Serving Delaware and Chester Counties • www.thecommunitarian.org

Volume 27, No.4 • May 3, 2016

@Communitarian12 The Communitarian @Communitarian12

ARTS 9 LIFESTYLE 4 ARTS 8 LIFESTYLE 12 COMMENTARY 7

Breaking barriers in the hip-hop

world

Take an Uber to page 4

Wanna get on Broadway? Get in

line.

Food bender from street vendors

Community has opportunity

By Shannon Reardon“Last man with his hands on the truck,

wins it,” said character Mike Ferris, played by DCCC student Clark Smith.

“Hands on a Hardbody,” a musical focusing on 10 individuals competing to take home a brand new truck, was performed by DCCC students and alumni on the Marple Campus April 12 to April 23.

At the April 12 matinee, more than half the auditorium was filled with students enjoying the play.

“I performed in the musical last year, but I liked this one a little bit better,” said actor and DCCC alumni, Shawn O’Donnell, now a student at Berklee College of Music. “Everyone gets their moment to perform; its equal.”

As the contest begins, the contestants are strongly convinced that each of them will be the winner of the new truck, and that their strategy will lead them to victory.

But several hours into the contest, Nick Grandizio’s character, Ronald “Ronnie” McCowan’s strategy of eating oranges and Snickers bars causes him to collapse due to low blood sugar, and be the first one to exit the contest.

Shortly after, ex-Marine Chris Alvaro (O’Donnell) leaves the competition. Other contestants, led by Norma Valverde (MameyaaKraa Appiah-Padi), begin to sing, “I do believe,” about their relationships with God. Alvaro tells about the struggles he faced overseas and at home with his wife and son.

Towards the end of the song, Valverde reaches out to touch Alvaro’s arm; Alvaro jumps back and removes his hand from the truck.

After their third 15-minute break, the remaining contestants return to the truck irritable with one another.

First, the contestants turned on previous winner Benny Perkins (Andrew Haase), stating

that he already won one truck and that he didn’t need a second one. Perkins maintains that he has what it takes to win once again, and that he will remain victorious.

Then mother of six, Janice Curtis (Elise Marx), tells Ferris that beauty obsessed Heather Stovall took her hands off the truck to reapply her red lipstick.

Stovall, as played by Casey Innes, maintains her innocence, stating that she has always had at least one hand on the truck, throughout the competition.

Curtis exclaims that she would rather leave the competition knowing she competed fairly, and then confesses that she, in fact, had removed her hands from the truck earlier in the competition to catch her falling sunglasses. So she leaves the competition with her husband (Steve Piccerelli).

Jesus Pena (Nick Roscioli) was the next to the leave the competition.

continued on page 9

‘Hands on a Hardbody’wins over crowd

Unable to continue in the competition, Andrew Haase’s character, Benny Perkins, collapses to the ground after his legs give out, in the DCCC student and alumni musical production of “Hands on a Hardbody.”

Photo by Shannon Reardon

By Michael Blanche“Lazy,” “dirty,” “uneducated,” “job

taker,” “illegal.” Those words do not describe the Latino

population in America, a hard working, vastly intelligent, compassionate, and imperative part of America’s success in the future.

Yet, Latino immigrants are often judged harshly by people that do not take the time to look at them as equals, because they were born in another country.

In spite of this bigotry, many Latino families have come here in search of a better life.

Such is the case for Pedro Rivera, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education, and grandson of a Puerto Rican immigrant, who visited DCCC April 15 as keynote speaker for the second annual Latinos and Education Conference.

Rivera has been recognized by the White House as one of 10 national “Champions of Change.”

The conference has grown significantly in its second year. Last year the small auditorium sufficed; this year the large auditorium had only a few empty seats.

Organized and led by English Professor Fernando Benavidez, topics ranged from empowerment of Latino students to combating stereotypes and overcoming barriers that

continued on page 2

Latinos overcome barriers to succeed

Pedro Rivera, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, was the keynote speaker during the second annual Latinos and Education Conference.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Post-Gazettte

2 CAMPUS LIFE

Latinos overcome barriers to succeed

Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, dean of Esparanza College, addresses the mostly young Latino audience before sitting down with a panel of Latino professionals that discussed opportunities for higher education during the second annual Latinos and Education Conference.

Photo by Michael Blanche

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education, Pedro Rivera, answers questions from English Professor Fernando Benavidez on a range of issues for Latino students and communities at the second annual Latinos and Education Conference.

Photo by Michael Blanche

continued from page 1Latinos have in continuing education. Around 9 a.m., local Latino high

school students, faculty and influential Latino people from the community were welcomed to the college by DCCC President, Dr. Jerry Parker.

English Professor, Liz Gray, set the stage for David Escobar-Martin, 2015 Montgomery County Poet Laureate to read some of his awarded works.

The poet held the attention of the young crowd by mixing languages and displaying an understanding of life within multiple cultures, through verses of poetry, saying, “Being Latino is much more than speaking the same language.”

The majority of attendees were high school students who were passionately addressed by Dr. Elizabeth Condé-Frazier, dean of Esparanza College at Eastern University. When telling of a particularly vivid encounter from her past, she illustrated the struggles she went through to earn an education, bypassing stereotypes to eventually acquire the position she is in.

“The global leaders of tomorrow, are you,” Frazier told the students.

She focused on empowerment of the younger generation, urging them to get access to resources and programs like dual enrollment, financial aid and mentoring.

Frazier also attempted to reach the younger audience members by saying, “Smart is not something you have, smart is something you become.”

Shortly after, Frazier joined a panel of Latino peers that included Abel Rodriguez, a professor at Cabrini College; Maria Sotomayor, Civic Engagement Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition; and Steven Larin, Senior Director of Legal Services and Immigration Policy at the Nationalities Service Center.

The panel discussed how to strengthen their community through higher education, types of discrimination Latinos face, and how to search for and finance college tuition. Sotomayor touched on undocumented access to resources as well as the emotional effects of legality for people without representation.

“Find a purpose that is higher than yourself,” Larin urged the audience. As someone that started in community

college, Larin also spoke about how many immigrants have similar experiences and the Latino community is not alone in regards to discrimination and difficulties.

After a short break, guests were welcomed back for the next panel which focused on stereotypes Latino people have overcome and still deal with.

The second panel of the day opened up with Dr. Iliana Pagán-Teitelbaum, assistant professor of Spanish and Latin American

Film from West Chester University, showing a couple of humorous videos that turned stereotypes of Latino people upside down.

Other panelists included Gil Gonzalez, senior designer and host of Entre Nosotros, Edwin Mayorga, assistant professor of educational studies at Swarthmore College, and Dr. Marissa Pereyra, associate professor of global languages from Immaculata University.

The professionals talked at length about social media and the power it has to affect change among societies, the lack of Latino representation in higher education, self-expression, and how to effectively address the needs of the Latino community.

Vouching for the power of self-representation in various forms of media, as a documentary filmmaker, Gonzalez directed the audience, “to tell the right story.”

The third panel consisted of current DCCC students David Ordoñez, Jamily Anéas, founder of the Latin Flavor Club, Carla Yanes, and Latin Flavor Club President Vanessa Beltran-Vélez and Vice President Carlo Alcaraz.

The students described life at DCCC, what they thought their biggest challenges were, the importance of being bilingual for success in classes, as well as hopes for the future of Latino students at DCCC.

“Regardless of where you come from, the most important thing is how you see yourself,” Alcaraz said when asked about overcoming obstacles.

Following the morning presentations, lunch was served by the Latin Flavor club. Guests were treated to chicken or cheese quesadillas with refried beans and Spanish rice.

