the lookout volume 53 issue 11

musical hitsBlack Box

V-day

PAGE 10

posts

PAGE 6

triple-double

Sanchez

thelookoutLansing Community College’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1959

Volume 53, Issue 11www.lcc.edu/lookout

Feb. 20 - March 4, 2012

in the

PAGE 9

Spring break

mitten

Nathan WilsonAssociate Editor

LCC’s Library will host the Leap Day Lunacy gaming tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 29 from 3 to 6 p.m. on the third floor of the TLC Build-ing.

Victoria Meadows, the library communications manager, said the free gaming tournament can pro-vide some relaxing downtime for

students and spread awareness about library services. There will be room for 16 players.

“We’re hoping (the tournament) will be fun and popular and we can continue to host them in the fu-ture,” Meadows said. “We’re look-ing to connect with students and show them the library is not just a place necessarily to go study, but also somewhere you can go in be-tween classes.”

Students will be playing Batman: Arkham City on PS3 and Super Smash Brothers on the Wii before being treated to a surprise challenge in the final round.

“There will be four rounds … and the highest score at the end of the day will win a prize,” Mead-ows said. “First place will be a $50 gift certificate to GameStop, second place will be a $25 GameStop gift certificate and then we’ll have a los-

ers’ bracket. And the winner of the losers’ bracket will get a $10 gift cer-tificate to Aramark.”

Meadows also entertained the pos-sibility of letting students host their own gaming tournaments at the li-brary, with the staff’s coordination of course.

“There is research that shows that there’s a connection between gaming

See Gaming, page 2

Library to host video gaming tournament

Dominick MastrangeloEditor in Chief

The NJCAA has named Lansing Commu-nity College sophomore point guard Nate Duhon the Division II Player of the Week for his play the week of Feb. 8 to 15.

A Lansing Sexton graduate and member of the Big Reds’ 2010 Class B Champion-ship team, Duhon hit the game-winning shot and scored 31 points to lift the Stars to a 90-88 win over Muskegon Community College Feb. 8.

He also led with 32 points in the Stars’ 99-77 win over Ancilla Col-lege Feb 11.

The Stars are 11-1 in their last 12 games be-hind Duhon and were on a five-game win streak as of Feb. 21.

“I am so thankful for this honor. It’s truly a

blessing,” Duhon said. “I have to give a lot of credit to my team. We have a championship mindset and it makes

us play the way we do.” Duhon has scored a

total of 510 points for the

See Duhon, page 2

Duhon earns ‘Player of Week’ honor

LCC guard Nate Duhon (playing defense above vs. Lake Michigan and looking to score at right against Jackson) was named NJCAA Division II “Player of the Week” Feb. 15.

Photos by Courtney Baker

Feb. 20 - March 4, 2012www.lcc.edu/lookout

NEWS2

and improved vocabu-lary and memory re-tention in conjunction with studying,” Mead-ows said.

In an episode of LCC’s video game show Double Jump, Scott Skowronek, Ac-cess Services technical supervisor, explained how he approached the idea of building a game room in the library.

“We need somewhere that is fun for students that they can take a study break but at the same time still engage in learning,” Skow-ronek said. “Gaming actually does all of

that. When you’re ap-proaching a new game, you’re learning a new interface.”

Some of the services the library staff hopes to advertise through the tournament include research help, online chat reference, access-

ing database journals, textbooks on reserve and renting tablets and iPads.

According to one of the library’s blog posts, students can save up-wards of $280 simply by utilizing these ser-vices.

GamingContinued from page 1

LCC students play Wii Tennis in the LCC Library’s gaming room. The library will host a video gaming tournament Feb. 29 from 3 to 6 p.m. on the third floor of the TLC Building. Prizes include $50 and $25 gift certificates to GameStop, as well as a $10 gift certificate from Aramark.

Photos courtesy of Victoria Meadows

DuhonContinued from page 1

Stars this season and leads the team in points per game average with 19.5. Duhon, who is 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, has shot 42 percent from the floor and 72 percent from the free-throw line this year.

He has grabbed 147 re-bounds and dished out 79 assists. All these numbers

have been posted just 26 games into a sophomore season. His play has ignit-ed a team that has been vir-tually unbeatable since re-turning from winter break.

“This is a well-deserved honor,” LCC Coach Mike Ingram said. “We’ve been winning a lot lately. It’s one thing to have big games in games that don’t count, but he has been having big

games in games that we’ve needed wins in. “

LCC Athletic Director Scott Latham also spoke highly of Duhon. He said he thinks Duhon has a bright future in college ath-letics.

“He’s a hard-working kid who loves the game,” Latham said. “He’s mak-ing himself the player he needs to be in order to ad-

vance his education and his basketball career.”

Duhon, who signed his letter of intent with LCC in August of 2010, was near the middle of the pack in his freshman season, aver-aging 12.4 points per game. He scored 349 points last year, a mark he had well surpassed this year by mid-December.

Duhon credits his off-

season workout and con-ditioning routine as a main factor in his success as a sophomore.

“I worked hard in the off-season to get bigger and more athletic,” Duhon said. “Some of my hard work is finally paying off.”

Duhon said he plans on continuing his college bas-ketball career after his time is up at LCC. He is current-

ly being recruited by sever-al Division I schools across the Midwest, including a larger school in Nebraska, according to Latham.

“I know Coach Ingram will do a great job making sure I have an opportunity to play at the next level,” Duhon said. “Regardless of what happens, I’ll al-ways have a passion for the game.”

NEWS3 Feb. 20 - March 4, 2012www.lcc.edu/lookout

Amber GlombStaff Writer

LCC’s seventh Annual Health Fair took place Feb. 8 on the second floor of the Gannon Building.

