COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER

The Youngtown ediTionGold Medalist, 2012 Columbia Scholastic Press Association • First Place Layout & Design 2012-2013 NJPA

VOL. 91, NO. 2 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 RANDOLPH, N.J.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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ex News 3, 5, 6, 8 Opinions 7

Roving Reporter 8 Entertainment 4

Sports 3

Miss New York wins Miss America 2014Miss America’s win spurs racist tweets.Page 4

Constitution Day sparks discussion Recent cases have changed the Constitution. Page 8

Tips for new students at CCMBY KAITLYN ALEGRIACopy Editor

New County College of Morris students are always easy to pick out in a crowd. To get into the swing of things, all new students should know a few key rules about college life.

“On my first day, I got lost going to class,” said Heather Pol-lak, a student at CCM for three years. “It’s a pretty big campus, and it can get a little confusing.”

A new student can walk around the campus a day before class; this may be the best solution to figure out the easiest way to get from point A to point B. There are signs with directions around the campus to help guide students in the right direction. Also, students in the hallways are usually will-ing to point an individual in the right direction instead of letting he or she walk around in circles.

“Be confident in yourself. You’ll do well for yourself,” said Carlos Adrian Gribbo, a new stu-dent of three weeks.

Being self-dependent is im-

portant for survival in college ac-cording to Gribbo. CCM teaches students handle everything on their own.

“I got more than I ever ex-pected from my teachers. They break it down and help me un-derstand. They’re more on our level,” Pollak said. “As long as you’re ready to learn, they are willing to help.”

The professors at CCM are known to be some of the best. If a student is struggling to keep up with a class, he or she should ap-proach the professor and express his or her concerns.

Getting to know professors and classmates could be benefi-cial. “You want to know people in your classes. If you miss some-thing in school, you can text them or call them for an assignment,” said Taylor Russo, a student for three semesters.

If new students want to avoid physical exercise before class, they should not park in lots one or two because of the steep hills. Many students call it “Heart At-tack Hill.” “Do not walk up the hill. Park in a different lot if you

can,” said Raymond Sanabria, a student for two weeks.

The atmosphere at CCM is friendly, calm, and relaxing ac-cording to Russo. “This is simi-lar to high school. My advice is

to stick with day classes. Appar-ently, everyone likes morning classes,” said Sanabria.

Being a new student can be intimidating at first, but following the above tips may help any stu-

dent get into the flow of the col-

lege life. “It’s a nice, peaceful en-

vironment,” said Russo, “There’s

nothing to be scared off.”

PHOTO BY MIKE DICOLA

CCM students talking in the Student Community Center at CCM.

Faculty Spotlight: Professor Wassel BY MELISSA DELLACATOManaging Editor

Before Professor Mary Anne Wassel became an engineering professor, there was a time in college when she was not sure whether this was the right direc-tion for her because she also had a love for art.

Choosing this career path did not stop her from enjoying her passion for arts. She still contin-ues to do her own art in her spare time. She even had a mixed me-dia piece on display at her high school that opened for viewing on Sept. 14. Recently, she has been doing some crafts.

“I started making these stuffed penguins out of various pieces of fabric and felt. I sewed them all up by hand,” she said. “Now I’ve got these little pen-guins sitting around at home.”

Wassel was recently hired as a full-time instructor in the engineering science/engineering technology department at County College of Morris.

“I grew up with Legos like a lot of engineers,” she said. So,

she was already heading down the engineering path at a young age.

“I felt like, with engineering, I could really be more creative,” she said.

She really caught the engi-neering “bug” when she worked at Camp Invention as a camp

counselor. Camp Invention is a day

camp for students between first and sixth grade that focuses on doing math and science projects, according to Wassel.

One of the classes they took at this camp was called “Take

Apart.” Students had to bring in old, broken appliances and take them apart to see how they worked.

“I got the biggest kick out of that,” Wassel said. “It was hard to give them back the screw driv-ers.”

Wassel received her master’s degree in engineering from Rut-gers University in 2010. After-wards, she worked for two years for the Rutgers material science and engineering department as a graduate research assistant.

“I researched alternative manufacturing methods for ce-ment and concrete and I was kind of ‘the energy expert’ of the group,” she said. “We were trying to figure out how to reduce the carbon footprint and reduce the toxicity of some of the materials that go into it.”

In graduate school, Wassel was also a teaching assistant. “I had the great opportunity of be-ing able to teach some lectures,” she said. “I found that it was re-ally rewarding.”

During the summer, Was-sel continues to use her teaching

skills by tutoring at Huntington Learning Center on a variety of subjects, including SAT prepara-tion, general science, math and even preparation for the Praxis, the test required for a teaching certificate in New Jersey.