Rivera gave his spare time freely during lunch answering questions from students, sitting down for an impromptu interview and took photos.

Most high school students returned to their respective high schools before the last discussion, which featured Benavidez having an in-depth conversation with Rivera.

The dialog started off with commonalities. Rivera delved into his family history, that his grandmother worked in Philadelphia as a seamstress, getting paid 5 cents for each zipper she sewed to a pair of pants. She also would

not let her grandchildren speak Spanish around her and the young Rivera would translate for her everywhere they went.

Benavidez turned the conversation to focus on the secretary’s employment as the Superintendent of Lancaster County School District. While he was there, Rivera devised policies that helped increase graduation rates as well as levels of reading comprehension.

Rivera also started programs that gave students free eyeglasses, dental care, medical services, and breakfast; while at the same time increasing the fund balance for the school district.

While superintendent, Rivera was recognized nationally as a “Champion for Change,” by the White House and Lancaster School District was acknowledged by the Washington Post as one of 20 schools nationwide for academic rigor.

Rivera touched on national policy proposals like the DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors which grants temporary to permanent citizenship.

Rivera noted in regard to diversity, “People are no different.” He said to reach the levels of success that he has, he didn’t chase money, but did what he loves, teaching.

One point that Rivera emphasized was the difference between equity and equality and he clarified with a short story about three boys of different heights trying to look over a fence.

The tallest boy looked over without any help, but the other two needed crates to stand on. If the tallest boy kept his crate, it would be unfair to the shortest boy that needed two crates.

“Latinos live in the poorest communities,” Rivera reminded the crowd.

At the end of the conference Rivera closed with a statement before Benavidez took questions from the audience.

“This is America,” Rivera said. “Immigrants have always come here for a better life, looking for better opportunities.”

Contact Michael Blanche at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

“Being Latino is much more than

speaking the same language.”

3CAMPUS LIFE

By Rolando Figueroa

Business Professors Lauren Donovan and Susan Stranix hosted the “Exploring Careers in Business” workshop on DCCC’s Marple campus April 7. Five students interested in majoring in business attended.

The presentation included tips on how to ensure employers were paying fair wages to their employees in a variety of occupations.

Other advice pertained to finding and using appropriate resources, such as focus2.com and local Chambers of Commerce. According to Stranix, who students know can be more important than what they know.

The workshop kicked off with Donovan asking the students what brought them there. Yahmere Williams, a liberal arts major, said he was looking to switch his major to marketing.

Donovan promised she would give him examples of marketing jobs later in the workshop.

She then introduced the course Business 100 and encouraged students to take the course.

“There’s a million things you can do in business,” Donovan explained.

Next, Stranix presented a PowerPoint on the five functioning areas in business: human resources, research and development, manufacturing and operations, accounting and finance, and sales and marketing.

Stranix provided details for each of the five areas, matching them with the students’ interests: human resources oversees the people within the company; research and development focuses on

product innovation; accounting and finance manages the money, is extremely procedural and offers many employment opportunities; manufacturing and operation’s priority is getting what the company needs and saving money while doing it; sales and marketing strives to know what the customers want; and advertising works to interest customers.

Afterwards Donovan showed students good career matches using the website www.focuscareer2.com. She searched students’ job interests and the availability for those particular jobs in the greater Philadelphia area.

The website also showed typical salary wages for the average worker in that position.

Donovan then discussed the importance of LinkedIn, and how often employers search for names of the people scheduled to get interviewed.

“I would stay clear of career builder,” Donovan advised. “They sell info to third parties. I recommend going to the [employer’s] website itself and apply there.”

Donovan explained that Glassdoor and Main Line Chambers of Commerce are great reputable websites, and encouraged students to network and send emails just to get their name out there.

Donovan and Stranix closed with four main points they wanted students to take away from the workshop: understand the functions, identify relevant career titles, know your strengths and use resources.

“My favorite part was learning about focus2 and getting involved with that to get a better idea about jobs along my journey,” said Katie Lickfield, 20, a graphic design major.

Contact Rolando Figueroa at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Let’s get down to business

Lauren Donovan displaying a PowerPoint about Focus2 for the students at the “Exploring Careers in Business” workshop.

Photo by Rolando Figueroa

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4 LIFESTYLE

By Shannon AdamsKodjo Okenba, a mathematics and

natural science major at DCCC, was looking to make extra money on top of his full-time job when he first became an Uber driver in July of 2015.

Okenba reached out to his cousin, hoping he could assist him in finding someone who had a little experience with the transportation company and could provide him with some information on what it was like.

“I asked if he knew someone who worked for the company and he told me he did,” Okenba says. “He gave the guy my number, but I never [heard] back from him.”

When reaching out to his cousin fell through, Okenba took to Uber’s website, opting to sign up with the mindset of just giving it a try, he said.

Although nervousness regarding his first day wasn’t an issue, after considering how Uber passengers are able to rate their drivers, Okenba worried he would unintentionally do something to receive a poor rating.

To combat this fear, he explored Youtube to familiarize himself with how to get through his first day of driving with Uber.

Okenba was happy to find that the instructions seemed tame enough and that there was nothing said that would have scared him off, such as warnings of possible violence or harm coming to the company's drivers.

To become an Uber driver, Okenba had to submit to a background check, have his vehicle inspected, and purchase auto insurance.

If ever his car does not pass inspection or he allows his insurance to lapse, his Uber status will be suspended.

Uber Drivers are able to set up their own schedules, which allows them to work either full or part time and to also

have day jobs.Okenba only works for Uber over

the weekend, most often on Friday and Saturday and, on a good night, he makes anywhere between $70 to $80, after Uber has taken out their 28 percent.

“From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. is the busiest,” Okenba said. “On those days you will get a lot of demand because

people are going to and coming from bars.”

Okenba uses his new car, which he brought himself to transport his passengers back to their front doors safely.

“Uber is a great alternative to buses,” Okenba said. “It really shortens your commute time.”

Okenba is just one of over 160,000 active Uber drivers in the United States, according to their website, and that number has doubled every six months over the last two years.

Founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, Uber was first established in 2009 in San Francisco.

Its business model: to allow drivers to use their own cars as a way to make money and assist others.

An alternative to the taxi, Uber is available worldwide in 382 cities, and matches passengers with drivers in the area through GPS and Wi-Fi.

More than 8 million people are users of Uber and the number of daily trips is around 1 million, according to Time Magazine.

Upon matching with a driver, the Uber app will provide passengers with their driver's name, license plate number, photo and rating as a way of creating a sense of safety and comfort.

According to their website, Uber has also created a code of conduct and set in place emergency response teams, should a dangerous situation arise

Under other circumstances, those involving lost items, pick-up destination changes or otherwise, riders are able to contact their Uber driver before and after pickup.

Should they have an unpleasant experience with a passenger, drivers are able to rate passengers and warn other drivers.

The app also allows passengers to request a driver with whom they may have had a pleasant experience driving.

Uber fans insist there are a lot of other things to like about the company, such as UberPOOL, a new service that automatically matches passengers with people going in the same direction.

UberEATS is another service that allows takeout to be brought to one’s front door via Uber driver.

Then there is UberX, one of many private car services offered without emptying one’s pockets, enthusiasts say, who also enjoy the convenience of being able to charge services to their credit card.

Despite its success, Uber has its critics and that has led to it being banned in Spain as well as a few other places, for reasons ranging from putting pedestrians at risk to depleting taxi revenue.

Some taxi drivers are rallying against the company, as “frequent flyers” begin to shift toward Uber because of its ready availability and pricing.