This fair was promot-ed by LCC’s Black His-tory Month’s 2012 calen-dar of events.

The fair housed sev-eral different booths containing information regarding health. One

of these booths included LCC’s counseling ser-vices.

According to coun-selor Craig Prether from LCC’s counseling of-fice, this was the first time his department had taken part in the Annual Health Fair.

“It (the booth) doesn’t relate to Black History Month, but it’s to tie into the health fair,” Prether said. “Normally we do

this independently, but we thought we might have more traffic if we set up with the other or-ganizations.”

According to Prether, collaborating with the Health Fair was a way to spread awareness for the services they can pro-vide.

“We can offer mental health screenings, per-sonal counseling, career counseling (and) aca-

demic advising,” Prether said. “Whatever stu-dents need we can help. We thought we could get the information out there.”

This booth is not the only effort the counsel-ing office has made to promote awareness of its services. Recently, the counseling office has put posters around LCC with information regarding eating disor-

ders.“(These posters) are

just to bring awareness to the fact that there are people with issues that don’t even know it,” Prether said. “Or they may not want to talk to anybody about it. It’s more or less to say OK, we know people have this problem. Here is the information.”

Working with the Heath Fair provided the

same information-shar-ing opportunity.

According to Prether, it also provided an op-portunity for students to realize they need help.

“(Students) will see a brochure and grab it and read about it and maybe they’d get help,” Prether said. “Through having this information some-body could help find the correct recourse to get help.”

Shauna StockenA&E Editor

Reminder for all inter-ested participants, LCC’s “Start Here – Get There” will be touring its last part-nering school for the 2011-12 school year — Michi-gan State University — on April 27.

The “Start Here – Get There” program gives interested LCC students and area high school stu-dents the opportunity to tour major universities in Michigan.

Participants will receive a tour of the college, infor-mation on the admissions process and lunch at one of the college’s dining areas.

“I think that the tours are a supplement to the re-search students are doing to figure out where to go to school at,” said Al Nowak, the LCC Student Life direc-tor and ombudsman.

LCC has already spon-sored visits to MSU, Grand Valley State Uni-versity, Western Michigan University and, most re-cently, Central Michigan University on Feb. 17.

“I went to the MSU tour in October,” said Marie Anderson, a current LCC student. “Going was very

beneficial. Advisers talked to us about admissions and we were able to ask questions. It was very in-formative.”

Nowak said the college is trying to provide this type of experience to as many students as possible.

“I think that the turnout has been OK. I hope that as more people hear about these tours, more students will want to take advan-tage,” Nowak said. “I think for this being the dry run year for the tours we have had a decent turnout.”

Students can register for the remaining tour to MSU in the Student Life Office in the Gannon Building, room 230.

During registration stu-dents will need their LCC student number and a $5 deposit. Participants are to meet in circle drive out-side the Gannon Building at their tour’s designated time.

“I would recommend going on the transfer tour’s because it gives you a bet-ter idea of what you have to do to get where you want to be,” Anderson said.

For more information on future tours, call the Student Life Office at (517) 483-1285.

Top photo by Kevin Fowler, bottom photo by Courtney Baker

At left, po-tential trans-fer students take a tour of campus during a visit to Grand Valley State University (GVSU) as part of LCC’s “Start Here - Get There.” Below, GVSU students speak to prospective transfer stu-dents from LCC.

‘Start Here, Get There’ set for final 2011-12 visit

Health Fair spreads information, awareness


NEWS4

Photo by Nathan Wilson

A student passes an elegant ice sculpture standing outside Lansing Community College’s Arts and Sciences Building Feb. 13. The sculp-tures have been seen standing outside the A&S Building since early in February. One of the sculpture represents a swan (shown above) while another depicts a vase filled with flowers.

Icy art on display

Feb. 20 - March 4, 2012Features5Poet Freeman helps celebrate black historyNathan Wilson Associate Editor

LCC presented its sec-ond hip-hop poetry ses-sion Feb. 10 with guest speaker Dee Freeman.

The performance, part of LCC’s Black History Month celebra-tion, was held in the A & S Building.

Freeman is an LCC alumnus who is heavily involved in the Greater Lansing community as a literacy advocate. She has authored four books, which can be found at her website deepoette.com.

Freeman passionate-ly shared poetry with the audience, selecting from topics including self-empowerment, jus-tice, working together as a society, pride and self-love.

“I’m one for saying black history should be throughout the year, not just in the month of February,” Freeman explained. “But we try to keep people hearing about the accomplish-ments of contributions

that blacks and African-Americans have made.”

Freeman is also active in the city council and Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. Her TV show Poetree-N-Mo-tion airs on Saturdays and Sundays in Lan-sing on channel 16 and daily in East Lansing on channel 30.

“I just want to express

my feelings and hope-fully help someone to realize we are just like anybody else,” Free-man said. “We live and breathe and do what we do just like any other race of people.

“We should do what we can do to blend in and make this a great nation because it’s all about us as a united

people, not just any one single person. I think some of my pieces talk to that, asking people to get more history about yourself.”

David Guard, who teaches history at LCC, hosted the hip-hop po-etry session, described Freeman’s work as “very inspiring.”

“We’ve always en-

joyed her poetry and we’re very happy that she came back,” Guard said. “She selected po-ems from a variety of her books and it had a lot of inspiration in them and we appreciate it.”

Guard said he plans

on hosting hip-hop po-etry again for next year’s Black History Month.

The final hip-hop po-etry session is set for Friday, Feb. 24 from noon to 1 p.m. at the Herrmann Conference Center Sunroom.

Photo by Courtney Baker

Poet Dee Freeman, an LCC alumnus, shares some of her published work with stu-dents during a hip-hop poetry session Feb. 10 in A & S Building. The performance was a part of LCC’s Black History Month celebration.