Wassel was hired as an ad-junct faculty member at CCM in spring 2013 and described the ex-perience as “totally great.” That’s why this fall, she was “happy to be here” as a new, full time fac-ulty member.

She is currently teaching four classes: Computer Programming for Engineers, Engineering Me-chanics I, Strength of Materials for Engineering Technology, and Concepts of Physics.

Wassel tries her best to cre-ate an enthusiastic environment in her classes.

“I don’t really like just lec-turing. I think it’s kind of limiting in the sense that there’s not much interaction,” she said. “I try to en-gage a little bit. I bring in props when I can. I’d say I’m fairly enthusiastic, trying to get people excited about this stuff.”

PHOTO BY MELISSA DELLACATO

Professor Mary Anne Wassel

Page 2 The YoungTown ediTion SepTember 25, 2013

September 25, 2013 SPORTS & NEWS the Youngtown edition Page 3

Local students celebrate US soccer’s World Cup qualificationBY JONATHAN COOKNews Editor

Watching from his sofa in his family’s living room, Michael Ci-querda, a sophomore from Coun-ty College of Morris, grew frus-trated as the U.S. national team failed to score in the first half. Only four minutes into the second half, Landon Donovan served in a corner kick right into the path of a soaring Eddie Johnson to pow-er in a header. Ciquerda said he jumped out of his seat, fist pump-ing the air.

“My parents left the room at halftime and missed the goal,” Ciquerda said. “They rushed back in as soon as they heard me yell.”

The moment of joy was caused by the goal and the second

one after that, scored by Donovan. The United States Men’s National Team qualify for its sev-enth consecutive World Cup by defeating its archrival Mexico by two goals to zero in Colum-bus, Ohio on Sept. 10.

The team joined the first group of 10 na-tional teams from the European, Asian, and South American confed-erations to qualify for the tournament. The World Cup, which is held every four years, will kick off in Brazil next June.

The qualification is signifi-cant for the many Americans, in-cluding Ciquerda, to watch their country compete at arguably one

of the top two sporting events in the world. The tournament’s pres-tige and scope is possibly only rivaled by the summer Olympics.

“I’m happy they made it,” Ciquerda said. “They worked hard over the past two years intro-ducing new players and having to

deal with a new coach [Ju-rgen Klinnsman] to make it this far.”

CONCACAF, the North and Central Ameri-can soccer confederation, is granted three guaranteed spots to the World Cup. These spots are granted to the top three finishers in the region after a process of eliminating all except the six best nations. Then scheduling those six to play each other twice in a

home and away format. The seventh consecutive

qualification represents a consis-tency in the U.S. team that not many other nations from around the world can match. Prior to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the

Americans did not qualify for the tournament for 40 years, accord-ing to information obtained on the official website of FIFA, the international governing body for soccer.

After a loss to Costa Rica in San Jose that saw the Americans end a 12-game winning streak, the team responded with its vic-tory against Mexico. With many key players injured or suspended, Ciquerda felt Landon Donovan, the all-time leading goal scorer for the national team, was a sig-nificant factor in the win.

“Landon Donovan is class,” Ciquerda said. “He...Dempsey and Howard, are some of the most important players of our team that always get the job done.”

County College of Morris faculty welcome new faces to their staffBY GIOVANNA ROMAZINIContributor

Often the anxieties of being

a professor, especially a new one, is ignored by their students on their first days of class. This fall, County College of Morris hired 11 new faculty members in the departments of business, mathe-matics, engineering and technolo-gies, liberal arts, and health and natural sciences.

CCM President Dr. Edward J. Yaw stated his excitement about the new faculty members and added that their experi-ences will only make their mis-sion of providing a high-quality education easier, according to a press release from the CCM website.

Professor Daria Aria earned her M.S. in school psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and her B.A. in psychology from Elizabethtown College. She has previously worked at Brookdale Community College, Kean Uni-versity and Camden County Col-lege, teaching a variety of psy-chology classes.

She was hired this summer as an assistant professor at CCM and is currently teaching General Psy-chology and Teaching in America which is a beginning class for teachers.

Nervous and anxious feel-ings are typical for new profes-sors on their first day of class, said Aria.

One of the biggest challenges a teacher can face is to try to get every student to excel to their fullest potential, but everyone is capable of doing it, Aria said.

Professor Kristopher Weeks has been an expert in the commu-nications department for years. With the goal of helping students lose the fear of public speaking, Weeks teaches his classes in a relaxed environment, where mu-sic is involved and students are allowed to speak up about many topics that interest them.

With previous work at War-ren Community College and Lehigh Carbon Community Col-lege, Weeks was hired this fall at CCM and is teaching a Speech Fundamentals class. He is also currently teaching at Montclair State University, Rider Universi-ty and Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania.