San Francisco, the very city that gave birth to the company, is among the cities whose taxi drivers are fighting back.

Although Kalanick has been called a disruption to the taxi workforce, Okenba remains satisfied in his work, he said, although he wouldn’t want to make a career out of it.

Okenba explained that he doesn’t worry so much about his safety, as he believes should something happen to him it must have been fate and that

thought alone comforts him.Still, he is concerned about the toll

transporting people so often is having on his vehicle.

“I would really appreciate it if [Uber] sometimes reimbursed for gas,” Okenba said. “Or even just gave coupons for tune ups and other work sometimes.”

Contact Shannon Adams at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Hitting the road with Uber

DCCC student Kodjo Okenba says he can make up to $80 on a good night as an Uber driver.

Photo courtesy of Kodjo Okenba

Foot traffic streams past Uber offices on Market Street, June 2, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. The urban tech boom is transforming much of the long-blighted mid-Market area.

Photo by Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

5LIFESTYLE

By Megan MilliganBefore her work day officially starts,

Bianca Smith (not her real name) can be seen sitting at her desk comforting her residents. “Today is a new day. Let’s put yesterday to bed,” Smith says between sips of coffee.

On her desk is a worn book dealing with different strategies for therapeutic counseling, and her computer is loaded with information about her residents and their progress.

With no sign out front indicating what’s inside, the old Victorian house gives off the feeling that you are home. The house is in southeastern Pennsylvania, and it is a drug treatment facility. Here, up to 10 women at a time live and heal together.

Inside is the layout of a three story house, complete with living room, kitchen and a dining room which has been turned into an office for staff.

The walls have inspirational messages written on them.

It is also where Smith has worked for the past seven years. At 28, Smith has worked her way from an intern Adult Daily Living Consuler to a therapist, running group meetings for the women living there, and doing individual therapy with them as well.

“I feel very connected to the women here.” Smith said. “They have a lot of respect for me, because of the way I interact with them.”

She attributes her connection to the women to her own battles with addiction. In fact, she uses her past addiction problems to help the women that live there. When talking to patients and hearing a thought that parallels her own mindset during her time of addiction, Smith draws on her

experiences to help that person, without their even knowing what she has dealt with.

Smith runs the morning business meeting with compassion, at the same time holding a degree of authority. It’s held in the living room, filled with couches for comfort, and one can imagine security.

After reading the Serenity prayer aloud the women go around the room, saying numbers corresponding to the number of days they have been sober, their goal for the day, and what they are grateful for. The highest number is 232.

A woman who is leaving that week had a goal to start packing her room up. One of the women says she was thankful for the staff at the facility.

They talk with angst about an incident that happened the day before. One woman tells another, “I don’t want to see you get caught up in a situation that could put anyone in this house at risk.” The woman who has been criticized then gets some uplifting advice and some tough words on how to make better decisions by the other residents.

During the meeting Smith tries to encourage a woman to be happier and hold herself higher. “Get into it girlfriend. This is how we begin our day,” she says to the woman. She fist bumps a girl who has the least amount of days sober. “Keep it going,” she says.

The meeting ends with the facility’s personal philosophy, their creed.

Even on Smith’s break, she is seen standing out in the cold rain, talking to a woman and consoling her. “Message received,” she says in regards to the resident’s complaint.

Smith graduated from Cabrini College with a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Originally she wanted to work with youth who were high risk for HIV, because of her internship at an HIV clinic. “Along with HIV you have a lot of drug users,” Smith says, explaining of how she came to be a drug counselor.

Smith started working as an Adult Daily Living counselor. As an ADL she was in charge of everything from handing out medicine to handling patient appointments. “Basically anything from the neck down I was in charge of,” Smith says. She explains that the only thing she wasn’t allowed to do was psychotherapy, which is one-on-one counseling.

After a while she was promoted to counselor’s assistant and after a supervisory period she achieved the title of therapist. “I felt like I connected more with the women here, than I did when I worked at the HIV clinic,” Smith says. “Like I made more of a difference.”

During the group therapy meeting led by Smith, she gives the group an exercise. She hands each of the women a piece of paper with eight columns on it, while they sit in a circle of couches.

Each column has a list of words and sentences both positive and negative. The women are told to circle one word or phrase that stands out to them, so it eventually would make a beautiful poem.

“Usually when I do this exercise I see a common theme: Accepting who we are,” Smith says. “Using drugs or alcohol is a way to get away from yourself learning to live with who we are is a big part of recovery.”

Throughout the session Smith reiterates this theme in different ways. “Who you were or what you did while you were using does not define you,” she says. “Each of us is born

to be who we are meant to be, drugs and alcohol make us someone else.”

Her voice speaks of somebody who understands what it’s like to be defined by past actions, and someone even more determined to change that.

“Sometimes, I get drained,” Smith says after the session. Her favorite part of the job is when her clients say, thank you. “To know that I actually made a difference in somebody’s life, that I am in their memories makes me feel really good,” she says.

Smith sometimes gets worn out by all the paper work, insurance companies and funding issues that she has to deal with on a daily basis. She says that there is so much paperwork, it’s difficult to complete because she is supposed to be helping people.

Smith spends a lot of time with her fiancé and her animals to unwind from her hectic days. She also is an accomplished lead singer in a local folk band. Even though it is hectic, she has to take a train to work, and she eventually wants to go back to school, she still doesn’t want to leave her job because of her connection to the women that come through there.

“My style really works well here,” Smith says. “One of the best things of this place is that the people who come here have had significant traumatic experiences and just bad lives in general, and then they come here and say that this is the first time anybody has treated them like a human being. I like to stress that in my eyes… that I don’t see us and them, we’re all in this together, and we have to work as a team.”

Contact Megan Milligan at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Bianca Smith: addictions counselor, singer, friend

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6 EDITORIAL

By Maryleigh Sharp I cannot tell you how many times I have

heard, “Maryleigh, you’re such a smart and talented girl. You have so much going for you. Yet, why do you know so much about sports? Isn’t that a guy thing?”

When I hear that comment, I sometimes reflect on something Nelson Mandela, a civil rights activist said, “Sports can create hope where once there was despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

This statement is a great example of how women are generalized to know nothing about sports.

Since I was 8 years old, I have been in love with sports. Whether it was basketball, football, hockey, or baseball, I had a passion to learn the names of the Philadelphia sports team members.

I got ridiculed for being a tomboy and it wasn’t easy trying to explain to another girl why the Pittsburgh Steelers run a 3-4 defensive scheme and not a 4-3.

And yes, I do know that means committing seven men close to the line of scrimmage except you substitute a D-lineman with a linebacker, who hopefully gives the defense more speed.

Men can talk sports to another guy or even a random one on the street, yet when we females know more than the color of a team’s jersey and the basic rule that you have four chances to go 10 yards, it’s like we take away a little bit of their manhood.

On April 2, I was waitressing and when going over to a table of men I saw watching the Villanova basketball game, I asked, “How do you guys feel about Ryan Arcidiacono’s performance last game against Kansas?”

“Sweetheart,” they replied. “We don’t need to hear you mess up.”

“Well,” I politely responded. “Arcidiacono had three rebounds, one assist, one steal, three fouls and one turnover. Oh and did you know that he scored over 1,000 points in his high school career? But since I don’t want to mess up I will tell you it was 1,088 actually. Have a great evening.”

Silence.

Some men, however, enjoy being with a female who can talk sports.

Adam Boehr, a student at West Chester University, and my best guy friend, loves when I talk sports to him.