Dee Freeman is a literacy advocate who has published four books of poetry.



6

Dominick MastrangeloEditor in Chief

LCC freshman and Lansing Eastern grad-uate Cameron Sanchez drove the lane with 44 seconds left in regu-lation and put up the shot.

The ball banked off the glass and fell through the net. San-chez had the first tri-ple- double of his col-lege career.

Sanchez’s perfor-mance led the Lansing Community College men’s basketball team to a 99-77 victory over Ancilla College Feb. 11.

Sanchez had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Stars’ fourth straight victory at home. It was LCC’s seventh straight victory over the Char-gers.

“I feel great right now,” Sanchez said.

“Once coach put me back in the game, I knew I wanted to go get this thing.”

LCC Coach Mike In-gram pulled Sanchez from the game with 4:32 remaining in the second half. Ingram said after learning how close Sanchez was to a triple double, he couldn’t resist.

“I’m proud of him. He is a good kid who can perform like this on any given night.” Ingram said. “He’s someone you love to have wearing your jer-sey.”

Lansing sophomore pointguard and Sexton graduate Nate Duhon led the way with 32 points and eight re-bounds.

Duhon was one of three Stars who scored in double figures. Freshman and Waverly graduate Montel Smith had 17 points and nine

rebounds. “We come into every

game thinking we’re going to win,” Smith said. “We all are capa-ble of so many things. We’ve got a really good team here.”

The Stars shot 37 percent from 3-point range and were 4- for-4 from behind the arch in the first four minutes of the game. Smith had three of those shots.

Despite only shoot-ing 16 for-42 from the field, in the first half, LCC held a 10-point lead at halftime.

The Stars went on an 8-0 run to start the second half and gained a comfortable lead by midway through the second half.

The Stars were scheduled to travel to Jackson on Feb. 15 be-fore returning home Feb. 25 to take on Ka-lamazoo Valley Com-munity College.

LCC’s Sanchez registers triple-double

Freshman and former Lansing Eastern High School player Cameron Sanchez skies for a layup in the Stars’ 88-86 overtime win over Glen Oaks Feb. 4. The 5-foot-11 freshman recorded the first triple-double of his career vs. Ancilla College Feb. 11.


Freshman’s performance leads Stars to 99-77 route of Ancilla College Feb. 11

Softball team looks to start fresh under new Coach Marc Kibby Dominick Mastrangelo Editor in Chief

For as long as many people can remember, women’s softball has been a staple of Lansing Community College ath-letics.

After NJCAA viola-tions led to the termina-tion of the club’s long-time head coach and the 2011 season, the team looks to start fresh this spring with a new coach and a roster of fresh fac-es.

LCC hired former Bath High School Soft-ball Coach Marc Kibby last August in hopes of keeping its winning tra-dition alive and well.

“I am really happy with the way the team has been coming to-gether,” Kibby said. “We’ve got a great group of girls that are ready to play.”

Lansing Community College has been placed on probation by the NJCAA from postseason play this year because of several vio-lations the program com-mitted in previous years.

“Even though we are on probation this year, these girls are deter-mined to prove how

good they are,” Kibby said. “We want to let everyone know that we are here and we are back.”

The Stars’ roster cur-rently features 16 play-ers: eight infielders, six outfielders and two pitchers.

With one exception, every play-er listed on the Stars c u r r e n t roster is a freshman.

T w e l v e of those girls are from the g r e a t e r -Lansing area.

“I really wanted to get back to using the local talent,” Kibby said. “It’s easier having younger players. We don’t have to integrate freshman with sopho-mores. We can estab-lish a routine much more easily.”

Outfielder Rachel Lou-ise Malmquist is the only returning sophomore on the Stars’ roster.

“I want to show (the other girls) that LCC has a great softball pro-gram,” Malmquist said. “Coach Kibby is an out-

standing person and a great coach. He made a good impression com-ing in and I think that we will be very succes-full this year.”

The Stars will play 18 regular-season games this year, including nine at home.

Before the regu-lar season starts, the Stars will travel to Gulf Shores, Ala., to com-pete against N o r t h we s t Florida State College and F a u l k n e r

State. They will then head

to South Holland, Ill., where they will take on Suburban College be-fore eventually facing Rock College.

Every school the Stars are set to face re-corded 20 wins or more last season

“This is a new expe-rience for almost all of these kids,” Kibby said. “We’re going down into the buzz saw.

“But I’ll tell you one thing: We’re going to find out what we’re made of.”

SPORTS

We want to let everyone know

that we are here and we

are back.

“”Marc Kibby,

Head Softball Coach


7 Sports

Joe IsraelSports Writer

Coming off a hard-fought road victory against Kellogg Com-munity College Feb. 1, the Stars topped the Chargers of Ancilla College 92-69 Feb 11.

The win improved the Stars record to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in con-ference play.

Five Star players scored in double fig-ures, and an impres-sive second-half defen-sive effort pushed the cagers to a victory in Gannon Gymnasium.

The Stars started slow offensively in the first half, but made key adjustments on defense, which led to outscoring Ancilla 55-39 in the second half.

“We didn’t play as aggressive in the first half as I thought we would,” LCC Coach Earvin Brunson said. “We picked up the tempo in the second half.”

The Stars played in-tense and stifling team defense, forcing 20 turnovers. The LCC women shot 25-for-51

in the second half, in-cluding 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Denay Kelley put on a scoring clinic, scor-ing 20 points in 20 minutes on 10-for-15 from the floor. She also had six rebounds and did not commit a sin-gle turnover.

“I just needed to go out and play hard be-cause the last time we played Ancilla, I didn’t score until late in the second half. I was in foul trouble (against Ancilla) too.”

Sophomore Jenni-fer Wilson was 6-for-9 from the field for 12 points.