“Looking at CCM, it feels a little bit more of a relaxed territo-ry, compared to the other schools I am at,” said Weeks. “Everyone is so nice, no problems so far, and I already got a chance to meet with our dean. In some schools, I have never seen the dean ever, so it’s nice.”

With such a busy schedule, Weeks said there’s no time to get nervous about a new work envi-ronment, adding that students will always be different from school to school, but in the end everyone is in the classroom for the same reason: to become better in their careers.

Professor Lee N. Collins is a recently hired assistant profes-sor of mathematics at CCM. He is currently teaching College Alge-bra, Basic Statistics, Basic Math, Probability and Statistics, Calcu-lus and Math Analysis. Collins has previously worked at Rowan University among many other community colleges, but this is

his first full-time teaching job.Collins said he is still get-

ting used to the area, since he has been living here for only two weeks. With regards to the CCM campus, he says that he gets lost pretty much every day.

Collins has experience with performing lectures all over the country and worked with people

that had “math anxiety” as well. “The expectations of the stu-

dents are a little bit more here. The curriculums are, I don’t want to say harder, but more expected,” Collins said. “It feels more like a four-year school here, compared with the Southern Jersey commu-nity colleges.”

Collin’s advice for students

is to not panic at first if they do not understand a concept and to take their time. He claims that math is not about speed, and that many students treat it as a com-petition, making others feel the same way.

“I like the students here,” Colins said. “My experience has been good so far.”

ALEX LIVESEY / GETTY IMAGES SPORT / GETTY IMAGES / UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP

Landon Donovan celebrates scoring a goal

An admissions representative from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Wilmington, N.C. will be on campus on Wednesday, Oct. 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Student Community Center Lounge area to provide information about transfer opportunities at UNCW. The UNCW representative will be able to discuss the transfer process, entrance requirements, available degree programs, scholarship opportunities and other important campus information.

An admissions representative from Rider University in Law-renceville, N.J. will be on campus Oct. 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Stop by the Student Community Center Lounge area to learn more about the transfer opportunities at Rider University. The rep-resentative will be able to discuss the transfer process, entrance requirements, available degree programs, scholarship opportuni-ties and other important campus information.

Attention Transfers

Page 4 The YoungTown ediTion ENTERTAINMENT SepTember 25, 2013

Miss America’s win spurs racist tweetsBY KHUSHBU KAPADIAEditor in Chief

Nina Davuluri, 24, from New York won the 2014 87th Miss America pageant on Sept. 15. Davuluri is the second con-testant in a row from New York to be crowned Miss America, and the first to be crowned of Indian descent.

“I’m so happy this organiza-tion has embraced diversity,” Da-vuluri said in her first press con-ference, moments after winning the crown in Atlantic City. “I’m thankful there are children watch-ing at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America.”

However, within minutes of being crowned as Miss America, Twitter was flooded with com-ments pertaining to Davuluri’s race. Being of Indian descent, many people started posting questions and comments linking to terrorism, references about convenience stores and an ideol-ogy of what Miss America should look like.

According to some students like Henna Rizvi, business mar-keting major at County College of Morris, the fact that Miss Ameri-

ca is of Indian descent proves that America is a diverse country.

“America is really diverse and the majority of America has

various different cultures. That’s what makes us different,” Rizvi said.

Although America is diverse

compared to other countries, Da-vuluri is still being tortured with racist comments.

“I think everyone that is bashing her is basically very ig-norant,” Rizvi said. “Just let her have her moment. She’s just as American as everyone else. She was born and raised in New York, so what makes her less American?”

“America is a country that is successful mainly because of all the various cultures and eth-nicities that exist,” said Annette Jacob, biology major at CCM, “and yet, racism still happens and was clearly portrayed in the Miss America pageant.”

According to The Guardian, Davuluri brushed off the racist comments. “I have to rise above that,” Davuluri said. “I always viewed myself as first and fore-most American.”

These racist comments about the new, Asian Miss America prove that some people might still be uncomfortable with change and diversity in America. When some people think of Miss Amer-ica, they might have a stereotypi-cal image in their mind of what Miss America should look like.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION/ABC

Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri

BLOOD DRIVE

October 29, 2013

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Location: TBA

A representative from the Blood Center will be holding sign-ups for a specific time slot on October 23rd and 24th from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the SCC lobby.

For more information please contact CCM Health Services CH266 or 973-328-5160.

ATTENTION FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS

Morristown Municipal Airport Needs Volunteers forTri-Annual Emergency Drill!

The airport is in need of volunteers to portray victims during the drill.

Volunteers must be 18 or older and available Saturday, October 26th from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Lunch will be provided!