“It is nice to have a girl’s perspective on things,” Boehr said. “It’s also nice that when we watch games on TV she doesn’t bother me until the commercials are on. She also isn’t on her phone at the game when we go to them.”

In 2016, it shouldn’t be which gender knows more about sports, it should be that all genders should come together and enjoy sports as one. Instead of being ridiculed and put down for my knowledge of sports, I should get some credit that I’m showing more interest than just knowing the difference between a tall and a grande Starbucks drink.

To all of you who think women can’t intelligently talk about sports, realize that sports, like Mandela said, literally levels the playing field for men and women.

Contact Maryleigh Sharp at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Leveling the playing field

The CommunitarianOpinion Policy

The opinions expressed on the editorial and commentary pages do not necessarily reflect those of The Communitarian staff or College. We welcome your comments on any matter relating to Delaware County Community College, and responsible rebuttal is encouraged. Write to communitarian@mail.dccc.edu. Please write "Letter to the editor" in the subject box.

The Communitarian is produced by both current and former students of Fundamentals of Journalism II in collaboration with Campus Life and published at Delaware County Community College.

Students who would like to write for the campus newspaper and have already completed Fundamentals of Journalism I (ENG 130) should register for Fundamentals of Journalism II (ENG 131).

Students who have completed both classes are welcome back to join the senior staff. For more information, send an e-mail to communitarian@mail.dccc.edu.

Executive EditorErica Setnick

Managing EditorMaryleigh Sharp

Social Media EditorMaryleigh Sharp

Photography EditorCarlo Alcaraz

Junior EditorsMichael BlancheMegan Milligan Shannon Reardon

ReportersShannon AdamsRolando Figueroa Joshua Smith Alicia Stearn Nicole Marie Wieland

Senior Graphic DesignerChristina Deravedisian

Web MasterDemi Deravedisian

Faculty AdvisorBonnie McMeans

By Dom GiordanoPhiladelphia Daily News(TNS)

Late last week, Google's top trending question was depressing. The question was "Who is Harriet Tubman?" It's hard to believe so many people would have no sense of Tubman when Treasury Secretary Jack Lew named her to replace former President Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill.

Almost equally predictable was that Tubman would not replace Alexander Hamilton, as had been originally speculated. The thought originally was to get a prominent woman on our currency, and Hamilton was not a former president and thus targeted. This thought was trumped, however, by the success of the hit Broadway play Hamilton. It's helped Hamilton to be lionized in pop culture as one of the "good" Founding Fathers.

Hamilton is the counterpoint to these guys, and his big-government views were just lionized last Friday by prominent leftist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

I like Fox News Channel Greta Van Susteren's suggestion: "Give Tubman her own bill. Like a $25 bill. Put her picture on that,

and we could all celebrate. That's the smart and easy thing to do. But, no, some people don't think and would gratuitously stir up conflict in the nation."

It also interested me that were people on the left and some feminists who argued that Tubman would not want to be on our currency, because she wasn't a capitalist. The Washington Post debunked some myths around Tubman, and noted that she was an entrepreneur who established a laundry and restaurant near Hilton Head, S.C., during the Civil War and instructed recently liberated women in providing various services to the Union for pay.

Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, wrote in the New York Post about Tubman thinking before her escape: "There's two things I've got a right to, and these are Death or Liberty -- one or the other I meant to have."

Lowry echoes my thoughts when he says, "Is it possible to utter a more American sentiment? In an era of ethnic and gender bean-counting, everyone wants to keep score, but Harriet Tubman belongs to all of us."

Maybe she even deserves a Broadway musical.

So I think we should embrace this together and use it as an opportunity to attack Andrew

Jackson. Jackson was a slave owner, but he stopped the South from leaving the Union and won the War of 1812 against the British. Let's not make this about getting even with Jackson, but embracing an American hero.

This whole debate has made me think about whom else should we consider placing on our money? The biggest figure missing is former President Reagan. I rank Reagan along with Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt as among our most consequential presidents. How about if we target Ulysses S. Grant, who appears on the $50 bill, or Grover Cleveland, who appears on the $1,000 bill? If we place Reagan on the $1,000 bill, I could use it to get two decent seats when Hamilton comes to Philadelphia.

Also, there is a movement starting that maintains that, given President Obama's historic status, he belongs on our currency. The debate over both presidents will be intense.

As far as Obama is concerned, a listener of mine summed up the opposition feelings last week. As we discussed Tubman on the $20 bill, he said, "Given the huge deficit President Obama has produced, in the future, he belongs on the 20 trillion-dollar bill."

Harriet Tubman is deserving of a spot on U.S. currency

7COMMENTARY

By Alicia StearnWhile attending DCCC in my first

semester, I received two of the worst insults: “Community college isn’t a real college” and “community college is really easy.”

What those critics don’t know is that there are many more advantages to starting at a community college then most people realize.

First of all, tuition is cheaper. At DCCC, for example, if you take five classes a semester for two years it will cost about $16,000 (not including fees). Just in tuition, earning an associate’s degree at Penn State University will cost about $33,000 (not including fees). Temple’s tuition for an associate’s degree is roughly $29,000.

Second, you get to learn time management you become responsible for getting to class by driving or taking the bus, much like in the real world. You aren’t living within a 20 minute walking distance from everything.

As a case in point, I’ve had to attend classes at different campuses for my second year at DCCC. One campus was just 10 minutes from my house while the other was almost an hour away.

More community college students also work, so they have to be more responsible with multitasking. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, 62 percent of full-time students work a full-time or part-time job.

In fact, you can keep the same job you had in high school. Instead of trying to work on campus you have the ability to drive further and work at more places. Also you still have the opportunity for a work-study job on campus.

My sophomore year of high school I started working at a local grocery store and have been able to keep the job ever since. Being there for so long I’ve achieved seniority among my coworkers and created a workable routine for myself.

Another benefit is that community colleges have dual admissions and transfer agreements with four year colleges so students have that time to

figure out where they want to go and what they want to major in without spending a ton of money.

The agreement has to be signed before the completion of 30 college credits and this guarantees admission to the four year university of your choice if you complete your associate’s degree with DCCC and maintain a minimum GPA required by the university.

I have signed the dual admissions agreement with Temple University and am eligible for renewable scholarships from DCCC to Temple. With Temple’s transfer agreement if your GPA is within a certain range you are eligible for a certain amount of scholarship money.

“It’s good if you are unsure of what you want [to major in],” said Erika Bair from the transfer office. “We have partnerships and signed agreements so students aren’t totally in debt when they go to a four year school.”

The flexibility of changing classes and discovering which major fits appropriately is another benefit of community college.

“If I went to a university first, I would have no idea where to start,” said Sequista Wilson, a health studies major at DCCC. “You get there and they make you stick to a major.”

There is also more opportunity for switching classes to switch to a different major.

Another advantage is when you transfer to a four year institution with an associates degree, you already have that degree to help you get jobs and start working with a status higher than just a “current college student,” Suni Blackwell explained in a branding workshop he hosted at DCCC’s Marple campus on March 29.

Getting involved on campus makes the transition to a four year institution easier because you already have experience with clubs, possibly even in a leadership role. Community college is smaller so when you get involved in organizations you are able to participate more.

I am a member of Student Government Association at the Pennock’s Bridge campus and there’s more

opportunity for everyone to express their thoughts and ideas. When you go off to a university you are able to take the skills from being an active member and apply them in a new setting or bigger group.

And lastly, you’re not homesick. Instead of being sick from being away from home, you get sick from being AT home.

At first it was great. I lived with my mom and I only had to worry about keeping my bedroom clean. I saved money from not having to pay rent to live in an apartment or dorm.