The Stars also gained production from their bench. Chanekqua Phillips came off the Stars’ bench and scored 15 points.

St. Johns graduate and sophomore Steph-

anie Manuel scored 13 points, all in the second half, and also grabbed six rebounds.

Brenda Davis dished out 16 assists to go with her 11 points.

Kelley’s performance comes as no shock to her head coach.

“Denay is the glue of our team,” Brunson said. “She established herself in the second half, and was able to get some easy baskets for us.”

“(Brenda) Davis and I have a good con-nection, because we are both second-year players, so we’ve been through it before,” said Kelley of her team-mate. “I absolutely love the way she sees the floor.”

The Stars headed to Jackson Community College Feb. 15 for a league game, and will travel to Benton Har-bor to face Lake Michi-gan College Feb. 22.

The Stars have one home game remaining vs. Kalamazoo Feb. 25.

Check www.lcc.edu/lookout for results and reaction to these games.

Second-half surge leads Lady Stars past Ancilla

Kelley

Track preps for seasonJoe IsraelSports Writer

It’s that time of year again. Practices are underway for Lansing Community College’s men’s and women’s track and field teams.

Head Coach Chuck Block returns for his 10th season at LCC, along with assistant Jim Robinson.

The coaching duo both said they feel they have a plethora of great runners on the men’s and women’s teams this year.

The 2012 Stars will be trying to win a Na-tional Track Champi-onship for LCC for the first time since 2007.

For the women, Ash-ley Hamilton returns for her sophomore season after having the best freshman sea-son at LCC in recent memory.

Hamilton could leave Lansing Com-munity College as one of the school’s best.

Her versatility and leadership are two

prime examples of why the women could have a breakout sea-son.

“She can do it all, from the 400 to the 5K, to the mile,” Block said.

Last season Ham-ilton was within sec-onds of breaking the school records in both the mile and the 800 meter dash. Two other women’s runners to watch are Nikki May and Paige Terbush.

The pair looks to aid Hamilton’s effort to bring another NJCAA championship to Lan-sing Community Col-lege.

Leading the men’s side is sophomore and former Grand Ledge Comet Ryan Konen.

A brilliant long-dis-tance runner, Konen took part in last sea-son’s Super Bowl 5K.

He placed first in the race with a time of 15:20, a time he said he feels he can beat this season.

Another runner Block said to keep an

eye out for is sopho-more and former Ionia High School graduate Austin Alcalar.

Alcalar is arguably one of the strongest runners on the team. According to his coaches, he could be primed for a gargan-tuan season.

He is also a 5K run-ner and his best time was inside of 15 min-utes, a time he said he also wants to beat.

Michael Lahner is also a runner to watch this season. Lahner was a product of Pinckney High School and ex-cels in the mile run.

His time of 4:18 in the mile run at Pinck-ney his senior year was one of the best times in school history.

All three men share a common goal: to make this year’s Na-tional Track Cham-pionship in Lubbock, Texas.

The Stars will contin-ue to work out as they gear up for this season opener March 31 at the Grand Rapids Open. LCC’s Kasey Khane rounds the corner during the 800-meter dash at the Spartan Invita-

tional last April. The Stars will compete in the Spartan Invitational this year on April 7.

File photo by Michael Caterina


8


9 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Amber GlombStaff Writer

LCC’s Faculty Jazz Quartet not only pre-sented its music through traditional jazz instru-ments, but also featured Tia Imani Hanna playing her voice Feb. 7 in Dart Auditorium.

This type of instrument present during the jazz performance is called scat singing. According to Hanna, this type of sing-ing requires nothing but a voice and an ability to create improvisational sounds.

LCC’s Faculty Jazz Quartet included Jon Gewirtz on saxophone, Dennis Therrian playing the piano, Mike Daniels

on drums and Ed Fedewa on the bass.

This particular jazz concert was promoted by LCC’s Black His-tory Month. This perfor-mance, according to the faculty members, served a dual purpose. The con-cert exposed listeners to jazz music and also helped celebrate Black History.

“Sometimes when you hear (jazz) for the first time, you kind of go ‘I don’t quite make out what’s go-ing on,’ but when you can see it, everything makes sense,” Fedewa said. “If nothing else, music is edu-cational.”

According to Hanna, listeners were also edu-cated about African-

American culture by at-tending the concert.

“Jazz is a native to this

country,” Hanna said.” It started here and then ele-ments of it went all over

the world and came back and re-fused in differ-ent ways. A huge part of that has been the African-American community be-cause a lot of the stuff that happened was developed by black artists.”

Prior to the perfor-mance, Hanna taught a scat singing workshop to interested students. Dur-ing the concert, Hanna asked these students to come on stage and share what they had learned.

For one song, each stu-dent was able to individu-ally show off their scat-singing skills. This, Hanna said, helped to connect the audience to the concert. This connection also tran-scended to African-Amer-ican history.

“The music that we are playing is part of African-American history and (we were) trying to keep it going and keep it alive a little,” Gewirtz said. “Per-forming it live and hav-ing that ability for people to see it in a live perfor-mance, rather than hear a recording or to watch it on TV, is a whole other level of experience.”

For many, the exposure of black history is an op-portunity to reflect on the past. Therrian felt that the quartet’s performance provided that reflection. “We’ve come a long way and we’ve still got a long way to go,” Therrian said. “It’s important that we remember how far we’ve come.”

Jazz Quartet pays homage to Black History Month

Photo by Courtney BakerJazz performer Tia Imani Hanna (left) sings while Jon Gewirtz plays saxophone in Dart Auditorium Feb. 7.

Your spring break begins inichigan

or talking on a cell phone while driving.

When leaving the country or traveling to a U.S. territory, be respectful with your cloth-ing choices and actions that could offend your desti-nation’s culture or religious be-liefs.