Volunteers should wear old clothes to accommodate for the simulation of injuries.

Interested? Contact Bette Simmons by Tuesday, October 1st. If you have any questions please contact:Bette Simmons at 973.328.5171 or dsd@ccm.edu Peter Gilchrist, Manager, Operations & Security at 973-538-6400 ext. 146 or PeterG@mmuair.com

TWEETS POSTED ABOUT NINA DAVULURI*

@MeredithRoanell “This is Miss America... not Miss Foreign Country”

@Granvil_Colt “And the Arab wins Miss America. Classic.”

@Not_MissAmerica “More like Miss Terrorist #MissA-merica”

@wnfraser “@ABC2020 nice slap in the face to the people of 9-11 how pathetic #missa-merica”

@JPLman95 “Miss America? You mean Miss 7-11.”

@SHANN___Wow “Miss America right now or miss Al Qaeda?”

@LukeBrasili “9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets miss America?”

@Blayne_MkItRain “Con-gratulations Al-Qaeda. Our Miss America is one of you.”

@JAyres15 “I swear I’m not racist but this is America.”

* As reported by other news outlets

September 25,2013 NEWS the Youngtown edition Page 5

CCM’s Health and Physical Education facility undergoes renovation

PHOTO BY JAZMEN PHILIPS

CCM’s Health and Physical Education facility

BY KELBY CLARKFeatures Editor

County College of Morris is one New Jersey college that boasts several facilities that help make it an advanced learning community that enhances stu-dent life. From the Madeline D. and Joseph J. Longo Planetarium to Dragonetti Auditorium, CCM provides its students with many facilities in the hope that they are constantly “connecting learning and life,” according to CCM.edu.

However, when students began attending classes this fall semester many were dismayed to find that the Health and Physical Education building, one of the most frequented campus facilities by CCM athletes, fitness enthusi-asts and exercise science majors, is closed due to renovations.

All recreational facilities in the building, including the aquat-ic facility, fitness center, weight room, dance studio, main gym-nasium and locker rooms, have been unavailable to students and faculty since June, according to Karen VanDerhoof, vice presi-dent for business and finance at the college.

The most significant work being completed in the building is the replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. The aquatic facility is also undergoing significant reno-vations. The pool was drained, acid washed and spot re-grouted, had cracks and crevices in ma-sonry filled, all over the summer. Other renovations include the re-placement of the exterior doors on the second floor and the instal-lation of a new vestibule in the main entrance that will “enhance exit width, reliability and HVAC efficiency,” VanDerhoof said.

“The upgrades will increase overall energy efficiencies and re-liability,” VanDerhoof said. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during the critical infrastructure upgrades to the HPE building.”

Although the college admin-istration is attempting to keep campus facilities running effi-ciently and effectively, the tem-porary shutdown of the Health and Physical Education build-ing is having an adverse effect on many students and faculty members.

Classes usually held in the building have been scattered to various locations including the Randolph YMCA, PowerZone Volleyball Center in Denville and the Dalrymple House, according to VanDerhoof.

Students like biology major David Akpatsu, who normally exercised or participated in the many recreational activities of-fered in the building, have been forced to seek membership at other fitness centers.

“I used to go to the gym a lot, mostly the basketball court and occasionally to the weight room,” Akpatsu said. “It’s an in-convenience. I signed up at LA Fitness.”

Other students, like criminal justice major Breona Malcolm, said the closure is affecting their work study.

“I worked at the gym, at the

front desk. My job was to check student IDs for validation, check the monitors, where the camera was in the weight room and set up the gym for classes,” Mal-

colm said. “This reconstruction is definitely a setback for myself because I’m used to working . . . and earning a paycheck every two weeks. I like to work more

instead of not working at all.”Although a number of stu-

dents are still frustrated by the closure, the Health and Physical Education Building is set to re-

open toward the end of Septem-ber. At least students will soon have the opportunity to shed all the pounds that they gain over the fast approaching holiday season.

Page 6 The YoungTown ediTion NEWS SepTember 25, 2013

12 killed in D.C. Navy Yard shooting

BY DANIEL ENGOpinions Editor

A tragedy unfolded on Mon-day, Sept. 16 when a gunman shot and killed 12 people at the Wash-ington D.C. Navy Yard.

The shooter was later identi-fied as former Navy reservist and contractor Aaron Alexis accord-ing to the FBI. At 8:23 a.m. po-lice received a call reporting the sound of gunshots on the grounds of the Navy Yard. First District police and members of the Spe-cial Operations Division were directed to Building #197, where after searching for victims and suspect(s) they came under fire from Alexis.