However, we all reach a point where we are ready to get out of the house and take the responsibility off of our parents’ hands.

The closer I got to my second semester the more I wanted my own space and have become more ready to move out.

For all of these reasons, community colleges offer many benefits that can’t compare to what universities have to offer.

Contact Alicia Stearn at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Community college: a place to start

Even though DCCC is a commuter college, many students take advantage of the services at the campus and hang out to do homework in the center of the S.T.E.M Building.Photo by Megan Milligan

Outside of the S.T.E.M. Building, DCCC students gather to wait for the bus or walk to their cars.

Photo by Megan Milligan

Students have the opportunity to be serious about their careers and explore their creative side with all of the activities offered at DCCC.

Photo by Alicia Stearn

8 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

By Kelly WitmanSpecial to The Communitarian

When Megan Farley was still studying theatre at Rutgers University in Camden, she thought life as an actor was going to be easy after college.

“I was sheltered in college,” Farley said. “It was a small theatre community. So I got all the parts I wanted.”

But Farley, 23, who graduated in 2015, has struggled to find acting jobs since.

Instead, she works full time as a substitute teacher in a pre-school and lives with her parents. “I am grateful that they don’t make me pay rent,” Farley added.

To make more money to pay for headshots, reels, and travel expenses to go on auditions, Farley thought about getting a second job. But the long hours of work would cut time for auditions.

“It is just a vicious cycle,” Farley said. “You have to work to make money to be able to get headshots, and travel to auditions. But then, you can’t go on auditions because you don’t have time.”

Farley has been able to find auditions on the weekends, but has not been casted for several of them. “I have heard more ‘no’ since I graduated college than I have heard ‘yes’” Farley said. “It is really hard.”

Farley is not alone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about one out

of three actors worked part time in 2014. Several of those jobs were on holidays, weekends, and evenings.

Besides the lack of full time opportunities and financial insecurity, actors also have to seek education and pay for student loans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “While a traditional education is not necessarily a requirement to enter the performing arts, many professionals in these occupations are highly educated. More than one third of actors held a bachelor’s degree between 2011 and 2013.”

Actors may face long periods of unemployment and inconsistent schedules. For this reason, several actors opt for being part of a union.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “compared with workers in all occupations, actors had a higher percentage of workers who belonged to a union in 2014.”

Stage actors have the option of joining the Actor’s Equity Association. Actors who work in television and film can join the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

According to SAG-AFTRA, the union assist actors to negotiate better wages, set work rules, benefits, preserve and

expand members’ work opportunities, and enforce contracts. But union dues might be expensive for a beginner actor who does not have many job opportunities, some say.

Not only are regular and consistent jobs difficult for actors to find, but also just few of them get high paying jobs.

According to the Actors’ Equity Association, the average annual earnings in 2010 of 34 percent of actors was less than $14,999.

Regardless of the low pay, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that many actors find their work professionally and artistically rewarding, despite the challenging working conditions.

Those challenges have been present in Farley’s life.

Recently, Farley drove to an audition in North Jersey, three hours away from her house.

Once she realized the director had favored another woman for the play, she had a breakdown. “On my way home I was upset and I cried,” Farley said.

Due to those difficulties, Farley has considered going back to school for a teaching certificate.

“I have had second thoughts about my career choice,” Farley said. “But I am not ready to give up acting.”

Inspiration has arrived in Farley’s life in different ways. After nailing all the exercises in her voice lesson, and listening to her coach’s comments, Farley decided to postpone her teaching plan.

“My coach told me I was going places,” Farley said. “Just hearing her saying that made me sit back on my teaching plan.”

Besides her coach’s advice, Farley also receives support from the children of the summer camp where she works as a theatre specialist.

Farley said that she tells the kids to not give up on their dreams. “I am sitting in my room two weeks ago having a breakdown,” Farley said. “And I realize I should be taking my own advice.”

Two weeks after the audition in North Jersey, Farley received a phone call from a casting director. She was cast for the short film “The Syndrome” in Philadelphia. They will be shooting it in May.

“Even though I have heard more ‘no’ than ‘yes’ so far,” Farley said. “I will hear ‘yes’ [more often] later on. And, hopefully, the ‘yes’ will be bigger. A little ‘no’ doesn’t count when you get the big ‘yes.’”

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Acting career is not without challenges

By Joshua Smith Tracking through flooded, fungus-

ridden buildings, dark and treacherous sewer lines, and dense, complex city elements, gamers experience no shortage of excitement and horror in 2014’s game of the year, “The Last of Us Remastered.”

“The Last of Us Remastered” is a refurbished edition of Sony Entertainment’s previous release, “The Last of Us,” originally for PlayStation 3, developed by Naughty Dog Studios.

Gamers follow the two main characters: Joel, a brawny, battle-hardened, middle- aged man, and his infinitely wise, adolescent sidekick, Ellie.

Joel and Ellie trek through a post-apocalyptic United States after a pandemic outbreak of the Cordyceps Brain Infection.

The Cordyceps Brain Infection is a fungal-based infection that results in the host becoming highly aggressive and attacking any uninfected human on sight. Of course, in true zombie folklore fashion, anyone who is bitten will contract the infection.

The main objective of our two characters is to find the elusive, anti-government group, The Fireflies.

Throughout their quest to find The Fireflies, Joel and Ellie encounter endless perils in which they must solve puzzles, silently evade infected zombies, and fight

against some of most horrifying creatures imaginable.

“The Last of Us Remastered” rings true with the survival aspect of the game. Since firearms are hard to come by, and ammunition even more so, gamers can be easily over powered, and the environment proves to be anything but tame.

Interesting concepts of the game include custom weapon crafting, character ability enhancements, and movie-like story development.

“The Last of Us Remastered” also enthralls its players with a beautifully developed and highly detailed game environment. From the cracks in the pavement, to stains on the buildings, and every single leaf depicted on each tree, the

game’s graphics could easily be mistaken for reality.

The controls in this game are an absolute joy to play and seem to be almost innate for the hands to perform.

Whether it’s the incredible storyline, the suspenseful gameplay, or the beautifully developed environment, “The Last of Us Remastered” is one of the best games I’ve played to date, and it continues to amaze players since its release.

Without a doubt, “The Last of Us Remastered” is a staple for zombie lovers and connoisseurs of epic games alike. This game is one for the collection and should not be passed up.

Contact Joshua Smith at Communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

Not your average zombie apocalypse

Ellie (Left) and Joel (right) travel through post-apocalyptic Boston in search of an anti-government group, the Fireflies.

Photo courtesy of Ps4trophiesgaming.com

In the game, “The Last of Us Remastered,” Joel (left) and Ellie (right) trek through a fungus-ridden Boston street. Photo courtesy of playstationlifestyle.net

9ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

continued from page 1Pena, an aspiring veterinarian, begins

to talk to a dog that is not there, and then removes his hands from the truck to chase the imaginary dog.

Young hopefuls Kelli Mangrum and Greg Wilhote are the next to leave the competition.

Mangrum (Kendra Miliken) claims that she was too tired to continue with the competition and leaves to walk home.

Wilhote, played by DCCC alumni and assistant director, Jason Boyer, worries about Mangrum’s safety and leaves the competition to chase after her.

Stovall leaves the competition after her energy boosting pills given to her by Ferris, begin to wear off, and she claims that her gloves are too itchy and she needs new ones.

The rules of the competition state that contestants get one pair of white gloves and that they must wear them throughout the competition. Not being allowed to change gloves, Stovall begins yelling that the whole contest is rigged, and how Ferris promised her she would be the winner of the competition and in their newest ad campaign.