For all those not venturing outside

Michigan for spring break, there is sill time to make plans without traveling far.

Whether your Michigan adventure means a day trip to somewhere new, a road trip or a live sporting event, there is something for everyone to enjoy re-gardless of budget.

Battle Creek: Those who are 21 or older can take a day trip to Fire-Keepers Casino or stay the night in Battle Creek. FireKeepers Casino does not currently have its own resort, but can of-fer discounts through its partnership with area hotels. To help make a day trip more affordable, FireKeepers Casino offers a bus program with In-

dian Trails that can drive guests to and from the ca-sino every Tuesday. For more information, visit http://www.firekeepersca-sino.com.

Detroit: Visit Detroit to experience its active nightlife and daytime ac-tivities. The Detroit Red Wings are home March 4 and March 9. After the game, check out Greek Town and explore the res-taurants, bars and casino.

Ride the Detroit People Mover (just a $1 per per-son) to the Detroit Mar-riott at the Renaissance Center to stay the night.

East Lansing: Scroll down Grand River and enjoy the beautiful scen-ery on MSU’s campus. In the heart of East Lansing there are shops, an array of restaurants, art galler-ies and a 24-hour Biggby Coffee.

Grand Rapids: Down-town Grand Rapids is a town full of energy and things to do: dining, nightlife, sports, enter-tainment venues and museums. Visit down-town GR March 8-18 and attend LaughFest. LaughFest is a comedy festival that will take place in different loca-tions in GR.

For more information on LaughFest, visit http://laughfestgr.org/.

Ironwood: Take a road trip to the westernmost spot in Michigan: Iron-wood. While in Iron-wood, experience the historic charm, relax in the quaint town and en-joy the shopping district. If outdoor activities such as snowmobiles and ski-ing interest you, then Ironwood is the perfect getaway destination for spring break.

Mackinaw City: Lo-cated at the top of Michi-gan’s Lower Peninsula is Mackinaw City. There, one can experience lighthouses and live en-tertain-m e n t . In only 16 minutes, an island ferry ride can take vacationers from Mackinaw City to Macki-nac Island. Once in Mack-inac Island, enjoy fudge, horseback riding and his-toric attractions.

For anyone leaving Michigan for spring break, remember to re-search your destina-tion’s laws. States such as New York and Ohio have different speed lim-its on the highway than Michigan.

Many states also dif-ferentiate from Michigan when it comes to texting


LCC’s Black Box The-atre entertained guests with the Valentine’s-themed performance I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.

The musical ran five nights between Feb. 10

and Feb. 18, including once on Valentine’s Day.

Throughout the Valen-tine’s performance, cher-ubs in the musical passed out candy and roses to audience members.

Meghan Malusek is a theater major at LCC who portrayed 11 differ-ent characters through-

out the musical. “The Valentine’s per-

formance attracted a lot of couples wishing to spend their evening together at the show,” Malusek said. “This usu-ally would not create a difference between the other performances.

“This show focuses on

relationship experiences those couples have prob-ably faced themselves at some point. It really allowed a connection to brew between the audi-ence and us as actors.”

The musical celebrated the different aspects con-tributing with relation-ships. The cast members’ multiple roles tell differ-ent stories, which include dating, marriage, having children and relation-ships as they mature with age.

Connie Curran-Oes-terle directed I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. The musical was originally performed in New York and directed by Joel Bishoff.

The musical included-six cast members: four LCC students and two community performers.

“It was a good chal-lenge to change between characters so quickly and give each one a different flair,” Malusek said.

Community perform-er Gordon Hicks Clark played eight differ-ent roles in the musical

throughout 10 scenes. “I was a parental type,

but also got to play a convict and a first-time dater,” Clark said. “My wife in real life, Emily, and I really hit stride to-gether with the Meet the Parents kind of scene and

The Family That Drives To-gether. Our favorite was the pickup scene in the funeral parlor.”

According to Clark, ev-ery performance was sold wout and the success of the musical exceeded his expectations.


A&E10

LCC musical entertains for Valentine’s

Meghan Malusek (in yellow skirt) and Gordon Hicks Clark (right) act out a scene from the musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at the LCC Black Box Theatre.

Miranda Amy and Scott Laban are among the four LCC students who acted in the musical, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change




A&E11

This week’s puzzle is sponsored by:

King Crossword

Solutions to puzzle at lcc.edu/lookout


I’ve finally found the perfect coffee shop in the Lansing area that doesn’t serve old, burnt coffee or charge you at the door with their tacky “bear”-themed drinks.

Decker’s Coffee Co., located at 220 S. Wash-ington Square, is exact-ly what I want my coffee experience to be: a clean and cozy environment, helpful (non-annoying) workers, fresh-brewed coffees and a magni-tude of drink choices to indulge in.

With 50 latte recipes, smoothies, seasonal ice cream and breakfast and lunch served all day, not only the coffee lovers can find some-thing they enjoy.

Owner Jessica Decker

used her knowledge of bartending to aid her in making coffee drinks when she opened the self-titled Decker’s Cof-fee Co. in May 2007.

When opening the coffee shop, she was warned against open-ing a business during a time of bad economy. Still she pushed for-

ward, falling in love with her coffee shop and the industry.

Supporting the local-ly-owned coffee shop is also helping those whom Decker’s pur-chases coffee from: Fair Trade Organic Coffee.

Offering Fair Trade Organic Coffee ensures that the coffee bean farmers receive a fair price for their goods.

From the satisfying cof-fee at Decker’s Coffee Co. to its commitment to buy-ing Fair Trade Organic Coffee, is why I am now committed to its coffee and food for as long as possible.