After firing multiple rounds upon the police, Alexis was shot to death by officers, according to a Metropolitan Police Depart-ment press release. The case is still under investigation by the

FBI with the assistance of the de-partment’s Homicide Branch and Crime Scene Investigation Divi-sion.

After a year that brought Americans such horrific shoot-ings like those in Aurora, Colo. and Newtown, Conn., the Navy Yard is sure to be yet another grim reminder that the gun control de-bate is as relevant a dialogue as it ever has been.

County College of Morris students are already fiercely de-bating the issue.

Constantine Shevchuk, a CCM student, felt that the shoot-ing serves as a severe example of what our culture of violence can produce and the consequences of lenient gun control.

“I think people are sensitive on gun control but the govern-ment needs to understand that when people are given an inch, they take a mile,” Shevchuk said.

“There should be stricter checks on all gun buyers.”

“I thought it was horrible that Navy personnel didn’t have the guns to defend themselves,” said Keith Miller, a business ad-ministration major. “I feel there should have been more security in the yard.”

Christian Lyman, a former Navy serviceman and CCM stu-dent, said that Navy Yard security could not have stopped Alexis, and that stricter gun control laws would not have necessarily changed things.

“I don’t feel it’s accurate that Navy Yard security could have prevented this shooting,” Lyman said. “It isn’t a combat zone, there are only guards at their posts. When you have someone who is willing to die, it’s tough to stop.”

As of April 2013, just four months after the Sandy Hook El-ementary School shooting, less

than 50 percent of Americans supported Congress passing a stricter gun control law, accord-ing to a poll in USA Today.

Bryan Weathers, a business administration major at CCM, said he supports limited gun con-trol and stricter screens on gun buyers, though he opposes gun bans.

“After my initial emotional reaction I wondered how long it would take for the gun control debate to kick back up,” Weath-ers said. “I’m a conservative, though I look at every side. I’m in favor of limited gun control but when you look at the shooting in Connecticut where an AR-15 was used, then at this . . . involving a shotgun, stricter gun control bans wouldn’t have stopped it.”

Malcolm Dobson, another CCM student, was also focused on the issue of the individual and the cracks in gun control for

shooters such as Alexis to fall through.

“When I first heard about it, I was devastated, but I’m still against gun control,” he said. “I also don’t think violence with a gun would solve any type of is-sue; if someone were to use a gun to stop a potential shooter, it doesn’t solve the problem of indi-viduals like Aaron Alexis.”

The Navy Yard shooting is just one in a series of incidents provoking public debate on gun bans, buyer screenings and how best to deal with individuals such as Alexis in our society.

“Laws are the moral obliga-tions of citizens,” Lyman said, regarding the enforcement of gun control. “People can’t be forced to obey laws no matter how strict the restrictions on guns.”

CCM students comment on tragic massacre

Counseling, Student Success prepare for third-annual De-Stress Fest at CCM

BY TONI DEMAIOOnline Editor

The third-annual De-Stress Fest at County College of Morris is scheduled to occur on Thursday, Sept. 26. The event is held by Counseling Services and Student Success, it was created to demonstrate a number of methods that can be used to properly and healthily deal with all levels of stress. While about 500 people attend-ed last year’s event, almost doubling the amount of participants from the first year, Counseling and Student Success hopes for an even bigger turn out this time around.

“We have all experienced stress, right?” asked Ariella Heisler, a staff mem-ber of Counseling Services. “The De-Stress Fest was designed to help students learn to cope with stresses of all kinds.”

Heisler further explained that the De-Stress Fest is centered around the “Eight Dimensions of Wellness,” which is a guide to achieving an overall well-being. During the upcoming event, all who participate will learn to cope with stresses that may occur emotionally, environmentally, finan-cially, intellectually, occupationally, physi-cally, socially and spiritually. The desired outcome of the event is to de-stress for the time being and to learn techniques that can be used to overcome the struggles of stress.

“There will be a station set up that will represent each dimension of wellness,” Heisler said. “A few of the activities will be massages and zumba, and there will be music playing throughout the whole event. It’s a fun environment.”

Although many students did not attend the De-Stress event the first two times, a number of them will be making an effort to get to the third annual after hearing noth-ing but good things about it.

“I did not get to go last year but I heard really positive things about it,” said Kevin Wilton, a sophomore at CCM. “I actually want to try to make it this year. A lot of people I know went last year and they said they had a lot of fun and learned a lot of helpful tips.”

Even those who had not heard about the event previously were interested after learning a bit about it.

“I didn’t know anything about it but it sounds like a great idea,” said Alex Lynch, a sophomore CCM student. “I think stress is a big problem for many students. It would definitely be nice to de-stress for a little bit.”