After Stovall leaves the competition, one of the sales associates, Cindy Barnes, (Julie Holdredge) decides to drug test the remaining three contestants.

When it comes time for Perkins to receive his drug test, he exclaims his legs are unable to move and he collapses, removing his hand from the truck.

With the competition coming to an end, McCowan returns to cheer on Valverde. He begins to sing “I do believe” again.

Valverde sings along with McCowan, and as she gains more momentum in the song, she raises her hands as she sings, “I do believe,” thereby letting go of the truck.

As Valverde leaves the competition, only JD Drew (Matt Morris) remains. He wins the truck for his devoted wife, Virginia Drew, as played by Denise Baxter.

While Boyer has enjoyed his time performing at DCCC, the now Temple student says that the next time he returns for a play it will be as a spectator.

“It’s my time to move on,” he says. “We have a lot of first year students that are going to take over the [theatre] program.”

Contact Shannon Reardon at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

‘Hands on a Hardbody’ wins over crowd

By Leah J. MahoneySpecial to The Communitarian

Spencer Parker, 22, spends most of his days nonchalantly accommodating mass consumers as a cashier at the Home Depot.

Parker is also known as ZeeRoh, a conscious hip hop artist struggling to make a name for himself, as a result of the mainstream hip-hop agenda.

Working at a home improvement store is a means of income for the hip hop artist who feels frustrated, he said, because his real passion cannot be pursued unless he changes his style and conforms to today’s “acceptable” hip hop mold.

“I understand the appeal of mainstream,” Parker said. “I have to keep that in mind, when writing sometimes.”

Yet Parker worries about his artistic integrity and appropriating his music to appeal to mainstream hip-hop fans.

“Every element of [mainstream hip hop] is either appropriated or shown at the shallowest depth,” he said. “It’s become a vacuous wasteland devoid of creativity and saves the very few who can make it,

without a generic trap bounce and nasally-toned voice.”

Parker is just one of a few artists who hassles with this dilemma in the hip hop game. Many hip hop enthusiasts believe 21st century rappers have changed the game with their increasingly vulgar lyricism and controversial ethics, perpetuating sex, money, and drugs.

According to Social Text, hip hop, also synonymous with rap, slowly arose in the Bronx, NY during the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Eventually,” writes Michael Ralph, New York University associate professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and Africana Studies, “hip hop emerged as a distinct cultural form as part of two interrelated developments.”

The manifestation of hip hop initially revolved around the artist’s struggle, such as growing up in “the ghetto” and speaking out against political doctrines, according to Johnathan Munby in the Journal for Cultural Research.

Tupac, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli are among the few who followed a conscious

hip hop dynamic throughout the course of their hip hop career.

In Tupac’s song, “Changes,” he sings, “‘It's time to fight back.’ That's what Huey said. 2 shots in the dark, now Huey's dead.”

Huey P. Newton, the founder of the Black Panther Party, was shot dead by a drug dealer in Oakland in 1989. Reports say three shots were fired.

Talib Kweli’s critically-acclaimed song “Get By” also paints a portrait of a controversial system.

His lyrics, “Yo, I activism attackin’ the system, the blacks and Latins in prison,” incites political activism and revolt against the “system,” or U.S. government.

This line refers to the FBI’s controversial smear campaign and assassinations of revolutionary public figureheads.

“Being true to the game involves demonstrating your ability as a student of underworld history and as a street griot or teacher,” said Ice-T, in his documentary, “Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012).” “Being true to a hip hop aesthetic involves taking care over not only what is

best to remember but choices about how to articulate this memory.”

But experts say over time the genre became rawer, discussing topics distasteful in nature. Artists began to focus on monetary gain, drugs, and explicit sexual desire.

According to The African American Review, “Critical scripts about, in particular, popular hip hop as sexist and misogynist, unnecessarily or outrageously materialistic and hedonistic, corrupted by capital, apolitical and indifferent, provide precisely this sort of automatic, empty [enlightenment] of the genre.”

However, there are programs in the United States, whose sole mission is to bring back the fundamental values of conscious hip hop.

The National Museum of Hip Hop is one of the few organizations to combat the adverse views towards the genre.

According to the NMoH website, “The negativity surrounding a

continued on page 11

Aspiring hip-hop artist laments genre’s agenda

Nick Grandizio’s character, Ronnie McCowan sings about how his strategy of eating oranges and Snickers bars will win him the competition; accompanied by Kendra Miliken as Kelli Mangrym, Casey Innes as Heather Stovall, and MameyaaKraa Appiah-Padi as Norma Valverde.

Photo by Shannon Reardon

The cast of “Hands on a Hardbody” sings about who is going to win the truck.Photo by Shannon Reardon

Ex- Marine Chris Alvaro, played by Shawn O’Donnell, argues with Benny Perkins, played by Andrew Haase, about serving with Perkins’ son.

Photo courtesy of Shawn O’Donnell

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continued on page 11select few rappers, coupled with the

constant propagation by the mainstream media, has helped to perpetuate this negative connotation of Hip-Hop.”

NMoH hopes to eventually reverse the cycle by presenting the world with an institutional interpretation of hip-hop’s true essence: education, cultural preservation, and self-expression through art.

The Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute is another organization, seeking to educate and inspire the hip hop community in a positive light.

Programs include academic courses, arts and community organizations, underground performances and venues, spoken word, political organizations, religious programs and much more.

“We are uncompromising in our commitment to build and support intellectually challenging and innovative scholarship that both reflects the rigor and achievement of performance in Hip Hop as well as transforms our thinking and our lives,” the HHA mission statement states.

As for Parker, he is trying to come to terms with today’s hip hop and continues his writing to better pursue a future within the genre.

He says he laments the idea of today’s fabricated hip hop motive, and constantly struggles with staying true to his method of songwriting, while appealing to the genre’s audience.

“I think [today’s hip hop] ruins the game by becoming the poster child of the

genre,” Parker said. “It bothers me that artists like Big Krit and Mick Jenkins rarely get their just due, because they don’t fit certain criteria.”

Still, Parker says his passion for hip hop is what drives him and makes him want to improve upon the genre even more.

Although still working at the Home Depot, he spends his free time pushing towards making conscious hip hop more of a reality in the genre’s community.

To accomplish this, Parker puts on sporadic performances with a collaboration of similar artists, when the opportunity presents itself.

For now, Parker can only allow himself time and funds for putting on shows in the Philadelphia region. But he hopes to expand upon his performance venues and travel more in the future.

His most recent performance took place in Brooklyn, NY, where Parker said the experience only made him more determined in following his dream.

“I’m happy to have had the opportunity to perform in a setting other than Philly for once,” he said. “It’s satisfying to know; I can potentially make a career out of this.”

This marks the rapper’s farthest show away from home [Philly] and he considers it a milestone in his career.

“It’s definitely a learning experience, going outside of the lyrically driven artist I am and finding different flows,” Parker said. “But I’m up for the challenge.”

Contact The Communitarian at communitarian@mail.dccc.edU

Aspiring hip-hop artist laments genre’s agenda

12 LOCAL NEWS

By Nicole Marie WielandCity Team Ministries’ team leader

for food services, John Clifford, sits at his desk, typing away on a computer. A photograph of his daughter, Kiera, hangs on the wall above his desk, along with some corkboards and white boards filled with information about food service, clean up duties, and various lists.

City Team provides food, shelter, and a men’s recovery program to Chester residents.

Clifford showed up at City Team Ministries in 2007, homeless and a heroin addict after serving time in prison.