Visit Decker’s Cof-fee Co. during hours of operation from Monday to Friday 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

For more information on the coffee shop or its menu, call (517) 913-1400 or visit its Facebook at Decker’s Coffee Co.

Kaitlin LutzStaff Writer

“I vow to love you, and no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other.”

What girl wouldn’t love to have a guy like Chan-ning Tatum say that to her?

The Vow, which hit the-aters Feb. 10, hinges on those very words.

After a terrible accident, Tatum’s character Leo wakes up to find out that his wife, played by Rachel McAdams, doesn’t remem-ber who he is.

I think just about every-one in the audience’s heart broke for Tatum’s charac-ter. I could tell by the sighs and tissues in many of their hands.

Leo is determined to find a way to make his wife fall back in love with him, even with her parents and ex-fiancé getting in the way.

The director managed to take a love story and not make it cheesy, which it could’ve very easily be-come.

While I do have to say, the movie was a little pre-dictable, I still loved it.

Tatum and McAdams have both starred in popu-lar romantic dramas based off of Nicholas Sparks books: Tatum, Dear John, and McAdams, The Note-book.

And when I first saw the previews for The Vow, I couldn’t help but think that it sounded very Sparkesque.

I didn’t really care for Tatum in Dear John, but he has definitely improved since then. He portrayed a man deeply in love with his wife with ease, and Mc-Adams, well, she was great as always.

The Vow had such a great message about persevering even when it seems like all hope is gone.

I liked the fact that the movie centered around a couple after they were mar-ried as opposed to so many of today’s chick-flicks that end right after the couple gets together.

The story of The Vow shows that it’s not easy be-ing married, even though most people aren’t faced with having to deal with a spouse who has amnesia, but it reminds us that love isn’t always easy.

Who said that devotion and commitment couldn’t make a good movie?

Buzzed for local coffee

Making a VowRachel McAdams and Channing Tatum star in The Vow.

Photo courtesy of bestmoviesevernews.com

Downtown Lansing coffee shop Decker’s Coffee Co. offers coffee, breakfast, lunch and seasonal ice cream.



Features12

Nathan WilsonAssociate Editor

Campus Disciples is a new LCC student orga-nization which gives stu-dents a place on campus to grow their faith within a group of friends.

Jole Nagel, the minis-ter for the Lansing Area Church of Christ, said Campus Disciples can “help students learn about Jesus through the Bible or to grow closer in their rela-tionship (to God).”

Nagel explained the

group usually meets at Gibson’s Bookstore to study the Bible. He added the group gathers on Satur-day nights at the Lansing Area Church of Christ and socializes. There aren’t any set times for the meetings, but Campus Disciples tries to get together whenever someone needs help.

“We are planning to do a campus swap where some students from Cam-pus Ministry in Illinois come during their spring break,” Nagel said. “Some of our students go down

to their campus.” Lindsey Moran, the

president of Campus Dis-ciples, said she hopes to continue to grow the cam-pus ministry and bring people to Jesus through the Bible.

“We hang out with each other whenever we can during the week,” Moran said. “And then on Sat-urdays we have campus events at our church and we hang out there.”

Moran said the Campus Disciples participate in a large variety of events to-

gether. “Last Saturday, we had

a campus devotional and then we played some games and did some ka-

raoke,” said Moran. “We went ice skating recently … and we’re going sled-ding soon too.”

She encouraged people

to join Campus Disciples because it is a friendly group and members can learn to grow in their faith.

“We’re a really tight-knit group and we’re also re-ally open in wanting any-body to be a part of it,” Nagel said. “Regardless of where they’re at with their beliefs and lifestyle, what-ever it is, we’d like to meet anybody and spend time with them.”

For more information about Campus Disciples and meetings, contact Jole Nagel at 449-9787.

College’s student organization shares its faith

student rapper cultivates musical career at LCCNathan WilsonAssociate Editor

Aspiring rapper Raphael Downes has returned to LCC this spring semester after a three-year hiatus from classes.

“It’s really fun getting back into college and everything because I did it before,” Downes said.

“I like the fact that it’s really progressive and (LCC) is always trying to move for-ward. They’re not just satisfied with where they are. Overall, it’s been a really good ex-perience.”

Downes is working toward an associ-ate’s degree in LCC’s speech communica-tion program.

He explained his interest in music began

with having fun with friends and putting rhymes together.

“I found a notebook one day and de-cided I would try to write rhymes. ...

Ever since then, I’ve been in love with it,” Downes said.

“I’d like to make music my main source of income. I’d like it to be my career. Even-tually I’d like to travel overseas and do some touring and hopefully use music as a platform to … promote my peace of mind.”

According to Downes, his music is in-fluenced by his faith.

“The principles of Jesus definitely apply to my music as far as trying to encourage and uplift and send a positive message,” Downes said.

Downes said he plans on releasing an EP April 1, titled Transparent, which he hopes to make available on iTunes and music-sharing sites like Bandcamp and

SoundCloud. “I’ve performed a lot around Lansing,”

Downes said. “I started at Mac’s Bar, and I performed at the Loft several times.”

Other venues he has visited include Old Town, local churches and LCC. Downes performed at the Black History Month Kickoff Feb. 1 at LCC and he said he plans on returning for the Black History Month Finale Feb. 28.

Downes said LCC has helped him reach the level of success he has achieved today.

“I realized that I could actually flesh out my vision and feel if there are actually re-sources available for me: people who want to help encourage and inspire me,” he said. “The positive response that I’ve been getting from them is awesome.”


LCC’s Campus Disciples play ultimate frisbee in Holt at the beginning of the summer.

Photo courtesy of Campus Disciples

LCC student Raphael Downes performed at Black History Month Kickoff Feb. 1.

Growing up as a child, one holds little responsi-bility for caring solely for themselves.

