuesday, October 17 9:00 am - 2:00 pm A-173

Student Government will be sponsoring a blood drive on Tuesday, October 17th from 9:00 - 2:00 pm. This will take place in rooms A-173 a,b,c,d. To schedule an appointment, please contact Shirley Wyatt @ 734-384-4258 or visit http://www.givelife.org and enter sponsor code (MON-ROECC).

To be eligible to donate, you must be at least 17 yrs old and weight at least 110 lbs

Steve Yzerman retires as Red Wing

new advances in miniature mp3 player convenient, mobile

October 12, 2006 In the Mix AGORA 7

Tan-u-topia$15.00 a month UNLIMITED TANNING

Free Tan with Hair Cutfor MCCC students only

Located on M-50 next to Bahama BeachPhone: (734) 457-9000

expires: 12/25/2006

Reader'sVoice

Sasha NoriThe bathroom construction and the noise it makes during class.

Khadija AhmedI teach an onl ine class. A couple of t imes the internet connection went completely down and the students were unable to take their tests.

Rob PattersonParking spots are a problem usually around noon and later in the evening on any day.

Tilly and the Wall10/12/2006 - 8PM

Magic Stick

The Stills10/13/2006 - 7PMMajestic Theatre

Omarion10/14/2006 - 7:30PM

The Bijou

Kaki King10/15/2006 - 7:30PM

The Ark

Madeleine Peyroux10/16/2006 - 7:30PM

Michigan Theatre

Iron Maiden10/17/2006 - 7:30PMPalace of Auburn Hills

Triple Threat Tour10/18/2006 - 7PM

Headliner’s

Bouncing Souls10/19/2006 - 6PMSt. Andrew’s Hall

Montgomery Gentry10/20/2006 - 7:30PM

Seagate Center

Cowboy Junkies10/21/2006 - 7:30PM

The Ark

30 Seconds to Mars10/22/2006 - 6:30PM

State Theatre

ConcertCorner

The early November

ON TOUR NOW w/ New Found Glory, Cartel, & LimbeckCLUTCH CARGO’s

Pontiac, MI10/13/2006 @ 6:30 PM

The Math and Science Society presents:Please join MASS for a free lecture offered by the internationally re-

nowned author, Chad Kister.

At Monroe County Community CollegeLa-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theatre

Wednesday, October 1810:00 AM - 12 Noon

This free event is open to everyone!

The Agora would like to give a special thanks to Jim Dombrowski from the Monroe Evening News. Thank you, Jim, for all of your

patience and help with the redesign-ing of the Agora. We appreciate it!

OOPS!All errors made in this issue of the Agora will be cor-rected on our web-site at http://www.monroeccc.edu/ag-ora/index.html

IMPORTANT CAMPUS NUMBERS

Bookstore: 384-4140Cashier: 384-4231Counselors: 384-4104Child Care: 384-4208Financial Aid: 384-4135Library: 384-4204Snow Line: 384-4223Workforce Development: 384-4270

Tammy Sawoood

The day all of the teachers were here and there was no parking.

What is the biggest inconvenience

you've had to deal with so far this semester at Monroe County Community

College?

MCCC student government holds annual welcome picnic

8 AGORA Spotlight October....

On September 26, stu-dents and faculty enjoyed a free lunch

provided by the student government. Hot dogs, veg-gie burgers, chips, cookies, and Pespi were among the products given out during the picnic. The picnic is offered to welcome stu-dents who are experienc-ing their first semester at Monroe County Com-munity College (MCCC) and also thank those who are attending once again.

Agora Photos by Tonya Huffman