“No one wakes up one day and decides to be a drug addict,” Clifford says. “I came from a really good family. But I destroyed all my relationships in my life. God saved me in jail. I knew I needed help, and I was actually ready for it. Jail was the best thing that ever happened to me; it really saved my life. I lost everything when I was in there. It gave me a brand new fresh start.”

When Clifford walked into City Team, he was greeted as a dad or businessman, not a junkie, he recalls. He spent 53 weeks in the recovery program. After he completed it, he interned there for a year.

In 2009, he got a call from the regional director of City Team Ministries, Kwinn Tucker, who told him they wanted to invite him to oversee the kitchen.

The only catch? He had a budget of zero, and he had

to raise his own salary as well. It was dependent on Clifford to figure it out. And he did.

Seven years later, Clifford oversees a non-profit organization that is completely

dependent on volunteers and donations. They serve three hot meals every day, 365 days a year, to the people in need in Chester, Pa.

In 2015, they launched a new ministry, called Hope Café. It is a restaurant-style dinner program on Saturday nights.

“The way I was treated when I came in that’s what I want our guests to feel like,” Clifford says.

After the dinner, guests are welcome to stay for a worship service to hear the Word of God.

Another aspect of City Team is their pantry, which operates like a corner store. People have the opportunity to come in and shop once a month, choosing from canned goods, breads, and meats.

City Team Volunteers travel the Greater Philadelphia Area six days a week to pick up fresh produce and baked goods from over 10 grocery stores and other businesses. They then serve more than 17,000 bags of produce to the community per year.

Holidays are special times for City Team. Through volunteers, over 900 families register for a pre-boxed meal, complete with a turkey or ham. The volunteers deliver this box to the family’s home by hand, and offer to pray for them and see if they have any other needs.

In the kitchen, Andrew Tiffany, the kitchen resident assistant, and other members of the kitchen staff are busy prepping the dinner for the evening: spaghetti, meatballs, and salad, complete with garlic bread. Men in the program sit around tables waiting, laughing, smiling, and talking among each other. Every face is a friendly face.

Clifford checks on the dinner preparation to make sure everything is going smoothly. He then walks around and greets everyone by name, asks them how they are doing, and has casual conversation with almost every man there.

“Our kitchen is a leadership

development program at its core,” Clifford says. Members of the recovery program come into the kitchen as dishwashers, then begin helping with food prep. “Next thing you know, they’re helping cook, and helping to train the next group of guys.”

Kitchen assistants serve men in the recovery program their dinner, who then sit down to eat together over a hot meal. Clifford walks around and sits down to talk over his own plate of food. They all sit together and laugh together, enjoying the community that they have with one

another. Once they are finished, they will step behind the counter to serve the people from Chester dinner.

John Walsh, who has been at City Team for a year, describes it as “God inspired.”

Not only does City Team serve food to the people of Chester, but they also

are a homeless shelter for people to come in off the streets and have a place to stay. They provide a mother-baby program for women to get formula and clothing for their little ones, as well.

A dream for Clifford in the next few years would be for City Team to start up a women’s recovery program, he says.

Contact Nicole Marie Wieland at communitarian@mail.dccc.edu

From addict to an example of hope

By Shannon Adams More than 50 food trucks lined Main

Street in Manayunk to feed about 3,000 people attending the StrEAT Food Festival, according to Philadelphia police.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. people roamed up and down the blocked off blacktop, trying their taste buds at the various foods which ranged from savory gourmet BBQ to sweet, fluffed desserts.

The air was full with the smell of each truck’s speciality, including fried and grilled foods, sauces and pastries.

One of the more popular trucks of the day was “Oink and Moo,” run by Sean Parker.

“Ribs are probably our most popular item,” Parker said. “But we also do really good brisket and chicken too.”

Each year Manayunk features a seasonal food in the festival and vendors are encouraged to use it as a staple in one or more of their dishes: this spring it was strawberries.

Oink and Moo incorporated the fruit into quite a few of their dishes, including a strawberry slaw, strawberry pulled pork and a strawberry sauce.

Sticking with the savory BBQ theme, Bacon Jams, not so much a food but a delicious bacon themed spread, was also in attendance.

According to creator Mike Oraschewski, the company started in Philadelphia and then began traveling up and down the East Coast, attending events to promote the product, which now has a substantial following.

“Basically, the product is that we put bacon in a jar,” Oraschewski said.” I never liked condiments... but I really loved bacon.”

Among the available flavors are the original, which is a honey smoked bacon flavor, chilli garlic and black pepper.

Also present was the Farm Truck Philly, a seasonal fresh food vendor that is in its fifth year, and that mainly attends festivals.

Farm Truck Philly head chef Shaine Wasico recommended the Anson Mills grits, explaining that they have a fuller depth in flavor than some are used to.

“The last time I was included in the [strEAT] festival was two years ago,” Wasico said. “It’s good to be back out here.”

Vendors, though busy, were kind and approachable and offered suggestions at the ready, if asked about recommendations, and represented not only themselves, but their brands well.

As attendees walked Main Street they could stop and take in the live music, performing on the three separate stages.

Among the 10 different acts were Excursions, Stella Ruze, Alycat and The Jawn.

The Jawn is a local band and are considered to be rock, soul and psychedelic in genre.

The StrEAT festival website suggested that visitors take time out during their trip down food lane and stop into some of the local shops that line the street.

Among those were Vamp, a boutique which provides reasonably priced “night out” clothing; The Little Apple, a vintage home goods shop; and The Spiral Bookcase, which provides both new and used books and also allows visitors to trade in old books.

The Manayunk StrEAT food festival will take place again this fall and feature a seasonal fruit, just as the spring event did.

Joshua Smith contributed to the writing of this article.

Contact Shannon Adams at communitarian@mail.dccc

StrEAT festival feeds Manayunk

Attendees of the StrEAT food festival make their way up and down Main Street Manayunk in search of something to thrill their tastebuds.

Photo By Maddie Mulligan

Shaine Wasico, head chef at the Farm Truck, stands in front of his truck after changing his apron just for the photo during the Manayunk StrEAT Food Festival.

Photo By Maddie Mulligan

John Clifford prepares the entrée for Hope Café on a Saturday night Photo by Lem Malabuyo

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State Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware, joined Gov.

Tom Wolf, state legislators and advocates at a ceremony and press conference for the signing of the medical marijuana bill into law.

Davidson said the new law will improve the quality of life for patients and their families by helping them to avoid relieving their pain by narcotics and becoming addicted to drugs such as heroin.

Under the new law, medical marijuana will be available to patients who are under a physician’s care for the treatment of a serious medical condition. Patients with serious medical conditions will be able to access medical marijuana with a physician’s certification at designated state dispensaries.

The bill includes language drafted by Davidson that would include sickle cell anemia as a qualified medical condition to use medical marijuana.

"People suffering from sickle cell are usually prescribed opiates to fight the pain of the disease," Davidson said.

"Medical marijuana has been proven to alleviate chronic pain and help reduce reliance on opiates."

The bill also includes Davidson’s language that ensures employment and business opportunities for minority, women and veterans businesses in the new medical cannabis industry in Pennsylvania.

"If we are going to create a new industry in Pennsylvania to support growth and distribution of medical marijuana, I want to ensure that every business has an opportunity to benefit," Davidson said.

The Department of Health anticipates it taking about 18 months to have the new medical marijuana industry fully operational.