The duties of raising a child is up to the parents: the duties to not only care and protect a child through-out their development, but to teach their child how to care for himself or herself as they grow up to be a mature adult.

For many overweight Americans their bad habits developed as a child due to a lack of exercise and or a poor diet.

The problems caused by obesity range from person to person.

The emotional and physi-cal effects can last a lifetime.

The negative effects of obe-sity are so out of control that many states are implement-ing laws that will file parents with child abuse charges if their child is obese.

To further promote aware-ness of childhood obesity the Strong4Life campaign has new billboards in the state of Georgia, that alimental insulted many parents.

One of the billboards pic-

tures a young overweight girl with the text “Warning, it’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not.”

The billboards are the campaign’s way of using tough love as a tactic for change.

A law on childhood obesi-ty will help protect children who cannot always protect themselves from serious health and emotional prob-lems.

Diabetes is 100 percent preventable in children; the prevention starts with a healthy diet.

Children who drink a lot of soda pop are also at a higher risk of health prob-lems.

Not only does sugar in-crease weight gain, but it

also damages a child’s adult teeth before their baby teeth have even fallen out.

I believe every state in America should charge par-ents with child abuse if their children are over a safe weight.

Abuse charges against parents on obesity is the wake-up call many parents need to help protect Ameri-ca’s youth against a lifelong imprisonment that comes from obesity.

Once an obese child be-comes an adult, it becomes even harder to obtain a healthy weight and develop healthy living habits.

Living a healthy lifestyle does not have to cost a lot of money.

It can be as simple as taking the stairs, running around the block and cut-ting out fast food.

When a child becomes an adult, they have the right to eat what they want.

But until then, it’s the right of the parent to keep children at a safe weight, re-gardless of whether Michi-gan implements an obesity law or not.


OPINION13— Stocken Speaks —

Childhood obesity is a crime Close to a year of violence has

raged through Syria since last year’s Arab Spring where mul-tiple countries rebelled against totalitarian regimes.

5,000 deaths later, Syria is no closer to ousting President Bashar Assad than when blood first began to deluge through the streets.

Meanwhile, the international community twiddles its thumbs and squeaks from the United Nations, “Maybe we should do something to stop this?” Yeah, that might be a good idea.

However, I truly hope Ameri-ca doesn’t get militarily involved. This scenario has already un-folded during Libya last year, where President Barack Obama proclaimed we would bomb Libya for a few weeks, burning more than $2 billion per day, ac-cording to Forbes.

Egypt hasn’t done well com-ing out of the Arab Spring either, touting a more anti-American message even as we continue to funnel foreign aid in their direc-tion. Just recently, Egyptian au-thorities arrested 19 Americans involved in a pro-democracy group on suspicion of instigat-ing political unrest.

Even more egregious, Egyp-

tian officials have the gall to demand America hands over American citizens linked to this organization to face prosecution for… what exactly? Conspiracy theories?

So much for a brighter and more democratic Egypt.

Essentially, we shouldn’t get involved in Syria’s civil war. There’s no sense in dumping bil-lions of dollars into an overseas conflict only to usher in a new dictatorship.

We are already detested across the world for intervening, so why not let other nations sort it out? Let someone else police the world for a change.

Maybe the countries “freed” by the Arab Spring would have been better off under the previ-ous dictators. At least we had bet-ter foreign relations with them.

— ‘I am Invincible!’ —

Stay away from Syria


OpiniOn14

Policies: all letters should be 200 words or less and signed with a name, address (email or otherwise) and phone number. The Lookout reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, spelling, length and clarity.

Mail: 1000 – The Lookout Lansing Community College P.O. box 40010 Lansing, MI 489401-7210 Email: [email protected] Fax: (517) 483-1290

The Lookout is the independent, biweekly student newspaper of Lansing Community College. All opinion/editorial articles are the sole opinion of the writer and may not reflect the views of the staff, students, faculty and college as a whole. Opinion/editorial articles may or may not be located exclusively on editorial pages and may appear on news, sports and arts & entertainment pages.

- The Lookout Staff

Write a Letter to theEditor

the lookoutKaitlin LutzDominick Mastrangelo Nathan Wilson

Shauna Stocken

Amber Glomb

Kelly Lehtonen

Larry Hook

Editor in [email protected]

[email protected] [email protected]

[email protected]@mail.lcc.edu

[email protected]@mail.lcc.eduAssociate Editor A&E Editor

News Editor Advertising Manager

AdviserStaff Writer

Courtney Baker

[email protected] Editor

Lee Rumler

[email protected] Writer

As journalists, we view our-selves as public servants. We strive to always meet the needs of our community during the changing times.

Sunshine Week (March 11-17), as it is referred to, is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of in-formation.

Although we have yet to use a FOIA (Freedom Of Informa-tion Act) this year in our Look-out newsroom, we find it rather comforting to know we have the ability to access information we may need or, more impor-tantly, our readers may have a right to know.

We want to hear from you. What are some of the things

you a wondering about in our local government or the admin-istration at LCC?

FOIA, covers every aspect of a person's “right to know."

There are many ways you can reach us. You can write a letter to the editor that will appear on our opinion pages. You could also use social media as a means to educate us on what you and your friends or colleagues are talking about.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @LCC_TheLook-out. We strive to meet your needs.

Let us use Sunshine Week as a reminder that we all have a right to be informed, and news media gives us a means to ac-quire that information.

— In Our Own Words —

Freedom of press is comforting

Dear Shauna,

I was just enjoying the February edi-tion of The Lookout this morning and as I browsed through it, something caught my eye. I saw your tribute to Mr. Sun-dermann and I thought it was super.

My first instinct was, "I'll get on Face-book when I'm done and send her a message. It will be awesome.” As I flip through the remaining pages I came

upon another article ... that says you've given up Facebook!