Not only will students and all who join, learn different methods of dealing with stress, but they will also have the chance to win gift cards to restaurants, such as Olive Garden, by attending the event. Raffles will be handed out at the De-Stress Fest event and they will also be handed out again to participants that chose to fill out surveys after the event.

The upcoming event will provide a few hours of relaxations and beneficial coping methods that can be used on a daily basis. Admissions and all activities are free. The third annual De-Stress event will be located in the Davidson rooms of the Student Community Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit us at youngtownedition.wordpress.com

September 25, 2013 OPINIONS the Youngtown edition Page 7

Sound Advice: LinkedIn is critical to your new careerBY TIM CUTLERStaff Writer

Erica and Holly told me they are ma-

joring in fashion merchandising. To ev-eryone in the industry they are an up-and-coming team with bright prospects. All they need is the right job next summer, and here is how they’re going to do it.

Right now, they’re working on their LinkedIn.com profiles and contacts. The facts are all there, including a carefully-crafted profile that makes it clear Erica and Holly are ready for the real world. Even though they have no experience on Fash-ion Avenue, they have learned the vocabu-lary, completed interesting college projects in packaging and displays and attended a trade show recently. In addition, the focus on a business story will give them an op-portunity to demonstrate their competence when they begin to lean on their contacts for job referrals.

First, their LinkedIn profiles are packed with industry-specific jargon. These gals know the difference between a caravel and a slider and understand why a drop-rack needs to be within five feet of a carousel. Within a few moments, their new contacts will know that Erica and Holly are at the top of their class. The photos are crisp, clear, and colorful depicting them at the trade show with well-known merchan-dising celebrities. No selfies, no breakfasts, and no boyfriends with saggy pants. Nei-ther has worked in a retail fashion outlet, but they have earned recommendations from their supervisors and colleagues at the coffee shop last summer. The key words are, “on-time,” “responsible,” “ma-ture,” “friendly” and “hard-working.” With these magical adjectives, Holly and Erica should be the most desirable new hires on Fashion Avenue. Furthermore, the descrip-tions for their previous employment only feature specific accomplishments: Holly wrote, “Introduced table-top croissant bas-kets, resulting in a 27% increase in ticket net.” Who cares if she was responsible for brewing decaf; she’s obviously an achieve-ment-oriented girl.

Holly and Erica scooped up all the trade rags at the show last week, and high-lighted all the names of people who looked interesting. Over the Labor Day weekend, they googled them up and contacted them by email. Erica hit 20 buyers, including David Bass, Senior Electronics Buyer at Target in Minneapolis. “I was very im-

pressed with the new rack tags at the show last week, but I wonder why they’re made of polypropylene instead of acrylic? Where can I learn more about your shelving pro-tocol?” College students are allowed to pester top-drawer executives, but the mes-sages must be short and to the point. If the Target buyer responds, Erica will try to keep the dialog going and after message re-ply #2, she will shoot him a LinkedIn.com contact request. After reply #3, she will in-vite him to give a presentation at CCM. He will most likely decline, but it would be a major coup to bring in a top merchandis-er for Professor Santangelo-Mosely for show-and-tell. The key here is that Erica and Holly are constantly communicating with the right people - asking questions, proposing solutions, passing on useful information and sharing contacts. Next January, these are the contacts that will care where our students will be spending the summer.

Finally, Holly and Erica know that the most important story in retail-land is the turnround at J. C. Penney. If they aren’t watching the JCP show, they might as well go back to the coffee shop next summer. Everyone in the industry has an opinion of what went wrong and how to fix it. Holly scoped out the JCP at the Rockaway Mall and Erica went to the outlet in Jersey City. They know the managers and some of the floor staff, and they are committed to visiting every Saturday afternoon to find out what’s new. They also bought three shares of JCP common stock (NYSE: JCP $12.23) through an online broker for $45.69 in-cluding the $9 commission so they can tell everyone that they have their life savings invested in the success of the turnaround. This is a critical project for Holly and Erica, because all their Linke-dIn contacts are going to be interested in their weekly report. You can be sure that Mr. Bass at Target will be grateful to be the first to know that the electronics zone has moved fifty feet closer to the cash registers.

In January, Erica is going to ask Mr. Bass if someone at Macy’s would be in-terested in talking about a back-to-school promotion similar to the one planned by J.C. Penney. It would be a marvelous summer job and his response might be, “Dear Erica - the person you want to talk to is Jane Doe. She worked here for

a few years and she ran a record-breaking BTS/footwear for Macy’s last year. Tell her I thought you’d be a great fit for the summer. - Dave” Erica will find Jane on LinkedIn.com and open a dialog by pasting Mr. Bass’ message into her own introduc-tion with polite request to visit her office next Tuesday at 3 p.m. I would expect that Erica and Holly, as a team, would be hired on the spot.