Davidson joins Gov. Wolf at medical marijuana bill signing

Rep. Davidson joined Gov. Tom Wolf, state legislators and advocates at a ceremony and press conference for the signing of the medical marijuana bill into law. Courtesy of Rep. Margo Davidson

14 INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The Value of Family

Community BridgeCommunity BridgeCommunity BridgeAnnouncing

* National Public Radio, September 2015

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By Jared StonesiferBeaver County Times, Pa.(TNS)

It's been 30 years since the worst nuclear disaster in history, an accident the United Nations called "the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of humanity."

You need to have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to view this content.

Please click here to continue.It's not hard to see the ramifications of

the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl despite three decades having passed. Ukrainian officials recently touted the installation of a steel arch that will block radiation emissions from the site for the next 100 years.

Near the city of Pripyat, in northern Ukraine of the former Soviet state, only ghost towns and overgrown weeds remain. The accident killed 31 people in its immediate aftermath, but the radiation emitted since has sickened and killed thousands more in the decades that followed.

That's how far-reaching the disaster has been and will be. For residents of Beaver County who live in the shadow of one of only 63 nuclear power plants in the country, it's pertinent to ask if something like Chernobyl could ever happen here.

According to nuclear industry experts, the answer is a resounding no.

What happened at the Chernobyl plant was a massive failure on several levels, both

of design and human error, the likes of which could never happen here, domestic observers said.

But that doesn't mean there weren't hard truths to be gleaned from the disaster and lessons still being learned today about the benefits and pitfalls of nuclear energy.

'April 26, 1986'Operations at Chernobyl were no

different on April 26, 1986, than they were any other day. Crews came in to work and derived plans for routine maintenance and testing of the nuclear reactor's turbine.

During that test, there was an unexpected power surge to the facility, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a substantially larger power surge occurred, leading to a series of steam explosions and a rupture in the reactor.

Those series of events exposed the graphite rods to outside oxygen, which caused it to ignite. The resulting fire blasted a swath of highly radioactive material into the atmosphere and all across Europe, with the hardest-hit areas being Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

Tom Kauffman, an expert with the Nuclear Energy Institute, said he and other domestic observers were flabbergasted when they realized what led to the meltdown. Workers at Chernobyl purposefully circumvented safeguards in place to see if they could run the plant without them.

It turned out they couldn't, with the resulting meltdown as proof.

"We were all stunned that they would defy safety to that level and experiment

with trying to do a work-around of their safety equipment," he said.

Kauffman would know about the horrors of a nuclear meltdown. He was working at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island in 1979 when one of the reactors there experienced a partial meltdown.

Kauffman said that kind of experiment at Chernobyl was extremely inappropriate from an operational standpoint and that such a blatant disregard for safety would never happen domestically.

The emergency prompted the evacuation of 50,000 people in its aftermath, with an additional 300,000 evacuated in the months and years following.

Beyond the technological failures and human errors, officials were widely

criticized for their handling of the disaster. Because of the restricted nature of state-owned media in the communist country, it was days before the government even officially acknowledged an incident had taken place.

By then, it was too late for many in the surrounding towns and cities near Chernobyl. In addition, officials never distributed potassium iodine pills to protect against radiation, they never distributed face masks to residents and they never

cautioned the population to stay inside as fallout spread across the landscape.

The Chernobyl disaster was one of only two nuclear events ever classified as a Level 7, the highest classification allowed on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

30 years after Chernobyl, hard lessons still being learned

Pripyat - Bumper cars, partially disassembled by lootersPhoto courtesy of Wikepidia

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The other was the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011.

Can it happen here?There is a consensus from domestic

observers of the nuclear industry. What happened in Chernobyl could never happen here, for several reasons.

For starters, the Chernobyl plant was constructed with much different materials than those built here. Specifically, rods in the plant's reactors were made of graphite, which is combustible under the right circumstances.

Kauffman said the type of nuclear reactors used at Chernobyl are banned in the United States and many other countries, and for good reason. He called the designs of those reactors "inherently unsafe."

Perhaps more important, the Chernobyl plant didn't have a suitable containment structure that would have prevented a substantial amount of radioactive material from escaping the plant.

The presence of those containment walls are what separated the Chernobyl disaster from the Three Mile Island incident, officials said.

In comparison, the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station has a steel encasement structure that is 1.5 inch thick, reactor vessel steel walls that are 8.5 inches thick and containment buildings with steel-reinforced concrete walls that are more than 2 feet thick.

"U.S. reactors have containment buildings equipped with walls that are several feet thick and have a steel liner on the interior to help prevent the release of radioactivity during a severe accident,"

said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "During the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident, the containment structure served that function effectively."

Because of the stark contrast in design and the lack of oversight by any governing body in Ukraine, the NRC concluded in an extensive report that the Chernobyl disaster had little, if any, impact on domestic operations here.

"The agency concluded that the lessons learned from Chernobyl fell short of requiring immediate changes in the NRC's regulations" for the domestic nuclear industry, Sheehan said.

That's because many factors protect domestic nuclear reactors against the "combination of lapses" that led to the Chernobyl disaster. Differences in plant design, safe shutdown capabilities and stronger containment structures "all help ensure U.S. reactors can keep the public safe," Sheehan said.

Domestic and international impactDespite the dissimilarities between

Chernobyl and domestic plants, the disaster, along with the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, were "seminal events for the worldwide nuclear power industry," Sheehan said.

Chernobyl might not have had any impact on how domestic plants are designed or operated, but that doesn't mean the disaster didn't have ramifications in how the public perceives nuclear power.

"There were protests after both, and the accidents clearly had a dampening effect at least in the short term on U.S. utilities' interest in constructing new nuclear power plants," Sheehan said.

In addition, the NRC continues to examine the aftermath of Chernobyl "for lessons on decontaminating structures and land, as well as how people are returned to formerly contaminated areas."

"The NRC considers the Chernobyl experience a valuable piece of information for considering reactor safety issues in the future," Sheehan said.

In short, Sheehan said, investigators are still learning from the past by observing the present.

Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Corp., which owns the Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Shippingport, said another key impact of Chernobyl was the creation of the World Association of Nuclear Operators.

The organization formed as a direct response to Chernobyl, and it is a worldwide group of nuclear operators, owners and workers who are "interested in establishing and maintaining the highest level of safety in nuclear operations," Young said.

The Shippingport plant, along with every other domestic nuclear plant, is a member in the organization, Young said.

The Chernobyl disaster didn't have nearly as much impact domestically as did Three Mile Island and even the Fukushima event in 2011.

Those events highlighted the needs for enhanced safety designs, while the Chernobyl incident was simply a combination of technical and human errors.

The future of nuclear powerSheehan said a "handful" of new

nuclear reactors are currently being built domestically, all of which are in the southern part of the country.

In addition, plants that are already online like Beaver Valley have received 20-year license extensions.

Safety isn't so much a concern anymore when it comes to the construction of new plants. Rather, market factors are much more significant when it comes to the economic feasibility of building such plants.

"The low cost of natural gas and other factors have reduced interest in new plants, at least in the short term and particularly in deregulated power markets, such as Pennsylvania. Whether that will change going forward is difficult to predict," Sheehan said.

As far as Kauffman is concerned, U.S. nuclear plants in 2015 had their highest levels of safety, output and reliability, according to data collected by the Nuclear Energy Institute.

"That speaks a lot about the focus on safety," he said.

Regardless of the future of nuclear power, Kauffman said it's imperative that safety always remains paramount. If not, history is doomed to repeat itself.

"These plants don't just appear in the countryside and we go operate them," he said. "They're designed, built and operated by humans and anything that goes wrong is based on human error. Safety is always the No. 1 concern."

It just happened that safety was far from paramount when Chernobyl happened, Kauffman said. He's hoping everyone involved in the nuclear power industry has learned lessons from that day 30 years ago.

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