Luckily, your LCC email was in the paper so I was still able to cyber-stalk you. So what began as a simple remind-er to check in with an old friend became a journey. That is how you impacted my life today. The End.

Chelsie Sainz,LCC student

To the editor,

In 2008, America elected an unac-complished orator who disingenuously campaigned on platitudes of “Hope and Change” and “Yes We Can.”

Today we see the once dubbed “great unifier” has predictably discarded that manufactured image. Subsequently, the President finds he cannot run on his rancid record of crony capitalism, decep-tive Obamacare or squandered stimulus packages.

Keep in mind, it’s not Gingrich, San-torum or Romney responsible for $5 tril-lion in new debt these last three years or the worst housing market in US his-tory coupled with “unofficial” unem-ployment soaring to 17 percent (CBO estimates). Neither is the rejection of the Canadian Keystone pipeline with

its ensuing 20,000 new jobs. It is Barack Obama. His presidency centers around the distorted ideology that governmen-tal intrusion can create “balance” and a fair, utopian society.

Ironically, our wealthy President per-sistently rails against the alleged unfair-ness of a prosperous American capitalist system. However, General Electric was his biggest campaign contributor.

So where is Obama’s sacrifice? Maybe “sacrifice” equates to throwing 171 lav-ish White House parties or going on 90 golf outings in 2011? Someone once wrote: "You cannot help the poor by de-stroying the rich … You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred." Wise words lost on Obama.

Bob Golm,LCC alumnus

Letters to the EditorDon't forget our veterans

Time to end 'Obamanation'

Student thanks columnist

To the editor,

The LCC community has many vet-erans home. We have many students and some faculty and staff who served in the Middle East. We cannot throw a parade for them, but we can express our gratitude. We can wish them the best of luck. They are our finest.

I have known many veterans and am proud to know them. They risked sacrificing their lives for us. They are international, multilingual, highly trained and intelligent. They deserve our respect and support. Thank you for your service.

Dr. Dan Campbell,English & History

Classified AdvertisingPREMIER LCC HOUSINGNewly renovated apartments offered by Capitol Management, just 50 feet from LCC. Other locations available only a block or two from Downtown LCC campus. One- to four-bedroom units with prices from $545 to $1,200. Includes parking and most utilities. Pet friendly! Also available: additional secure parking for students for $65 a month. No need rush to class when you can reliably park 50 feet from campus, Only 40 spaces available! Call: 517-204-5550 or 517-515-8968.

TOPPS BASEBALL CARDSComplete set of 1982 Topps cards in mint condition, $100. Set includes Cal Ripken rookie and many Hall-of Fam-ers. Call 517-589-5273.

NASCAR MEMORABILIATwo brand new Dale Earnhardt Jr. hats, $7 each. Ten commemorative miniature racecars from the Michigan International Speedways from 2005 to 2009, all brand new and in box, $5 each. Buy both hats and all the cars for $45! Call 517-483-1291.

PINBALL MACHINEGame Plan 1979 “Sharpshooter” solid state game. Old western theme. Very fast and fun. Four players. $525. Call 517-589-5273.

PLACE YOUR AD HEREAdvertising in The Lookout’s classified section is effective. Cost is just $8.50 for 20 words or less. Additional words are 50 cents. Call 483-1295 to place an ad.


15


16 LAST LOOK

Courtney BakerPhoto Editor

Lansing Communi-ty College Police and Public Safety is more than just campus secu-rity.

Beyond its general duties of maintaining the peace on campus, Police and Public Safe-ty provide a multitude of services to the LCC community. These in-clude escorts to and from class, monitoring weather conditions and bike lock rental.

Public Safety also pro-vides Portable Breath Tests (PBT’s) for $10 to students and members of the LCC community who are re-quired to do court ordered drops.

Public Safety goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of the LCC community. Through an extensive system of cameras, Public Safety is capable of monitor-ing every entrance on the downtown campus. The department also re-lies on foot patrol by of-ficers to maintain situ-ational awareness of the

campus. By talking to various

students, employees and guests, Police and Public Safety members are able to build a better rapport with the com-munity and gain infor-mation vital to campus security.

“We’re here to help,” said Intermediate Of-ficer Damon Sherrill. “(We’re here) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even when the campus closes. Like over winter or spring break, we’re still here.”

The lost and found area at LCC is oper-ated through Public Safety. When an item is checked in to lost and found, Public Safety holds the item for two semesters before donat-ing the items to charity.

In the 2010-11 school year, Police and Pub-lic Safety recovered 3,487 items worth a to-tal of $95,531. Out of the items found, 1,303 items were returned.

Contact LCC Police and Public Safety at (517) 483-1800 or visit its office in the GB 251.

Department of Public Safety serves and protects community, campusWhatcha gonna do when they come for you?

A LCC police patrol car sits in Gannon Building’s circle drive. LCC Police have three marked patrol cars and one “low-profile” car.

At right, the Lan-sing Community College Police and Public Safety is head-quartered in the Gannon Build-ing’s room 251, with locations on East Campus.At left, public safety officer Damon Sherrill demonstrates the procedure for unlocking a car door. Unlock-ing vehicles for students who have locked their keys in their cars is one of the many services offered by LCC Police and Pub-lic Safety.

Above, LCC Police Director William French displays a box containing envelops that hold flash drives received at the lost and found area. In 2010 Police and Public Safety recovered 3,487 lost items worth an estimated total of $96,531. Dispatch Operations Coordinator Kristy Rodgers, left, monitors camera feeds from cameras in various loca-tions on the downtown campus. Public Safety monitors over 200 locations on the downtown campus; including ev-ery building entrance.

Photos by Courtney Baker

the lookout volume 53 issue 11

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