Our students have a big stake in Fash-ion Merchandising, and they are making themselves visible and useful this fall. To their roster of LinkedIn.com contacts,

they’re not just inexperienced job-seeking students; Holly and Erica have positioned themselves as an up-and-coming Fashion Merchandising celebrity team.

Whatever your field is it is not too early to get yourself positioned for success. Prove that you are employable, make your-self visible, communicate with the right people, and focus on a project which will be of ongoing interest to your contacts and your future employer. The Office of Career Services has experts who can help you with your profile, and will be hosting a Linke-dIn.com workshop in early October.

US, Russia agreement on Syria reachedBY DANIEL ENGOpinions Editor

The United States and Rus-

sia reached an agreement on Sept. 12 calling on Syria to reveal and destroy its chemical weapons arsenal according to The Daily Beast and a report from the U.S. Department of State.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Min-ister Sergey Lavrov came to this agreement in Geneva, after more than two years of deliberation by the Obama administration on how to best tackle the Syrian civil war.

It would appear that prog-ress is finally being made on the Pandora’s Box that is Syria. Still, no one is popping the champagne just yet.

County College of Morris students have strong beliefs re-garding the Syrian civil war and the U.S. involvement.

“Right now I can’t take a def-inite stance as far as Syria because I think America only wants to get involved to teach them a lesson,” said Eileen Byrne, a CCM stu-dent. “On the other hand, maybe we should help, but I’m afraid this will become another Iraq. It might not be our place to be in-volved. By the time we realize it’s a good or bad decision, it will be too late.”

The country’s motives re-garding our involvement in Syria have no doubt come under ques-tion by its citizens in the past two years, in no small part due to our previous involvement in the Middle East.

“I support U.S. involvement in the agreement, but I agree most with Obama’s previous state-ment that the country is tired of war,” said James Church, a first-year CCM student. “We’re at a crossroads where anything could

happen.” The volatility of the war in

Syria has many in the U.S. hop-ing for the best, but preparing for the worst.

The framework agreement expects Syria to give “within a week, a comprehensive list-ing, including names, types and quantities of its chemical weap-ons agents, types of munitions, and location and form of stor-age, production and research and development facilities,” stated a U.S. Department of State press release. A tentative goal of meet-ing these conditions by the first half of 2014 however zealous that may be.

If Syria does not comply, “including unauthorized transfer, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in Syria, the U.N. Se-curity Council should impose measures under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter,” which the

charter states could be “action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary....”

The agreement is consistent with Obama’s position of not sending troops to Syria without the approval of Congress. Still, there are some factors keeping this agreement from being idyllic. There is a void in the resolution in the form of one, President Bashar al-Assad, who may well remain in power after the chemical weap-ons are surrendered and whose retribution is still being sought by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

There are also no guarantees as to the fate of the FSA, as they will not necessarily stop fighting for such an agreement despite possibly losing aid from the U.S. This could lead to another inci-dent involving chemical weapons if their opposition becomes too fierce and Assad decides not to cooperate.

Additionally, reports from The Daily Beast have detailed attacks on the FSA by al-Qaida portions of the rebels originally focused on Assad. These factors could draw the U.S. and Russia into a quagmire where they may be faced with opposition by Iran, leading to a larger scale conflict, drawing out a war that the U.S., Russia, the U.N. and the Orga-nization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are trying to stop.

For the first time in two years, it would appear as though tangible progress is being made on the Syrian Civil War between the U.S. and Russia. This agree-ment marks the dawn of what will hopefully be a swift and just resolution. The ball is in Syria’s court now and ultimately the frui-tion of such an agreement lies in their hands.

Page 8 The YoungTown ediTion NEWS SepTember 25, 2013

BY MIKE DICOLA

Steven Rodriguez19Business Administration

“I like my professors, but some of my classes are too early for me.”

Derrick19Music Recording

“I don’t like my early classes, but my teachers are great.“

Branden18Musical Theater

“My classes are good, but they are pretty easy for me.”

Higgens19Music Recording

“I have a lot of homework, but I think it will be worth it in the end.”

Brian Weismantel20Journalism

“They have been better than last year. My teacher is a cool guy. It makes my class more interesting. I’ve been meeting more people in my class, too.”

Kenny Schweighardt18Music

“Music classes have been fantastic, but others are good. My teachers make them better.”

The YoungTown ediTionThe Student Newspaper of County College of Morris

County College of Morris • Mail Station SCC 226214 Center Grove Rd., Randolph, NJ 07869-2086Phone #: (973) 328-5224 Fax #: (973) 361-4031

E-mail: youngtownedition@gmail.com

Editor in Chief .............................................................Khushbu KapadiaManaging Editor .........................................................Melissa DellacatoActing Managing Editor ..................................................... Jordan BarthActing Business Manager ............................................... Lauren ForniniNews Editor ......................................................................Jonathan CookFeatures Editor .....................................................................Kelby ClarkEntertainment Editor .....................................................................OpenSports Editor ...................................................................................OpenOpinions Editor ...............................................................................OpenPhotography Editor ............................................................Mike DiColaLayout Editor ....................................................................Josef LuftmanCopy Editor .....................................................................Kaitlyn AlegriaOnline Editor ...................................................................... Toni DeMaioSocial Media Editor ..........................................................Nicole DarrahCirculation Manager.......................................................................OpenTechnical Adviser ..............................................................Wilma Martin

Staff:Jazmen Philips, Jasmine Davis, Jovan Young

Faculty Adviser: John Soltes

The Youngtown Edition is printed every other Wednesday during the fall and spring semesters. Unless specified, the opinions of the editorial page are those of the editorial board. Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or fewer are welcome and should be e-mailed to youngtownedition@gmail.com.

All students are welcome to contribute articles to The Youngtown Edition. However, students cannot receive a byline if they belong to the organization on which they are reporting. The deadline for submission is the Wednesday prior to the date of publication.

What are your thoughts on your classes?

BY JORDAN BARTHActing Managing Editor

A legal scholar said in “Constitution USA with Peter Sagal,” “This little document. It means every-thing to us.”

Constitution Day, held in the Davidson Room on Sept. 19, was hosted by Dr. Jack Bernardo, as-sociate professor of political science and Professor Joseph Bristow. The event included a viewing of PBS’s “Constitution USA with Peter Sagal” and a discussion about the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all U.S. citizens by our founding document.

“Use your freedoms to express your point of view,” Bernardo said when introducing the event. “Use them to counter other points of view.”

Some people are indifferent about our Constitu-tion and the rights and liberties provided to them.

When asked to provide his thoughts on our Constitution, Business Administration major Kevin Sia said, “I don’t do politics… I don’t do that stuff. I just like peace.”

Others remained focused on one provision when discussing their rights and liberties that are guaranteed.

A CCM student who wanted to remain anony-mous on the record said, “freedom of speech has been taken away… you have to be so careful as to what you say to not offend people these days.”

“Freedom of speech is an amendment that is rarely found in other countries,” said Mustafa Khan, a business administration major. “It’s a powerful freedom and it’s misused by some people especially in case of verbal abusing.”

On the other hand, Music Performance major Ken Clancy and many others on campus have a more practical take on the document that this coun-try was founded on.

“I think the Constitution sets boundaries on what we can and can’t do,” Clancy said. “It also al-lows what needs to be done… [and] to do what we want with our lives.”

One of the biggest criticisms about our Consti-tution is the perceived outdated nature by students all across the country.

Hospitality Management major, Cristian, who did not give his last name, said, “The document was written almost 300 years ago… that’s a long time ago, right?”

He went on to say, “While it’s important to keep these ideals, we have to update them to problems we face today.”

It has been said by countless legal scholars that our Nation’s founders could have never expected the Constitution to allow for some of the huge techno-logical advances we have made today.

There was much debate at the event about our Fourth Amendment, protecting against unreason-able search and seizure and the ever changing na-ture of our founding document. Also of concern was

how far our First Amendment should go in protect-ing speech that in some instances can be hateful.

Antoine Jones was arrested for drug posses-sion after police attached a GPS to his vehicle and tracked him without his knowledge and a search warrant. The Supreme Court heard the appeal. The question confronting the bench was if the warrant-less use of a GPS violated Jones’s Fourth Amend-ment right to “reasonable search and seizure”.

In a 9-0 vote in favor of Jones, the Court held in 2012 that the use of a GPS tracking device on Jones’ vehicle, without a warrant, constituted an un-lawful search and seizure protected under the Fourth Amendment.

During the Court’s 2010 term, a major update was made in First Amendment jurisprudence. The Westboro Baptist Church, a known hate group na-tionwide, appeared at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. The group displayed signs that said, “Thank God for dead soldiers,” “F-- troops,” and made other hateful comments at the event.

The Court was forced to decide whether the First Amendment allows protesters to intention-ally inflict emotional distress on the family of the deceased.

In an 8-1 vote in favor of Phelps, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment shields those who stage a protest at the funeral of a military ser-vice member from liability.

Justice Samuel Alito was the only person who dissented in the case. He said, “Our profound na-tional commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”

The great Chief Justice said in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), “we must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding.”

Constitution Day sparks discussion

PHOTO RESEARCHERS/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP

The U.S. Constitution